Full Description
An international collaboration between leading scholars showcases a broad spectrum of observations on Handel and his music, covering many aspects of modern interdisciplinary and traditional philological musicology.
As soon as Handel composed, rehearsed and performed his music, it was already a subject of fascination for the authors of reports, polemics and critical appraisals. The continuous yet evolving culture of Handelian studies is represented here in its current state by several generations of scholars who are inspired by the research, publications and teaching of Donald Burrows.
This festschrift contains twenty essays that exemplify aspects both of traditional philological enquiry and of modern interdisciplinary musicology. Much like a baroque dramma per musica, the narrative is divided into three parts. Act I, 'Handel's Music and Creative Practices', is an exposition that sets the scene and introduces the main characters: musical case studies stretch from his first opera Almira (Hamburg, 1705) to his last English oratorio The Triumph of Time and Truth (London, 1757). Act II, is 'Sources, Documents and Attributions', develops complications to the plot: there is new information about the authenticity of chamber cantatas and instrumental pieces, and reports on manuscript, printed, and archival sources that demonstrate how primary research may be interpreted and understood. Act III, 'Context and Reception', moves us towards the lieto fine: some broad contexts of Handel in relation to his contemporaries and colleagues are considered alongside reception studies of the composer's music both within and after his lifetime.
DAVID VICKERS teaches Academic Studies at Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester) and is a council member of The Handel Institute.
CONTIBUTORS: Graydon Beeks, Michael Burden, John Butt, Hans Dieter Clausen, Matthew Gardner, Anthony Hicks, David Hunter, H. Diack Johnstone, Andrew V. Jones, David Kimbell, Richard G. King, Annette Landgraf, Tríona O'Hanlon, Suzana Ograjenšek, Leslie M. M. Robarts, John H. Roberts, Ruth Smith, Colin Timms, David Vickers and Silas Wollston.
Contents
Ouverture
David Vickers
Act I. Handel's Music and Creative Practices
1 'Almire regiere': Some Reflections on the First Aria in Handel's First Opera
David Kimbell
2 Il pastor fido by Guarini (1585) and Handel (1712): From tragicommedia pastorale to dramma per musica
Suzana Ograjenšek
3 Late or Soon? Cadential Timing in the Continuo Recitatives of Handel and his Contemporaries
John H. Roberts
4 Handel's Bilingual Versions of Esther and Deborah, 1734-1737
David Vickers
5 Handel's Compositional Process in the Creation of the Grand Concertos, Op. 6
Silas Wollston
6 The London Revisions of Handel's First Roman Oratorio: Il trionfo del Tempo e della Verità (1737) and The Triumph of Time and Truth (1757)
Matthew Gardner
Act II. Sources, Documents and Attributions
7 Handel's Continuo Cantatas: Problems of Authenticity, Classification and Chronology
Andrew V. Jones
8 When and Why Did Handel Replace his Conducting Scores?
Hans Dieter Clausen
9 Handel, the Duke of Chandos and Investing in the Royal African Company
David Hunter
10 Handel and Comus at Exton
Colin Timms
11 Wordbooks for Handel's Oratorios, Especially Joseph and his Brethren and Hercules: Copyright and Production
Leslie M.M. Robarts
12 New Music by Handel for Horns?
†Anthony Hicks (rev. Colin Timms)
Act III. Context and Reception
13 Bach and Handel: Differences within a Common Culture of Musical Invention
John Butt
14 Le rivale regine: Faustina and Cuzzoni in Satirical Engravings, Literature and Opera in the 1720s and 1730s
Richard G. King
15 Charles Jennens Revisited
Ruth Smith
16 'O Come, Let us Sing unto the Lord': Performances of the Cannons Anthems during Handel's Lifetime
Graydon Beeks
17 Charity Performances of Handel's Works in Eighteenth-Century Dublin (1736-1760)
Tríona O'Hanlon
18 Early Keepers of the Flame: Vanneschi (and Handel) at the Opera
Michael Burden
19 Revamped Handel: The Content and Context of his So-Called 'Miserere'
H. Diack Johnstone
20 Handel's 'celebrated Largo': Remarks on the Reception History of 'Ombra mai fu'
Annette Landgraf
The Works of Donald Burrows
Index of Handel's Works
General Index
Tabula Gratulatoria
