Since the Peace of Utrecht in 1713, there had always been diplomatic tension between the two sea powers England and Spain. This situation escalated in March 1738. The reason therefore was that the English captain Richard Jenkin presented his ear to the British Parliament - cut off by the Spaniards and conserved in alcohol. War was officially declared in October 1739 after an offshore fleet demonstration of the Royal Navy in Spain under the leadership of Admiral Nicolas Haddock.
George Fridric Handel had established himself as composer in England since 1711. However, he had not found a job as bandmaster that was paid on a regular basis. He mostly lived from commercialising his own works, overall operas. on the one hand this situation enabled him to enjoy a high amount of artistic liberty. on the other hand it also confronted him with the general difficulties of an entrepreneur in the cultural business. His music depended both on the favour of the audience, by which the Italian opera seria was only partly accepted, and on the sometimes difficult characters of the highly paid singers. Finally it also depended on the general financial situation of the concert audience and on state subsidies. Considering the above- mentioned facts, it can be understood why Handel transferred the concerts of the new season 1739/1740, which was characterized by the war, to the small opera house at "Lincoln's Inn Field". (Handel's operas and concerts were until then mostly performed in the two big London theatres, the "Royal's Theatre at Haymarket" and the "Royal opera House at Covent Garden"). However, the programme was determined by instrumental compositions, as they were less cost-intensive. An exception was the opening concert of the theatre season on St. Cecilia's Day on November 22, 1739. In addition to excerpts from Alexander's Feast or The Power of Music, HWV 75, the ode for St. Cecilia's Day. From Harmony, from heav'nly Harmony, HWV 76 was heard, which is also on this CD. During the world premiere of Alexander's Feast, which had already taken place in Covent garden on February 19, 1736, the ode for St. Cecilia's Day was for the first time presented to the audience in Covent garden. Two concerts were played as musical interlude: Concerti grossi op. 6 (Twelve grand Concertos, HWV 319-330) and one organ recital. The soprano singer Elisabeth Duparc (La Francesina) and the tenor John Beard participated in the performance. Despite the enormous cold of the back then winter, which was testified by several people, the opera personnel must have succeeded in warming the house well and thus luring enough audience in to view the performance. The princesses and the Duke of Cumberland were also among the thrilled audience.
The performance of an ode to St. Cecilia set in scene by Handel seems respectable in many ways. Handel must have known about the veneration of Cecilia latest since his time in Rome (1706-1709). Finally the Roman "Congregazione dei Musici" (later: "Accademia di Santa Cecilia") posed itself under the direct protection of the music saint. Handel must have noticed that a great number of the Rome musicians were members of the academy. Furthermore the annual arrangement of a polyphone mass composed by the members or vesper in Cecilia Church were the church-musical highlights of the city. However, compared to the veneration of saints of the papal metropolis, the veneration of Cecilia, which had been established in England since the end of the 18th century, was not liturgically bound. The musical versions of the odes were ordered by the "Musical Society", among others by giovanni Battista Draghi or Henry Purcell. These scorings were - in the old tradition of the oratories - added to the mass as musical performance. The figure of St. Cecilia was so much in the background that the theater world premiere in 1739 might only slightly have reminded of the original connection to the church. In the poetry of the "poetae laureati" and royal historiography John Dryden from the year 1687, which was the basis for Handel's ode to St. Cecilia's Day, the figure of St. Cecilia was also already in the background. The biblical prime father of the zither and flute play, Jubal, (genesis 4.21) is mentioned in Dryden's poetry. In aria 6 he also mentions orpheus, the demigod from heathen mythology. The original name giver St. Cecilia is only mentioned in the end of aria 7.
The formal composition of the ode is clearly structured. It begins and ends with a "recitative accompagnato", which leads over into a chorus. In the first part, the creation of the universe is set to music. Thus harmony leads chaos to order. The final chorus broaches the issue of the end of the world. This is also created through the power of music in the sound of the trumpet. Six arias can be found in between. In these arias one instrument each takes centre stage. In aria 1 it is the chorded shell, in aria 2 the trumpet, in aria 3 the flute, in aria 4 the violin, in aria 5 the organ and in aria 6 the lyre. The "chorded shell", which is described as "lyre" in most performances, is cast by Handel with a solo cello. This is an interesting decision. The ode is in addition initiated by a French overture, in which the fugue part is followed by a minuet. The fugue theme is used by Handel in revised form in the first allegro movement of the contemporary developed Concerto grosso HWV 323. The triumphant aria "The trumpet's loud clangor" is followed by an instrumental march movement. The war context which is thus generated is clearly visible.
Approximately a quarter of a year before the world premiere of the ode to St. Cecilia's Day on April 2, 1739, Handel terminated the second work on this CD, the organ concert HWV 295. Already two days after its completion, the world premiere with the oratory Israel in Egypt, HWV 54, was performed in King's Theatre at Haymarket - also here presumably as musical interlude.
Especially the second movement of the allegro must be highlighted among the four concert parts. The concert owes its sobriquet "The Cuckoo and the Nightingale" also to the second movement. The association with the two birds results from the characteristic leaps of thirds (for the cuckoo) starting with beat 27 and the rapid semiquaver runs (for the nightingale) starting with beat 50 in the respective organ soli. As models for the sound recording of the birds' calls Handel used motives from works of giovanni Porta and the Capriccio Cucu of Johann Kaspar Kerll. Handel used the second and third concert movement as parody model for Concerto grosso HWV 327.
The coronation of King george II in Westminster Abbey on October 11, 1727 gave rise to some anthems. on the one hand there was the festive anthem Zadok the Priest HWV 258 with the famous homage call "god save the King". On the other hand three more anthems (HWV 259-261) were created at the same time.
The connection of those three completely different compositions on one CD may seem exceptional at first sight. However, Handel himself has repeatedly included all three works in comparable combinations in his later concert series.
