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 ...(+)
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.)
With "My Heart is Inditing", the overture to its first
movement is not a flamboyant trumpet fanfare but a
three-time andante. The first section is in D major,
begun by the soloists (originally 2 singers from each
group to balance against the full breadth of the
orchestra) before alternating between soloists and full
choir. The second section is in A major and is also an
elegant andante and sets up a charming base line which
is taken up by the orchestra, and the melody begins
with a long note followed by a casual dotted rhythm
pointing out the words "King's daughters". The third
movement in E major is yet again an andante, keeping up
the graceful and feminine air until the joyous dotted
rhythm reappears on the words "and the King shall have
pleasure". Handel then keeps up the allegro until the
end and the orchestra begins the final movement in D
major (after Isa. 49.23) with a virtuoso ritornello
before the choirs enter with all the solemn ceremonial
pomp of the other anthems. Handel kept the trumpets
back in reserve throughout the piece right until the
end, where they add another triumphal dimension to the
finale.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronation_anthem).
Although originally created for Baroque Orchestra, I
created this Arrangement of "My Heart is Inditing" (HWV
261) for Winds (Flute, Oboe, English Horn, French Horn
& Bassoon) & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).