Although born in Germany, the great Baroque composer George Frideric Handel spent much of his career in England, where he achieved great fame, culminating in composing no fewer than four anthems for the Coronation of King George II in 1727.
Handel excelled in the fields of opera, oratorio, and instrumental compositions. His best music has a captivating grandeur and eloquence of expression, combined with the kind of intricate counterpoint you can also hear in his contemporaries Bach and Vivaldi.
Best of Handel: six key works
Dixit Dominus (1707)
Written during his years in Italy, the influence of Vivaldi on this anthem is clear. A virtuosic choral piece with exuberant counterpoint and drive, Dixit Dominus is one of Handel’s most dramatic and vibrant choral works. Setting to music the words of Psalm 110 ‘Dixit Dominus’ (‘The Lord said unto my Lord’), it’s a perfect showcase of the young composer’s mastery of choral writing and his debt to the Italian Baroque school.
Recommended recording: The Sixteen / Harry Christophers Coro COR16076
Water Music (1717)
When George I took a boat trip down the Thames in July 1717, complete with entourage, they were also accompanied by 50 musicians on a separate ‘barge’ playing Handel’s stately Water Music. It was a festive occasion – you might call it the first ‘booze cruise’ – and Handel’s spirited, grandiose music must have fitted the mood perfectly.
Recommended recording: L’Arte dell’Arco/Federico Guglielmo CPO 7773122
Keyboard Suites
Like Bach’s great Partitas, Handel’s Suites incorporate French, Italian and German music. From the most tender opening of Suite No. 2 to its Gigue ending, Handel reveals his mastery of colour and texture.
Recommended recording: Murray Perahia Sony SK62785
Best of Handel, continued
Giulio Cesare (1724)
Giulio Cesare received a welcome boost from a tremendously zesty Glyndebourne production in 2005. Well deserved, too, as Handel’s opera boasts magnificently memorable music.
Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Julius Caesar in Egypt) to give it its full name, the work is a three-act opera seria based on historical events involving Julius Caesar and Cleopatra. It’s rightly celebrated for its great dramatic power, memorable arias, and rich orchestration. An excellent place to start your Baroque opera journey.
Recommended recording: Jennifer Larmore, Barbara Schlick, Bernarda Fink, et al, Concerto Köln/René Jacobs Harmonia Mundi HMC901385/87
Zadok the Priest (1727)
When George II – son of England’s first Hanoverian monarch, George I – succeeded his father in 1727, Handel was asked to write music for the Coronation. He was, after all, an Anglicised German much like the Georges themselves, so it made a lot of sense.
Handel wrote four anthems for the coronation. Of these, easily the best known is Zadok the Priest. Taking its name from a priest mentioned in the Old Testament, ‘Zadok’ was performed at the moment George was anointed as the new king. Its softly rocking opening on the strings creates a sense of mounting excitement, before the choir and trumpets burst forth in a blaze of glory.
Small wonder ‘Zadok’ was such a huge hit. Indeed, it has been performed at every single British coronation since then, right up until that of Charles III in 2023.
Recommended recording: Trevor Pinnock (organ); Westimister Abbey Choir and Orchestra/Simon Preston
Messiah (1741)
Handel wrote his great oratorio Messiah in just two weeks in 1741, setting a libretto by Charles Jennens. Every aria and chorus is memorable including, of course, the famous ‘Hallelujah’ chorus.
Recommended recording: Susan Hamilton, Nicholas Mulroy, et al, Dunedin Consort/John Butt Linn CKD285