Beating Time
Getting a Handel on the Bible
HANDEL - CORONATION ANTHEMS
King's College, Cambridge,
The Academy of Ancient Music
Director Stephen Cleobury
CD EMI Classics. 61 minutes. £13.99
George Frederic Handel, although a German national, spent most of his adult life in England, and it is beyond question that he left an indelible imprint on British musical life.
He was, in the first instance, a composer of opera, but later turned his hand to many other musical genres, and is famous - justly so - for his oratorio 'Messiah'. We do not know very much about the nature of his beliefs, but such is the beauty and majesty of his settings of the Scriptures in 'Messiah' and elsewhere, that it is difficult to believe that he was without a Christian faith. Indeed, the sleeve notes for 'Coronation Anthems' reveal that he was most indignant when provided with Scriptural texts for his anthems by some bishops, commenting that 'I have read the Bible very well, and shall chuse (sic) for myself!'
Released this year, this CD contains four anthems written for the coronation of George II in 1727. All use texts from the Old Testament, mainly 1 Kings and the Psalms, and do full justice to the solemnity of the occasion for which they were written. The CD is completed by a birthday ode for Queen Anne. The anthems centre on the theme of kingship (for obvious reasons), but are nonetheless a tremendous reminder of the majesty of God, and, indeed, of how much national leadership should have to do with godliness. The music is quite superb, with precise, vigorous performances from both choir and orchestra.
The best of the four is, in my view, 'Zadok the Priest', which, incidentally, has been sung at every coronation since, whose orchestral introduction must rank as one of the most perfect passages of music ever written, such is the sense of expectation created. The fourth anthem 'My heart is inditing' is perhaps a little more reflective in character, and is thought to have been performed during the coronation of the Queen in 1727.
Overall this is an excellent collection of music by one of the very best, performed by some of the very best. Thoroughly recommended as a Christmas present!
