This antiphon stands among Handel's earliest surviving works and dates from his stay in Rome. It seems to have been written for private performance in the chapel of the Marquis Ruspoli, as were some chamber cantatas Handel composed around the same time. The text addressing the Virgin Mary, while sacred, is not taken from the Bible. This work falls into four short sections. The initial Largo, "Salve Regina," sets (in Latin) the text "Hail, O Queen, mother of mercy, our life, sweetness and hope, hail." This is gentle music with a rocking figure in the strings establishing a pastoral atmosphere. Next comes an Adagio, "Ad te clamamus": "To thee do we cry, banished children of Eve, to thee do we sigh, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears." The setting is appropriately dolorous and chromatic; most notably, Handel inserts long, suspenseful pauses between the syllables of "ad te suspiramus" (to thee do we sigh). The third movement, "Eia ergo, avvocata nostra," is introduced by a bright section for organ and strings (the organ part originally played by Handel himself). The soprano enters with another suppliant text, but the setting is now more celebratory and the vocal line is highly ornate and melismatic. The translation is "Behold then, our advocate, turn thy merciful eyes upon us, and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus." A brief Adagissimo, "O clemens, o pia," concludes the work in the same dark mood as the second movement, the vocal line again chromatic and angular: "O merciful, O loving, O sweet virgin Mary!"

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