INKPOT#21 CLASSICAL MUSIC FEATURES: HANDEL Water Music and Musick for the Royal Fireworks. Gardiner (Philips); Savall (Astree)
INKPOT#21 CLASSICAL MUSIC FEATURES: HANDEL Water Music and Musick for the Royal Fireworks. Gardiner (Philips); Savall (Astree)
Georg Frideric HANDEL (1685-1759)Water Music andThe Musick for the Royal Fireworks
by Chia Han-Leon
The Handel Homepage!
On 17th July, 1717, King George I went on a river excursion. True to Baroque extravagance, there were big boats, lots of people and of course, grand music. On this particular occasion, Mr. Handel was asked to provide it, and “His Majesty’s approval of it was so great that he caused it to be played three times in all.” George (the King, not the composer) later attended a supper at a riverside villa at 1 am. He left at 3 and got home at 4.30 am. THEN the music stopped, according to the newspapers. One wonders how the musicians (they were apparently all hired for 150 pounds) felt about Handel by that time. Oh, and with the neighbours trying to sleep.
It is to some extent true that Handel’s music is repetitive; the same charge is levelled at Vivaldi. Yet it is perhaps not this which one should blame, but appreciate the sheer splendour and variety Handel achieved within the Baroque framework of things.
The three suites for Water Music are usually scored respectively for horns in F, flutes in G and trumpets in D, BUT the arrangement is arbitrary because the original manuscripts are lost. The variety of scoring is perhaps only limited, but the skill is evident. This is by definition popular music, meant for public consumption as nearly all of Handel’s music is. The spirit of the dance, ever so popular in those days, is evident in the music – the French ‘suite’ after all was a collection of dances, hence the French dance names in the various suites of the period.
Arrival of the Queen of Sheba from Solomon Water Music suites Music for the Royal Fireworks
English Baroque Soloists directed by John Eliot Gardiner on period instruments
PHILIPS CLASSICS Golden Baroque 454 410-2 [72’35”] budget-price
Although the music is not really meant for dancing (they merely borrowed the form from the French), the dynamism and ‘push’ of the dance is a key ingredient of the music. John Eliot Gardiner’s collection of the three suites (Philips 434 122-2, full-price) were recently reissued, at budget price, with his recording of the Fireworks music and the popular Arrival of the Queen of Sheba. As a one-stop disc of both works – cheesy cover and no notes aside – it is very hard to beat at nearly 73 minutes. What makes it even more irresistible is that these are performances characteristic of Gardiner’s energy and the English Baroque Soloists’ beautifully refined sound and dynamic, impeccable playing. There are passages of energy and clarity from the strings, bold brassy brilliance (eg. Presto, Suite No.1), grace in the opening of the G major suite, and the dancing trumpets and drums of the D major suite, full of verve and majesty.
Water Music Suite No.1 in D and G; Suite No.2 in F Music for the Royal Fireworks
Le Concert des Nations directed by Jordi Savall on period instruments
AUVIDIS FONTALIS (previously ASTRE) E8512 [73’53”] full-price
The talented Catalan conductor and violist Jordi Savall presents the music in two Suites (No.1 in D and No.2 in F), but don’t be surprised by the different sequence compared to Gardiner, as no one can say for sure if Handel intended them to be in any strict order. Savall in any case, is a sensitive programmer whose recordings on the Spanish label Auvidis are often marked by their beautiful musicality. (Savall used to record on the Auvidis sublabel Astre; in 1998 a new sublabel, Fontalis, was created for him. But Auvidis was bought over recently and he now records on his own Alias Vox)
Compared to Gardiner, Savall’s Spanish group comes across as even more dynamic than Gardiner’s – his rhythms are freer, and generate even more “push” than Gardiner. When it comes to choice, it is a matter of personal taste. Gardiner is has enough ‘push’ as it is, but remains faithful to a certain British earthiness which does fit the Hanoverian score. Savall brings a freshness to the score, passing through a Spanish weave which instills a great deal of colour, sensitivity and nuances to a traditionally British reading. The players of Les Concerts des Nations match the EBS’s virtuosity, and sometimes surpass them. Listen to Savall’s horns (eg. track 17) make their parts and their thrills sound like child’s play – remember these are natural horns without modern valves!
The same applies to their readings of the Music for the Royal Fireworks, written to celebrate the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which brought the Austrian Wars of Succession to an end. Comparing the one distinctive ad-libbed part in the Ouverture, the trumpet flourish between the opening slow section and the main portion, the differences are almost shocking: Gardiner’s trumpeteer’s choice is traditional, but Savall’s will have you looking around for a Toreador and a snorting bull!
For Fireworks, perhaps the more “fun” performance (and it certainly is a fun occasion) is Gardiner’s. In the celebratory La Rejouissance, for example, Gardiner’s pace is slightly slower (but not by any means slow) than Savall’s, and thereby allows the piece to unfold with greater majesty.
Handel (left) was in essence a very public figure, whose music is likewise for the public. As the Andrew Lloyd Webber of his day, he is one of the few composers in history who died in fame and considerable wealth. His instrumental music, good as they are, is only an indication of the wealth and worth of vocal music that has come from his pen; for Handel’s magic is his ability to engage the public with his art. When Handel combines words with his music, the Italian dramatism of his operas, the Germanic power of his Hanoverian roots join with that cosmopolitan spirit of the English to create music that is honest without being superficial, simple yet filled with enormous grandeur.
Philips’ Golden Baroque collection can be ordered from Sing Discs (Raffles City). CDs from the Auvidis Astre label can be found at HMV and Borders, or ordered from MDT Classics.
043: rev.17.9.97. up.5.12.98
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