Fanfare Reviews 
from March/April 1990

Reviews: Handel

HANDEL: Four Coronation Anthems¹: Zadok the Priest; My Heart Is Inditing; Let Thy Hand Be Strengthened; The King Shall Rejoice. Music for the Royal Fireworks. Robert King conducting the Choir of New College, Oxford (Edward Higginbottom, director)¹; The King's Consort. HYPERION CDA 66350 [DDD]; 56:52. Produced by Mark Brown. (Distributed by Harmonia Mundi USA.)

My friend has this theory that polytonality wasn't really invented by Stravinsky or Milhaud; it started when Handel led the first performance of the Royal Fireworks Music. "Put twenty-four oboes together (Baroque oboes, I might add), and they'll play in twenty-four different keys." He didn't say whether it's because oboes are so difficult to tune or because the true A is so sacred a trust that oboists are loathe to share it. Well, here's your chance to find out. King's recording of the Royal Fireworks Music is the first to use period instruments in the exact numbers that Handel had (against his better judgment--he preferred the version with strings) at the premiere: twenty-four oboes, twelve bassoons (one a contrabassoon), nine trumpets, nine horns, three pairs of timpani, and [?] side drums. Michel Piguet gave it a shot thirteen years ago, but "for practical reasons" reduced the ensemble by a third: sixteen oboes, eight bassoons, contrabassoon, six trumpets and horns, two pairs of kettledrums, and a side drum. The practical reason may have been that he couldn't find enough players (especially bassoonists) in 1976, but his recording, released here by Musical Heritage, effectively made the point that massing double reeds has the effect of softening the sound rather than accentuating it, a finding confirmed by the present version. For practical reasons of its own, Hyperion recorded this performance in an enclosed space, but one large enough to afford the requisite illusion of spaciousness. This disc is worth hearing for no other reason than its sound, but King's performance is equally persuasive.

However, that is less than half of the story. The rest of the disc--in fact, the first three-fifths of it--is devoted to the four Coronation Anthems. English coronation ceremonies have always been accompanied by inspirational music, but none more so, one suspects, than George II's in 1727, when Handel was there to supply the inspiration. Again, King captures the spirit in these superb performances with the all-male choir of New College, Oxford. All in all, this is a remarkable, exciting release. In case you wondered, twelve access points are provided for the four anthems and one for each movement of the Fireworks Music. Highly recommended.

George Chien

Copyright © 1990 by Fanfare, Inc. Reprinted by permission from Volume 13, No. 4 (March/April 1990), pages 186-187. This article reviews an earlier CD issue of the recordings on Hyperion 20350. 

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