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 chora...(+)
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.
Chandos Anthems, HWV 246–256, is the common name of a
set of anthems written by George Frideric Handel. These
sacred choral compositions number eleven; a twelfth of
disputed authorship is not considered here. The texts
are psalms and combined psalm verses in English. Handel
wrote the anthems as composer in residence at Cannons,
the court of James Brydges, who became the First Duke
of Chandos in 1719. His chapel was not yet finished,
and services were therefore held at St Lawrence in
Whitchurch. The scoring is intimate, in keeping with
the possibilities there. Some of the anthems rely on
earlier works, and some were later revised for other
purposes.
Ten of the anthems were published in 1748. With a
leading Jubilate, an additional closing anthem in
different scoring, and in different order, they were
published in the Samuel Arnold edition of Handel's
works. In the Hallische Händel-Ausgabe, anthems 1 to
11 are titled Anthems for Cannons. Carus-Verlag
published an edition in 2009, calling them Cannons
Anthems.
No. 5 (HWV 250) "I Will Magnify Thee" was written in
March 1738 for performance at a benefit concert for the
King’s Theatre in the Haymarket. Until just before
Handel’s first visit to England , the only instrument
permitted to accompany the service in the Chapel Royal
was the organ. These four works (O sing unto the Lord
HWV 249a, I will magnify thee HWV 250b, As pants the
hart HWV 251e, Let God arise HWV 256b), with their
orchestral accompaniments, thus represent something
akin to a new genre in English church music.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandos_Anthems).
Although originally written for Voice (STB), Violins,
Oboes & Basso Continuo (Cello, Bassoon & Bass), I
created this Interpretation of the Chandos Anthem No. 5
in D Major (HWV 250) for Winds (Flute, Oboe, French
Horn & Bassoon) & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).