Georg Friedrich Händel (1685 - 1759) was a German, later British, baroque composer who spent the bulk of his career in London, becoming well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, and organ concertos. Handel received important training in Halle and worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712; he became a naturalised British subject in 1727. He was strongly influenced both by the great composers of the Italian Baroque and by the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition.

Many composers have written coronation anthems which is a piece of choral music written to accompany the coronation of a monarch. However the best known were composed by George Frideric Handel. Handel's four coronation anthems use text from the King James Bible and were designed to be played at the coronation of the British monarch. They are Zadok the Priest, Let Thy Hand Be Strengthened, The King Shall Rejoice, and My Heart Is Inditing. Each was originally a separate work but they were later published together.

Although part of the traditional content of British coronations, the texts for all four anthems were picked by Handel—a personal selection from the most accessible account of an earlier coronation, that of James II of England in 1685. One of George I of Great Britain's last acts before his death in 1727 was to sign an "Act of naturalisation of George Frideric Händel and others". His first commission from Handel as a newly naturalised British subject was to write the music for the coronation of George II of England and Queen Caroline which took place on 11 October the same year. Within the coronation ceremonies Let thy hand be strengthened was played first, then Zadok, then The King shall rejoice, and finally My heart is inditing at the coronation of the Queen. (In modern coronations the order is Zadok, Let thy hand be strengthened, The King shall rejoice and My heart is inditing, with the order of Let thy hand be strengthened and The King shall rejoice sometimes reversed.)

Deborah (HWV 51) is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel. It was one of Handel's early oratorios in English and was based on a libretto by Samuel Humphreys. It received its premiere performance at the King's Theatre in London on 17 March 1733.

The story of the oratorio takes place in a single day and is based on the Biblical stories found in 4 and 5 Judges. The Israelites have been subjugated for 20 years by the Canaanites, when the prophetess Deborah foretells the death of the Canaanite commander Sisera at the hands of a woman. The Israelite commander Barak leads them into battle against the Canaanites. The Israelites are victorious and a woman, Jael, assassinates Sisera as he sleeps in her tent.

By 1733, Handel had spent nearly twenty years composing and presenting seasons of Italian opera in London. The great success of Esther the previous year had shown Handel that there was potential for further works of "Sacred Drama", performed in concert form in English. Deborah reuses much music Handel had previously composed, including passages from the Brockes Passion, Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno, the Dixit Dominus, and others. Deborah was performed as part of Handel's season at the King's Theatre in 1733, with the stars of the Italian opera singing in English, and the composer / impresario was so confident of the work's success that he doubled the price of admission for the first performance, causing some resentment and comment in the press.  A feature of the work is massive choruses, some in eight parts rather than the usual four, and grandiose orchestral effects featuring trumpets and drums. One witness to the first performances noted "It is very magnificent, near a hundred performers, among whom about twenty-five singers" while another remarked "'tis excessive noisy, a vast number of voices and instruments, who all perform at a time." Deborah achieved considerable popularity and was revived by Handel in a number of subsequent seasons.

Handel reused music from numerous previous compositions for Deborah. The work, with large choruses and grand orchestral effects, was very successful and was revived by Handel in subsequent years.

Source: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah_(Handel)).

Although originally created for Mixed Chorus (SATB) & Baroque Orchestra (Oboes, Bassoons, Horns, Trumpets, Timpani, Violette all'ottava, Strings & Continuo), I created this Arrangement of "Tears, such as tender fathers shed" from "Deborah" (HWV 51 Mvt. 56) for Bassoon and Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).