Handel; Dixit Dominus

tones

Wammer
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Apr 10, 2006
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Tony
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Just came across this and had to share it. Handel's setting of the Latin text of Psalm 110 (The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool) was made as a young man resident in Rome and before he moved to England. It shows that Handel already had nothing to learn about drama in music and it requires a virtuoso choir to do it justice - such as Gardiner's Monteverdis:

[video=youtube;GH2-4D32azo]


 

take5

Wammer
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Jul 17, 2008
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Tony, I have a version of this.

English Chamber Orch. with Sir David Willcocks. choir is Kings college , Cambridge.

soloists : T Zylis Gara, Janet Baker, Martin Lane, John S Quirk.

lovely

 

tones

Wammer
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Totally brilliant stuff. Elsewhere I was agreeing with Alan (MusicBox) that I should try harder with modern music. But then I hear something like this and think, Why bother? It simply doesn't get any better than this.

 
C

chris217

Guest
The recording by the Balthasar-Neumann Chor and Ensemble under Hengelbrock is one I rather like. The coupling, Caldera's Missa Dolorosa, is a nice rarity.

 

khapahk

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One of Handel's "small but perfectly formed" pieces of choral music ! I've both the JEG and Willcocks versions; as different as chalk from cheese, of course, but both excellent in their own way.

k

 

tones

Wammer
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I quite agree for music from 300 years sgo, but an awful lot happened after tbat...
True, but (IMHO of course) nothing that constituted any sort of aesthetic improvement. Much just as good of course, but nothing better.

 

josh

Wammer
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May 1, 2006
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One of Handel's "small but perfectly formed" pieces of choral music ! I've both the JEG and Willcocks versions; as different as chalk from cheese, of course, but both excellent in their own way.
How would you describe the difference?

I'm just listening to Gardiner's as linked above now. It's really lovely.

 

tones

Wammer
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Apr 10, 2006
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Tony
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One of Handel's "small but perfectly formed" pieces of choral music ! I've both the JEG and Willcocks versions; as different as chalk from cheese, of course, but both excellent in their own way. k
Some more of those perfectly formed Handel choral pieces are the Coronation anthems. What in my opinion is the best version, by Nev and the ASMF, is again available:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Handel-Coronation-Anthems-Georg-Friederich/dp/B0000040X6/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1422619868&sr=1-1&keywords=handel+coronation+marriner

One of them, Zadok the Priest, has been played at every coronation since Handel's time:

[video=youtube;N09wmqLca0s]


 

josh

Wammer
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May 1, 2006
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Ok so on re-listening to this some years later, I don't think I like it as much as I once did.

Hengelbrock I thought was a touch too fast and bombastic, Willcocks was better in that regard, but there were other aspects of the performance I didn't love. Funnily I thought JEG  as heard here was actually my favourite, of the first part at least:  [SIZE=11pt]https://youtu.be/dS65-ZvUSSM[/SIZE]

Happy to leave it there :)

 

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