The music historian Sir John Hawkings recorded that his friend Handel's keyboard improvisations "stole on the ear in a slow and solemn progression; the harmony close wrought, and as full as could be possibly be expressed; the passage concatenated with stupendous art, the whole at the same time being perfectly intelligible, and carrying the appearance of great simplicity." Such fecund spontaneity generated the few published pieces Handel wrote specifically for the keyboard. The first set of suites appeared in 1720, perhaps composed and published for the instruction of Princess Anne, to whom...
The music historian Sir John Hawkings recorded that his friend Handel's keyboard improvisations "stole on the ear in a slow and solemn progression;...
Composed in 1718 while Handel was residing in Cannons Park. Like the other Chandos Anthems, it was comissioned by the Earl of Carnarvon James Brydges, subsequently named First Duke of Chandos. The anthem was first performed that year under the composer's direction ay St. Lawrence's Church in Cannons Park. The text is taken from Psalms 117, 135, and 148 in Nahum Tate and Nicolas Brady's 1696 "New Versions of the Psalms."This complete vocal and pano score, edited by Max Seiffert with a piano reduction by Karl Pasler, is an unabridged reprint of the score first issued by Breitkopf & Hartel,...
Composed in 1718 while Handel was residing in Cannons Park. Like the other Chandos Anthems, it was comissioned by the Earl of Carnarvon James Brydges,...