Post by erik on Sept 12, 2020 17:48:56 GMT -5
On a commission by the quasi-mad King George II, Handel bought the Baroque era to a fiery close. But just before that, he composed a very royal concerto that was something of a prelude to that larger work. That concerto is in this week's Classical Works Spotlight.
Handel: CONCERTO IN D MAJOR, HWV 335-A
As the 18th century was reaching its midpoint, George Frideric Handel had long since become one of the great composers of his era, alongside contemporaries like Johann Sebastian Bach and Antonio Vivaldi. In the employ of King George II, Handel had become smashingly popular. Back in 1717, Handel had provided the king the great collection for the king’s barge trips on the Thames River that became known as the Water Music. Thirty-one years later, in 1748, King George II commissioned the German-born Handel to compose celebratory music commemorating the signing of the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, the celebration involving fireworks. The end result was the work that arguably brought the Baroque era to a spectacularly explosive end, the Music For The Royal Fireworks. But that piece didn’t simply spring out of thin air. Handel had started sketches for the Fireworks music in the fall of 1748 in the form of a three-movement concerto in D major where fragments of themes would eventually come together in the finished work the following spring. The Concerto In D Major, listed as Handel Works Volume 335-A, is scored for two trumpets, two oboes, four horns, bassoon, strings, organ, and timpani. As with what became the Fireworks music, the influence of Bach’s Third and Fourth orchestral suites, which also had prominent trumpets, timpani, and oboes. The pomp and circumstance that King George II wanted had not yet taken shape via this particular work, especially given the fact that the original scoring was to have only martial instruments by the ton; and in truth, the Concerto In D Major serves more as the template for Handel’s own concept of the Fireworks music, which was buttressed by woodwinds and full string orchestra. This piece, as well as the Concerto In F Major (HWV 335-B), did not really come to public light until Raymond Leppard included it on his and the English Chamber Orchestra’s original 1971 recording of the Royal Fireworks Music.
English Chamber Orchestra/RAYMOND LEPPARD (Philips)
Included:
CONCERTO A DUE CORI NO. 2 IN F MAJOR, HWV 333
CONCERTO A DUE CORI NO. 1 IN B FLAT MAJOR, HWV 332
CONCERTO A DUE CORI NO. 3 IN F MAJOR, HWV 334
CONCERTO IN F MAJOR, HWV 335-B
Handel: CONCERTO IN D MAJOR, HWV 335-A
As the 18th century was reaching its midpoint, George Frideric Handel had long since become one of the great composers of his era, alongside contemporaries like Johann Sebastian Bach and Antonio Vivaldi. In the employ of King George II, Handel had become smashingly popular. Back in 1717, Handel had provided the king the great collection for the king’s barge trips on the Thames River that became known as the Water Music. Thirty-one years later, in 1748, King George II commissioned the German-born Handel to compose celebratory music commemorating the signing of the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, the celebration involving fireworks. The end result was the work that arguably brought the Baroque era to a spectacularly explosive end, the Music For The Royal Fireworks. But that piece didn’t simply spring out of thin air. Handel had started sketches for the Fireworks music in the fall of 1748 in the form of a three-movement concerto in D major where fragments of themes would eventually come together in the finished work the following spring. The Concerto In D Major, listed as Handel Works Volume 335-A, is scored for two trumpets, two oboes, four horns, bassoon, strings, organ, and timpani. As with what became the Fireworks music, the influence of Bach’s Third and Fourth orchestral suites, which also had prominent trumpets, timpani, and oboes. The pomp and circumstance that King George II wanted had not yet taken shape via this particular work, especially given the fact that the original scoring was to have only martial instruments by the ton; and in truth, the Concerto In D Major serves more as the template for Handel’s own concept of the Fireworks music, which was buttressed by woodwinds and full string orchestra. This piece, as well as the Concerto In F Major (HWV 335-B), did not really come to public light until Raymond Leppard included it on his and the English Chamber Orchestra’s original 1971 recording of the Royal Fireworks Music.
English Chamber Orchestra/RAYMOND LEPPARD (Philips)
Included:
CONCERTO A DUE CORI NO. 2 IN F MAJOR, HWV 333
CONCERTO A DUE CORI NO. 1 IN B FLAT MAJOR, HWV 332
CONCERTO A DUE CORI NO. 3 IN F MAJOR, HWV 334
CONCERTO IN F MAJOR, HWV 335-B