This handbook covers Handel's best known public music, the Water Music, written at the outset of his English career, and the Music for the Royal Fireworks, the last and largest of his orchestral creations. The genesis of these two orchestral suites is examined in its political as well as musical context; practical questions of performance style and interpretation are balanced by an enquiry into Handel's compositional processes, and the relationship of his other large-scale orchestral compositions, especially the Concerti a due cori, to these suites. Original source material is set alongside the most recent theories on Handel's character and working methods. In particular the problem of 'borrowings' is addressed with reference to most recent identifications of Handel's sources, together with the later presentation of these works in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with an account of recordings, editions and a summary of performance questions.
• Handel's work set in his political as well as musical environment • The latest views on Handel's method of composing with 'borrowed' material is analysed with examples • A survey of later arrangements and suggestions for modern performers
Contents
Preface; 1. The character of the man; 2. Politics and power; 3. Water Music; 4. The 'indebtedness' of Handel; 5. The Concerti a due cori; 6. Politics and peace; 7. Music for the Royal Fireworks; 8. Handel in other hands; 9. Performance parameters; Appendix: Sources of shared material; Notes; Select bibliography; Index.
Reviews
'Hogwood is a reliable and well-informed guide to this repertory. … It is a fascinating document.' Early Music
'Christopher Hogwood is one of the leading exponents of this period of music, and there is much to enjoy in [this book] … that explores both the Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks. … anyone interested in delving more deeply into this intriguing period in the development of English music, can do little better than investing the modest amount in Hogwood's book.' Newsletter, Ipswich Arts Association
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