Aldeburgh MusicAldeburgh Club Choir Club Four coronation anthems including zadok the priest suite in g ‘the water music’ chandos anthem no.7 chandos anthem no.4 concerto grosso opus 6 no.9 the amazing mr handel Conductor edmond fivet players baroque suffolk 7.30 16 Snape thMaltingspm Concert Hall march Sa 2019 turda y Saturday 16th March 2019 at 7.30pm Snape Maltings Concert Hall THE AMAZING MR HANDEL Coronation Anthem – Zadok the Priest Water Music – Suite in G major Chandos Anthem No 7 – My song shall be alway Coronation Anthem – Let Thy hand be strengthened INTERVAL Coronation Anthem – My heart is inditing Duet from Chandos Anthem No 4 – O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness Concerto Grosso – Opus 6 No 9 Coronation Anthem – The King shall rejoice Aldeburgh Music Club Choir Zoe Brookshaw soprano Polly Leech mezzo-soprano Christopher Bowen tenor Kieran Rayner baritone Suffolk Baroque Players Alison Bury leader Edmond Fivet conductor Aldeburgh Music Club founded by Benjamin Britten in 1952 Welcome... From the DIRECTOR OF MUSIC Handel was one of the greatest composers of all time and a giant of the Baroque era. German by birth, most of his life was spent in England and he was a favourite of the House of Hanover Kings. The range of Handel’s music is vast and his influence still plays an enormous part in today’s world of concerts and entertainment. It is a great pleasure for us to perform this music for you, so please enjoy tonight’s concert. Hopefully you will go away with a warmer heart and a sense of hearing the music of a genius. Thank you Mr. Handel and thank you, the audience, for coming to Snape Maltings. Edmond Fivet From the CHAIRMAN Tonight’s concert celebrates the glories of the sacred, ceremonial and orchestral music of the Amazing Mr. Handel. We hope the diverse programme will amply demonstrate Handel’s genius. The choir has certainly enjoyed rehearsals leading up to tonight and I am sure that what you hear will explain why. To learn more about Handel and his life I recommend a visit to Handel and Hendrix in London and you will find a tempting offer from the museum within the programme. As always, I wish to thank our patrons and sponsors for their on-going support of the choir. Hunter Smith George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) Writing programme notes is a great joy, particularly if one is conducting the music described in them. A great deal can be learnt in researching material for the notes and it can also inform the interpretation of the music being performed. In ‘The New Grove Dictionary of Music’ there are 23 pages (in small print) listing Handel’s compositions – a huge number. Today we are, perhaps, most familiar with Handel through his oratorio ‘Messiah’, and possibly some of his operas, which are performed regularly all around the world. However, Handel’s works include cantatas, orchestral pieces, chamber music, sacred vocal music, English songs and hymns, concertos, suites, overtures, keyboard works, and sonatas – hence the name of this concert ‘The Amazing Mr. Handel’. Often considered to be an English composer, Handel was born in 1685 in Halle, Germany, the same year as Bach and Domenico Scarlatti - three ‘giants’ of the Baroque musical period. Firstly in Hamburg and then Italy, Handel developed his musical abilities and met a range of musicians, which helped develop his distinctive style. Handel also met a variety of influential members of the nobility and, on returning to Hanover in 1710 became Kapellmeister to the Elector George Louis, who was to become King George I of England in 1714. Handel settled in England in 1712 and became a naturalized British subject in 1727. He was a particularly favourite musician with the Hanover Monarchy and wrote much music for Royal occasions. Handel died in 1759 and is buried in Westminster Abbey. Coronation Anthems King George I, Handel’s patron, died in June 1727 and his son was proclaimed as King George II, the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. There was much discussion regarding the new King’s Coronation at Westminster Abbey and it was expected that the organist and composer of the Chapel Royal, William Croft, would compose the music for this ceremony. Unexpectedly however, William Croft died in the August of 1727. The composer Maurice Greene was appointed to the Chapel Royal on 4th September 1727, recommended as ‘the greatest musical genius we have’. It is not known if Greene was going to compose the Coronation Anthems, but by 9th September it was announced that ‘Mr. Handel, the famous Composer to the opera, is appointed by the King to compose the Anthem at the Coronation which is to be sung in Westminster at the Grand Ceremony.’ As can be imagined this led to ill feeling between Greene and Handel. The order in which the Coronation Anthems were sung is a matter of uncertainty, but it is clear that Handel composed the four Anthems, all of which were sung at the Coronation. Zadok the Priest was performed for the anointing of the King. This is the best known of the anthems and has been performed at every Coronation since 1727. Let thy hand be strengthened was for the ‘recognition’ of the new King. The King shall rejoice was for the crowning ceremony of the new King and My heart is inditing was sung for the Queen’s Coronation. All four anthems are brilliant works and Handel proved his ability – indeed genius – in composing such successful pieces with a real feel for what this important occasion required. Handel’s sparing and judicial use of the three trumpets and timpani gives a real sense of majesty and occasion when required. Chandos Anthems No 4 HWV 249B and No 7 HWV 252 In 1716 Handel became the ‘resident composer’ for the Earl of Carnarvon, who in 1719 became the first Duke of Chandos. The Duke maintained a body of singers and instrumentalists for his homes in central London and Cannons, in what was then the countryside, near Edgware north of London. Cannons was a grand palace and princely residence, common in Germany and Italy, though relatively unknown in England. It was for Cannons that Handel composed his eleven Chandos Anthems based on the musicians employed by the Duke. The duet from Chandos Anthem No 4 is for soprano and tenor soloists. Winton Dean* has written – ‘They (the Chandos Anthems) were composed for the English equivalent of a small German court, and reflect at once the urbane worldliness of 18th century Anglicanism and the mixture of intimacy and ducal pomp at Cannons. The style of the music is eclectic; the Purcellian anthem, the Italian sonata, the ringing counterpoint of Venetian church music, the German chorale. The results are wholly Handelian and full of expressive and pictorial invention’. *Winton Basil Dean (1916-2013) was an English musicologist most famous for his research of the works of George Frideric Handel, in particular the operas and oratorios. Water Music ‘Suite in G major’ HWV 350 Handel’s Water Music, is a collection of orchestral movements, first performed on 17th July 1717, in response to the request of King George I for music to be played on the River Thames to accompany one of the King’s lavish parties. This first performance is recorded in ‘The Daily Courant’, the first British daily newspaper. Many members of the Royal family were on board the King’s barge, with the orchestra on a barge alongside. It was noted at the time that ‘The concert was composed expressly by the famous Handel, a native of Halle and first composer of the King’s Music’. It remains uncertain in which order the music was performed, though it was played a number of times from Whitehall Palace to Chelsea and on the journey back. It is noted that the King’s party, on arrival at Chelsea, had supper and then returned to the barge for the journey back at about 11pm. The full Water Music was not assembled and published until well after Handel’s death, in 1886, but it has been customary to play it in three Suites. The G major Suite is beautifully written and is somewhat less rumbustious than other, perhaps ‘better known’, parts of the Water Music’ but is both charming and lively. One can almost imagine the King and his party relaxing to this delightful music. There are seven movements, but only two are named, the Minuet (stately dance) and Rigaudon (lively baroque dance). Concerto Grosso Opus 6 HWV 327 No 9 in F Major Largo - Allegro – Larghetto – Allegro – Minuet - Gigue Handel composed his 12 Concerto Grossi (Grand Concertos) in a short space of time in 1739 and they were intended to be performed between some of his Oratorios and Odes. The Concerto Grossi works are often compared and contrasted to Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos of the same period. Handel’s work was influenced by the style of Arcangelo Corelli whilst Bach favoured the style of Antonio Vivaldi. The 12 Opus 6 Concerto Grossi and Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos are considered as twin peaks of the Baroque concerto style. Handel’s style is amazingly fluent and shows, along with his Water Music and Firework Music, his brilliance as an orchestral composer. Handel had the ability to write quickly as well as composing music that appeals directly to the audience for special occasions. Edmond Fivet ©March 2019 Zadok the priest Zadok the Priest, and Nathan the Prophet anointed Solomon King. And all the people rejoiced, and said: God save the King! Long live the King! May the King live for ever, Amen! Alleluia! Chandos Anthem No.