Georg Friedrich Händel (1685 - 1759) was a German,
later British, baroque composer who spent the bulk of
his career in London, becoming well known for his
operas, oratorios, anthems, and organ concertos. Handel
received important training in Halle and worked as a
composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London
in 1712; he became a naturalised British subject in
1727. He was strongly influenced both by the great
composers of the Italian Baroque and by the
middle-German polyphonic choral ...(+)
Georg Friedrich Händel (1685 - 1759) was a German,
later British, baroque composer who spent the bulk of
his career in London, becoming well known for his
operas, oratorios, anthems, and organ concertos. Handel
received important training in Halle and worked as a
composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London
in 1712; he became a naturalised British subject in
1727. He was strongly influenced both by the great
composers of the Italian Baroque and by the
middle-German polyphonic choral tradition.
Born the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach and
Domenico Scarlatti, Handel is regarded as one of the
greatest composers of the Baroque era, with works such
as Water Music, Music for the Royal Fireworks and
Messiah remaining steadfastly popular. One of his four
Coronation Anthems, Zadok the Priest (1727), composed
for the coronation of George II, has been performed at
every subsequent British coronation, traditionally
during the sovereign's anointing. Handel composed more
than forty operas in over thirty years, and since the
late 1960s, with the revival of baroque music and
historically informed musical performance, interest in
Handel's operas has grown.
In 1727 Handel was commissioned to write four anthems
for the Coronation ceremony of King George II. One of
these, Zadok the Priest, has been played at every
British coronation ceremony since. In 1728 John Gay's
The Beggar's Opera premiered at Lincoln's Inn Fields
Theatre and ran for 62 consecutive performances, the
longest run in theatre history up to that time. After
nine years the Royal Academy of Music ceased to
function but Handel soon started a new company.
The British coronation ceremony has survived
essentially unaltered for nearly a thousand years, and
Handel's four magnificent Coronation Anthems occupy an
illustrious place in its history. The most popular of
the set, Zadok the Priest, has been performed at every
coronation since it was first heard at the 1727
coronation of King George II and Queen Caroline. The
King Shall Rejoice (HWV 260) was also written for this
same royal occasion and was specifically intended for
the part of the service during which the new monarch
receives the crown. The King Shall Rejoice takes its
texts (almost word for word) from the Book of Psalms
(Ps. 21) and is divided into four sections. The opening
sequence based on the first stanza of the Psalm leads
to a setting of "Exceeding Glad Shall He Be." After
this comes a heaven-storming declaration for full choir
and orchestra of "Glory and Worship," before the anthem
ends with a final, majestic "Alleluia." The scoring
gives special prominence to ceremonial clarino
trumpets, which add nobility and brilliance to the most
opulent moments, as does the use of the organ. Some
sources affirm that it was at the insistence of King
George himself that Handel provided the anthems for his
coronation. However, organist Maurice Greene was senior
to Handel in the royal musical establishment and felt
that he, rather than a foreigner, should have been
accorded the honor. Handel was also offended when
several bishops sent him the Biblical texts for the
anthems. He resented any inference that he did not know
his scriptures well enough to make his own selections
and wrote back saying "I have read my Bible very well,
and shall choose for myself." Nor, if some who attended
are to be believed, was the event itself a complete
musical success. Handel himself presided over a vast
orchestra of over 150 players, but had a mere 50 or so
singers at his disposal. This fact, combined with the
reverberant acoustics of London's Westminster Abbey,
probably ccasioned Archbishop of Canterbury William
Wake's complaint (noted down on his Order of Service)
"The anthems in confusion; all irregular in the music."
Even so, the occasion was a remarkable patriotic
spectacle, and it is easy to appreciate that this
impressive music must have left its first hearers
awestruck.
Source: AllMusic
(http://www.allmusic.com/composition/the-king-shall-rej
oice-coronation-anthem-no-2-for-chorus-orchestra-hwv-26
0-mc0002370038).
Although originally created for Baroque Orchestra, I
created this Arrangement of "Exceeding Glad Shall He
Be" from "The King Shall Rejoice" (HWV 260 Mvt. 2) for
Winds (Flute, Oboe, English Horn & Bassoon) & Strings
(2 Violins, Viola & Cello).
