Handel — See, the Conqu'ring Hero Comes

Handel wrote "See, the Conqu'ring Hero Comes" for his oratorio Joshua in 1747, then moved it into the more popular Judas Maccabaeus — and it never left. You'll know it as the Easter hymn "Thine Be the Glory". It's a march, it's grand, and it's the perfect piece for martelé: every note wants a firm, prepared attack.

First position, G major, common time. The whole main strain uses only five notes — D, E, G, A, B — no sharps to place, so your ear is free to work on the stroke.

Strain 1, first half — "See, the con-qu'ring hero comes…"

72 bpm

How to play it

Upper-middle of the bow, moderate strokes. Grip, bite, ring, stop — every note the same. Feel the down-bow on each strong beat (the rule of the down-bow); retake across the barline where you need to.

The famous opening. Almost all on the A string. Every note is a martelé: prepare the bite in the tiny silence before it, fast bow, release, stop. The dotted rhythm in bar 1 (D–B–C) is a march figure — keep it crisp.

Strain 1, second half — "…sound the trumpets, beat the drums"

72 bpm

How to play it

Same martelé throughout. The rest at the end is real — stop the bow on the string, hand loose, ready to start strain 1 again (or move to strain 2).

It climbs to the top G (E string, low 2), comes back down, and stops clean on G with a full bar of rest. Strain 1 repeats — play it twice. The E and top G are your only string crossings; keep them small.

Strain 2 — the answering half (a little harder)

The second strain adds F♯ and two chromatic leaning notes — C♯ and D♯ — and climbs a bit higher. Take it slower. The chromatic notes lean toward the note above them.

66 bpm

How to play it

A touch lighter than strain 1 — this is the reply, not the announcement. Still martelé, still prepared bites, but smaller.

Strain 2, first half — still diatonic, a gentle rise and fall. Bars 3–4 fall to G and sit there. Then it goes chromatic (next example).

60 bpm

How to play it

Slow this half right down. The D♯ and C♯ are the only new fingers — place them HIGH (D♯ is a stretched 3rd finger on the A string, C♯ a high 2nd). Let your ear hear them pull upward.

The chromatic close: D♯ (place it high, up against E) leans up to E; C♯ leans up to D. Everything else is the G-major scale. Then it comes to rest and the whole march goes back to strain 1 (D.C.).

The whole march — playthrough

80 bpm

'See, the Conqu'ring Hero Comes', complete: strain 1 (played twice), strain 2, then strain 1 returns to close (that's the D.C. you learned in Stage 3). Grand, marked, every note announced. This is your martelé at real music. (Fingering is in the phrases above.)

The usual mistake

Playing it legato because it's a hymn tune — smoothing the notes together so the march loses its stride. It's a conquering hero's entrance: every note is a prepared, marked stroke, with a real stop between. The other mistake: making strain 2's chromatic notes flat (plain D and C) out of habit — D♯ and C♯ are leaning notes, place them high.