Your turn, Herr Handel. This
week I have decided that one can have too much French Baroque music so I have
turned to my go-to guy, George Frederick Handel. Now, anyone who knows me well will
know that I love singing anything by Handel as his music seems to suit my
voice. Currently I am working on As when
the dove laments her love from Acis
and Galatea for my mid-year exam and it is a really fun aria where the
singer can literally go overboard with embellishments if that’s what they want.
Personally, I have just added a few subtle ones to enhance the da capo section. Galatea sings that when
Acis returns she no longer mourns but “loves the live-long day”. In the second
section she sings lustfully about their reunion with lots of panting, wooing
and melting murmurs filling the grove. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink and all that. Have a listen to this recording and see
what you think. I challenge you not to be instantly hooked and want to listen
to the whole work. There is even a DVD version of a 2009 performance, recorded
at the Royal Opera House in London, starring Danielle de Niese, conducted by
Christopher Hogwood is you fancy tracking it down.
Acis
was Handel’s first dramatic work in English. The libretto was by John Gay, a
well-known writer from this era. It originally premiered in 1718 as a one act
masque but Handel re-wrote it as a two act, staged work in 1739. It was written
as entertainment for the royal court and has a rather bucolic setting with lots
of nymphs and shepherds prancing about. It contains humour and tragedy in
fairly equal measure. To sum it up – Galatea, a semi-divine nymph, has been
separated from her lover Acis, a shepherd. They are reunited but, sadly, their
happiness is short-lived as the giant, Polyphemus, wants Galatea for himself.
Galatea declares her love and constancy to Acis causing Polyphemus to kill him
in a jealous rage. Galatea’s friends comfort her and remind her that she can
save Acis with her divine powers. She then transforms the lifeless Acis into a
beautiful fountain. I’m not sure this was the best use of her powers but why
let that stand in the way of a good story.
Handel wrote mainly oratorios
as these were performed without staging and therefore could be performed on
church feast days and during Lent, when people had to abstain from going to the
theatre. His most famous of these being Messiah
which was first performed in Dublin, Ireland in 1742. The overture to Messiah is certainly influenced by our
old mate Lully as it is written in the French overture style. It starts with a slow
section that uses dotted rhythms and is followed by a livelier, fugal section
before returning to the first section. Handel’s oratorios contain some gorgeous
arias and choruses and I don’t think I could ever get bored of performing Messiah. The music is so enduring and I
think that you could walk into pretty much any Western town around Christmas or
Easter to find it being performed by at least one choir. I know there were at
least two concerts in Christchurch last Christmas, for one I was in the choir
and for the other I was in the audience. The Hallelujah Chorus must be the most sung chorus in the whole world.
My personal favourite to sing is Rejoice Greatly
and here is a clip of Dame Kiri te Kanawa singing it.
Please use this link if the video doesn't play as Blogger doesn't seem to like two videos in one post. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJtupQQ9ZvY
I hope that I have managed to instil
in you a bit of my passion for Handel’s work as I cannot imagine life without
this glorious Baroque music.
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