Peace & Celebration

George Frideric Handel
Coronation Anthems | Concerto Gross Op3 No2 | Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne
CD711

European Union Baroque Orchestra
Choir of Clare College, Cambridge
Directed by Lars Ulrik Mortensen

Recorded live at a concert at St John’s Smith Square, London this recording of famous works by Handel celebrates the 300th anniversary of the accession of George I, the first of the Hanoverian monarchs in 1714.

The German-born composer Handel arrived in London in 1712 and became a favourite of Queen Anne and later of the Hanoverians. He composed the Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne in 1713 celebrating the Peace of Utrecht. He was made a British citizen by George I and was commissioned by him to compose music for the coronation of George II.

These much-loved Coronation Anthems have become a traditional part of all subsequent British coronations.

 

Track listing

1. Zadok the Priest HWV259

Let thy hand be strengthened HWV258
2. Let thy hand be strengthened
3. Led justice and judgement
4. Alleluia

Concerto Grosso Op 3 No 2 HWV313
5. Vivace
6. Largo
7. Allegro
8. Menuetto
9. Gavotte

My Heart is Inditing HWV261
10. My heart is inditing
11. Kings’ daughters were among
12. Upon thy right hand
13. Kings shall be thy nursing fathers

Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne HWV74
14. Eternal source of light divine
15. The day that gave great Anna birth
16. Let all the winged race with joy
17. Let flocks and herds their fear forget
18. Let rolling streams their gladness show
19. Kind Health descends on downy wings
20. The day that gave great Anna birth
21. Let Envy then conceal her head
22. United nations shall combine

The King shall rejoice HWV260
23. The King shall rejoice
24. Exceeding glad shall he be
25. Glory and worship
26. Thou hast prevented him
27 Alleluia

In the press

“…it is testimony to the quality of the EUBO and its Danish director: Mortensen’s command of the idiom is second to none.”
- The Financial Times

“Clare College Choir are excellent in every technical respect and there's no hint of posturing clichés: their exclamations of 'God save the King!' during 'Zadok the Priest' seem more like a statement of confident hope than mere bombast...Mortensen comes into his own in the contrasting middle sections (of the Coronation Anthems).”
- Gramophone Magazine