Academy of St. Martin in the Fields & Sir Neville Marriner - Handel: Coronation Anthems; Arias and Choruses (1985/2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24-bit/48 kHz | Front Cover | Time - 64:11 minutes | 659 MB
Classical, Sacred, Choral, Vocal | Label: Decca Records, Official Digital Download
One of the lasts acts of King George I before his death in 1727 was to sign "An Act for the naturalizing of George Frideric Handel and others." Handel's first commission as a naturalized Britsh citizen was to write the music for the coronation later that year. The four anthems Handel composed for the coronation of King George II and Queen Caroline on 11 October 1727 have never lacked popular favour. They were repeatedly performed at concerts and festivals during his life and since, and he incorporated substantial parts of them, with little change except to the words, in several oratorios, notably Esther and Deborah. (Incidentally, two of them were performed at the opening concert of Oxford's Holywell Music Room in 1748).