Thanks for sharing this. The only thing that would make it more "epic" (as the kids say nowadays) would be a dozen or more sackbuts! But I suppose they are not in Handel's original - more's the pity!
The conductor isn't doing a very good job... and some of the instruments aren't in perfect synch with the rest...it's greatly diminishing the effect the music is supposed to have on the brain!
No one has written music that that is as regal and majestic as that of G.F. Handel. Though German by birth, he is honored as one of Great Britain's greatest composers and triumphed late in life with The Messiah.
@Garrison446 Another great composer was also J.B.Lully (for example the Royal French Hymn) -Giovanni Battista Lulli- italian at origin but french in thinking at the royal french court ,and of course Marc A. Charpentier with another work-of-art and others like the great Mozart .Long live the Kings/Queens and the Monarchyies ! Vive aussi la Monarchie Francaise !
This is kind of the 18th century equivalent to the modern concert band. Instead of clarinets and saxes oboes and bassoons. Instead of trumpets and trombones 18th century trumpets and horns. Instead of Bass drums and cymbals Field drums and tympani
9:34 video: 1991 BBC broadcast of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks.
At 7:49 is a dramatization in paper cut-outs of the events at the very first performance [in London's Green Park on 27 April 1749] during which because of the improperly handled fireworks the concert pavilion was burned down.
There should be no strings whatsoever in this piece. King George specifically asked that there be only "manly" instruments, worthy to commemorate his victory in the War of Austrian Succession.
Baroque Contrabassoon, there's something you don't see everyday. I'm glad Handel went back and added strings and continuo, it just seems a little empty with out them. But Awesome performances though, I'm surprised that many period winds are in tune lol
@Violinkid05 shows how much we underestimate old technology and old instruments, hey? just shows how much power of intonation is actually in the player and how much people just blame their instruments! including string players.
also, i feel like a lot of works that are either just for winds or just from strings suddenly come to life with added strings/winds! like vivaldi's 4 seasons. they are absolutely incredible, but i've heard versions with winds and it brings a new magic to the pieces.
@yanpan16 Well there's no doubt in my mind with todays technology that it is much easier to blend then it would of been with hand crafted instruments during the times of these works. The winds went through so much to get to what they are today since they were much harder to keep in tune. So it is a pleasing sound to witness what a clear sound of period instruments sound like both strings and winds, or symphonies, its all great. I wish we could go back lol
There have been a lot of interesting remarks posted here about this video. Some stupid, others intelligent and very observant. My own is that this was a pretty good "authentic" (for lack of a better adjective) performance but not the first. There was a recording made in the late 60's for Deutsche Gramophon with the same configuration. It was recorded in the middle of the night because that was the only way they could gather together enough specialist players from across Europe.
My mistake. It appears that the recording I was thinking of was made in 1989, It's the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis wind ensemble under August Wenzinger and still downloadable.
merci pour l'upload. Mais... cette interprétation d'Handel est un vrai massacre, sans la moindre subtilité, le chef d'orchestre est minable, en fait des tonnes et aucun musicien ne le regarde, ou presque. Grosse déception...
@gospelblu3 It was performed at the Royal Albert Hall, London, as part of that year's BBC Promenade Concerts. The King's Consort is conducted by Robert King and led by first oboe Paul Goodwin, who went on to make a name for himself as a conductor! I remember it and can't believe it's nearly twenty years ago!
"Music for the royal fireworks" and "Water music" always make me smile and hum along them. No matter how down you are they always give you a glimpse of joy and majesty. Handel owns!!
The orchestration must be very close to King George II expectations: He initially asked Handel a band with no strings in it (sounds more military). This is exactly what we have here.
The pace of this patricular rendition is completely out of of kilter. It sounds awful and the highs are too high. Oh!dear. Not good at all Far too loud (even for fireworks) A disaster I think.
I remember one of the first recording of Baroque music with period (natural) trumpets and horns and woodwinds, ca. 1965, Handel's Fireworks Music. It sounded like a bad middle-school marching band. Now look, and hear! Who would have predicted it? In London, today, it is easy to assemble this kind of ensemble of period instruments.
A good performance using authentic period instruments but this overture needs to be slower and more stately and not barge. It is too fast, no disrespect to the talented conductor. I have played this piece of music in military bands many times and feel it needs to be taken at a more graceful tempo and not "gabbled".
This performance is probably even more authentic than people realise. The perfect intonation and accuracy we hear in modern recordings rarely existed in the C18. I expect the sheer problem in obtain such an absurd number of wind instruments, even in London in the C18 would have resulted in a few sub-par players dropping a note or two here or there. Factor in the fact no one had actually played a contrabassoon before it was made for this piece...
I feel so proud that Mr Handel chose to live so much of his later life in England. The maestro of baroque, his music really touches my heart. I was fortunate to visit his house in Brooke Street London last April on the 250th anniversary of his death, which was so moving. RIP
You're watch Prime Minister's questions, on C-SPAN. This week, Prime Minister Brown fields questions on funding for the National Health Service, the parking situation in Benchley, and the Duke of York's recent arrest on drug charges. And now, the House of of Commons...
..actually, it's both. He Anglicized the spelling when he moved to England, so in fact Handel, not Händel would be more correct at the time of writing this piece.
Can't conceive of a valid reason to challenge this interpretation of Handel's work...
It is not only moving and inspirational...it also annimates, or, rather, evokes a sense of time and presence... Hurrah for this and many plaudits to the musicians who made it possible...x
@yarrtiscrapulence heheheheh, hey lad, you are very funny, "baroque n`roll", hehehheheh goood!! I like that !! "Baroque n`roll", hehehehhehe, very good....well, Baroque was a very good time in music, always is good to spirit hear that excelent music
Not a nice or grand performance in any way. Why does the conductor insist breaking up each note and untimately ruining the whole flow of the piece - crash, bang, wallop is all I hear.
Check Boulez and the NY Phil ANYTIME over this cold,stiff treatment.
Click the more info button "The recording with my old Telefunken machine has a slightly overmodulated sound" Also, Youtube isn't the best sonically for reproduction. Anyways, it is a Period instrument orchestra that was intended for outdoors. If this had been performed as the composer intended as an accompaniment to a Fireworks display (which were quite noisy affairs), the aspects of which you commented on would have been "softened." At least the conductor followed the score.
Actually, I have a Musical Heritage Society of the same piece, likewise with Period Instruments, and the bombast is how the piece was written. I haven't heard the recording you recommended. If it is typical Boulez, he followed his heart rather than the composer's intention. Boulez is a fine conductor of the old school; his interpretation of the music with a "modern" orchestra, making something new from something old.
Sorry to sound so critical, and thank you for your reply. It's not the sound quality that I'm having problems with, nor is it the bombast, which I understand is appropriate for the piece. It's the shortening of the notes and clipping of the phrases that I don't like. After hearing Boulez's reading (bear in mind that I usually have some issues with Boulez's interpretations anyway), I was astounded by the resplendence and majesty he brought to this music and nothing since has ever come close!
Handel's orchestration stipulates for , and appropriate as this was outdoor music and the score was also without Strings! 24 oboes, 12 bassoons (and a contra), 9 trumpets, 9 french horns, 3pairs of kettledrums, 3unspecified number of side drums. 3 In the overture he assigned 3 players to each of the 3 trumpet parts; oboes are divided 12, 8 and 4; 312 bassoons are divided 8 and 4. Side drums to play in La Réjouissance and the second Menuet, but very likely also played in the Ouverture
That shews the danger of copying the orchestration details from Wikipedia, as it is incomplete. True, the original commission was for martial instruments but Handel decided to add what the event director called "his damned violeens" before even the first "rehearsal" performance at Vauxhall.
The old instruments were less powerful than their modern equivalents. As this was intended for outdoor performance, strings were too weak to be really effective. Handel could have written for shawms (loud oboes), intended for outdoor use.
First of all, my comments are AWESOME and deserve to be respected. Second of all, I will agree that Mozart is one of the best classical composers, home grown in Austria, one of the best countries on Earth.
I will concede that I have heard better recordings of this, but I still believe it to be one of the best. (Although I do like the baroque instruments and the percussion battery, it is very nice.)
Hey.... Composi.... I don't know who you think you are....but this is by far the best classical piece EVER WRITTEN. Rivaled only by Beethoven's 9th symphony.
I think that the five greatest musical composers of all time are, in chronological order, Handel Bach Haydn Mozart Beethoven. My favorite of those happens to be Mozart, followed by either Bach or Handel.
I do not know Brahms music well enough to agree or disagree. I think that in the vast majority of cases, the greatest music ever written was written in Germany/Austria/Italy in the 1700's. What complicates matters about Brahms is that he is considered a throwback to that very era, yet he himself lived in the mid to late 1800's.
The concert band and I are playing this for our concert. Probably one of my favorites on the list. It's really fun, especially towards the end. Hooray! :D
Handel is really a ship in a lion's skin. Under all those grandiose choirs, blazing brass fanfares and massive sound-falls there is a lyrical and tender, almost romantic soul.
Remove the sonic splendour from any of his works and you'll still have a genial COMPOSITION.
WOW - this is awesome... All those BASSOONS!!! (Guess what I used to play in the day?) It is amazing to see all those period instruments in one place. And NO VALVES!
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blackhighpanther 6 days ago
My (MS) band is playing a modern version of this. It's amazingly fun on the xylo. THANK YOU HANDEL!
Maxwell58SSC 2 weeks ago
Super !
trombaclassicsff 3 weeks ago
This is so much fun! I love the contrabassoon particularly.
bachlives 1 month ago
@mjmjmh6: I didn't notice nobody wears strings!
JosDetermeijer 2 months ago
beautifull, never enough brass!!!
JosDetermeijer 2 months ago
BRAVO!
46619TAB 2 months ago
Horrible. Els anglesos tampoc son els mes indicats per interpretar el seu compositor nacional. Amb 9 trompetes ho destroçen, i es perd el so.
camiseta41 3 months ago
GRANDIOSO!!!!
mariodanioboe 3 months ago
Thanks for sharing this. The only thing that would make it more "epic" (as the kids say nowadays) would be a dozen or more sackbuts! But I suppose they are not in Handel's original - more's the pity!
bassbonebobf 4 months ago
actually it was 18th August. You can check: the BBC proms arcive
aerobertj 4 months ago
che violenza!!!
zumbangboom 4 months ago
The conductor isn't doing a very good job... and some of the instruments aren't in perfect synch with the rest...it's greatly diminishing the effect the music is supposed to have on the brain!
GargwareComputers 6 months ago
@GargwareComputers Agreed.
Dodo251 5 months ago
How authentic with the old musical instruments.
MrEriesal 6 months ago
One of the greatest masters of MUSIK , Händel ! Excellent performance ! Enjoying the great music from Romania !
40Heinrich 6 months ago
Congratulations, Excellent video!.
MrGUILLERMOPLAZA 6 months ago
Comment removed
N1ceGuyEdd1e 8 months ago
i only have to do this for an exam otherwise.....
MissFizz98 8 months ago
I love to hear music being performed as the original audiences would have heard it.
RWC25419 8 months ago
30 people don't like the flash and pizazz of fireworks...
bleakbear 8 months ago
Long Live the King. Right ?
Ch3ls4wy 8 months ago
No one has written music that that is as regal and majestic as that of G.F. Handel. Though German by birth, he is honored as one of Great Britain's greatest composers and triumphed late in life with The Messiah.
Garrison446 8 months ago 2
@Garrison446 Another great composer was also J.B.Lully (for example the Royal French Hymn) -Giovanni Battista Lulli- italian at origin but french in thinking at the royal french court ,and of course Marc A. Charpentier with another work-of-art and others like the great Mozart .Long live the Kings/Queens and the Monarchyies ! Vive aussi la Monarchie Francaise !
40Heinrich 6 months ago
This is kind of the 18th century equivalent to the modern concert band. Instead of clarinets and saxes oboes and bassoons. Instead of trumpets and trombones 18th century trumpets and horns. Instead of Bass drums and cymbals Field drums and tympani
beatlesopera 8 months ago
YouTube enormously enriched my spiritual lifeThak you for this ocean of music!
Alecs1950 8 months ago
9:34 video: 1991 BBC broadcast of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks.
At 7:49 is a dramatization in paper cut-outs of the events at the very first performance [in London's Green Park on 27 April 1749] during which because of the improperly handled fireworks the concert pavilion was burned down.
mkworkman 9 months ago
Fennséges, méltóságteljes, ragyogó! Árad az életőrőm!
mariann0071 9 months ago
I love it without the strings!
mjmjmh6 9 months ago 6
i find the opening kinda awkward, kinda to much staccato and rather slow
khl1975 10 months ago
There should be no strings whatsoever in this piece. King George specifically asked that there be only "manly" instruments, worthy to commemorate his victory in the War of Austrian Succession.
corneliusvanDB 10 months ago
The chances of breaking a note would have to be very high. I think I heard one, maybe two. Incredible.
puffin02 11 months ago
Well done!
pianogurl86 11 months ago
Imagine if Alte Fritz's Grenadiers marched with this with thru the Brandenburg tor!
Paladin1441 11 months ago
This would be great music for a military tattoo, beautiful
Paladin1441 11 months ago
I'm playing this in high school... listening to them makes me want to just throw my flute in the dirt. I AM NOT WORTHY
stingfire100 11 months ago
@stingfire100 Not so! You are worthy. Just continue practicing!
NJFordPops08005 10 months ago
Simply delightful. Thanks for uploading!
elliotcastro 11 months ago
Baroque Contrabassoon, there's something you don't see everyday. I'm glad Handel went back and added strings and continuo, it just seems a little empty with out them. But Awesome performances though, I'm surprised that many period winds are in tune lol
Violinkid05 11 months ago
@Violinkid05 shows how much we underestimate old technology and old instruments, hey? just shows how much power of intonation is actually in the player and how much people just blame their instruments! including string players.
also, i feel like a lot of works that are either just for winds or just from strings suddenly come to life with added strings/winds! like vivaldi's 4 seasons. they are absolutely incredible, but i've heard versions with winds and it brings a new magic to the pieces.
yanpan16 11 months ago
@yanpan16 Well there's no doubt in my mind with todays technology that it is much easier to blend then it would of been with hand crafted instruments during the times of these works. The winds went through so much to get to what they are today since they were much harder to keep in tune. So it is a pleasing sound to witness what a clear sound of period instruments sound like both strings and winds, or symphonies, its all great. I wish we could go back lol
TheMaestro2005 11 months ago
I played this, and it was awesome.
902alert 1 year ago
There have been a lot of interesting remarks posted here about this video. Some stupid, others intelligent and very observant. My own is that this was a pretty good "authentic" (for lack of a better adjective) performance but not the first. There was a recording made in the late 60's for Deutsche Gramophon with the same configuration. It was recorded in the middle of the night because that was the only way they could gather together enough specialist players from across Europe.
pygormus 1 year ago
@pygormus
pygormus 1 year ago
My mistake. It appears that the recording I was thinking of was made in 1989, It's the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis wind ensemble under August Wenzinger and still downloadable.
pygormus 1 year ago
merci pour l'upload. Mais... cette interprétation d'Handel est un vrai massacre, sans la moindre subtilité, le chef d'orchestre est minable, en fait des tonnes et aucun musicien ne le regarde, ou presque. Grosse déception...
lameeagle23 1 year ago
huhu aber ich bin irgendwie traurig weil ich total einsam bin
konaamar1 1 year ago 3
Thaks for uploading.
opus88888 1 year ago
80's hangover.
PorroFirst 1 year ago
That's it! Is it availbe on CD?
melvis24 1 year ago
where was this performed
gospelblu3 1 year ago
@gospelblu3 It was performed at the Royal Albert Hall, London, as part of that year's BBC Promenade Concerts. The King's Consort is conducted by Robert King and led by first oboe Paul Goodwin, who went on to make a name for himself as a conductor! I remember it and can't believe it's nearly twenty years ago!
garryph 1 year ago
Super
vugarf 1 year ago
Greetings from Halle the birth town of Handel
CommanderKoks 1 year ago
Theres a hell of a large jesus contrabassoon .......but no serpent ??
papoocanada 1 year ago
The Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra are playing this arrangement with original instrumentation this November!!
mikeycraigsluman 1 year ago
lol Who else sees a young Bill Nye the Science Guy in the conductor?!
JLizzyStarcraft 1 year ago 2
"Music for the royal fireworks" and "Water music" always make me smile and hum along them. No matter how down you are they always give you a glimpse of joy and majesty. Handel owns!!
FutureHyperion 1 year ago
handel is by far my favourite composer this guy was a genious
kokomanation 1 year ago
@kokomanation Unlike you wot can't even spell genius
phlarrdboi 1 year ago
@phlarrdboi what means wot ?
kokomanation 1 year ago
@kokomanation yes, and reciprocally
phlarrdboi 1 year ago
The orchestration must be very close to King George II expectations: He initially asked Handel a band with no strings in it (sounds more military). This is exactly what we have here.
Fantastic
Hradrik 1 year ago
Wonderful !
Thanks for posting !
LaurentziuRo 1 year ago
Comment removed
stro555 1 year ago
Those instruments look primitive......but I guess that's how this piece was first played :)
firebird718 1 year ago
@firebird718
yes - it´s incredible to write such a great music with such primitve instruments - before sythesizers were found!
camposi 1 year ago
très jolie vidéo et si belle musique !
lillipinelli 1 year ago
What a wonderful music! Just so perfect.
kakihara88 1 year ago
The pace of this patricular rendition is completely out of of kilter. It sounds awful and the highs are too high. Oh!dear. Not good at all Far too loud (even for fireworks) A disaster I think.
haddyanne 1 year ago
this version is a real Royal Fireworks
beethov3n 1 year ago
I remember one of the first recording of Baroque music with period (natural) trumpets and horns and woodwinds, ca. 1965, Handel's Fireworks Music. It sounded like a bad middle-school marching band. Now look, and hear! Who would have predicted it? In London, today, it is easy to assemble this kind of ensemble of period instruments.
jwhill7 1 year ago
muy buena version!!!!!!
Llena de color y energia
vadurar 1 year ago
A good performance using authentic period instruments but this overture needs to be slower and more stately and not barge. It is too fast, no disrespect to the talented conductor. I have played this piece of music in military bands many times and feel it needs to be taken at a more graceful tempo and not "gabbled".
antonbulldog 1 year ago
@antonbulldog I'm not a professional musician, but I have agree with u.
rzauzas 1 year ago
This performance is probably even more authentic than people realise. The perfect intonation and accuracy we hear in modern recordings rarely existed in the C18. I expect the sheer problem in obtain such an absurd number of wind instruments, even in London in the C18 would have resulted in a few sub-par players dropping a note or two here or there. Factor in the fact no one had actually played a contrabassoon before it was made for this piece...
TheCrazyCello 1 year ago
Handel foreverf!!!
camposi 1 year ago
I find the performance stilted and the sound a bit weedy. It should be a lot more stirring than this.
cataloguetown 1 year ago
well its over 150 years old so perfect tuning is a little hard...anyway incredibly good piece but i agree
a little bit reedy (weedy)
wakato101 1 year ago
Because Britain and France just do it better....
wainscottbl 1 year ago
I feel so proud that Mr Handel chose to live so much of his later life in England. The maestro of baroque, his music really touches my heart. I was fortunate to visit his house in Brooke Street London last April on the 250th anniversary of his death, which was so moving. RIP
dazze17 1 year ago 6
@dazze17 You don't say RIP when someone's been dead for that long lol.
cataloguetown 1 year ago
Rectifico, no es un friki, en realidad es un pederasta condenadoa 3 años de carcel. Es cierto
MijailStrogoff 2 years ago
SI, pero ya ha cumplido condena... y esá libre. Un caso raro el suyo, con muchas dudas. Grandísimo director.
VINIVIDIVINCIT 1 year ago
El cumplir condena no le exime de ser un pederasta. Por muy buen músico que sea. Ha abusado de menores.
MijailStrogoff 1 year ago 2
El director es un friki.
MijailStrogoff 2 years ago
veramente bello!!!strepitoso!!!
ciantrumpet 2 years ago 2
only 1 cotra-bassoon out of the 70 man band
PerfectRoast 2 years ago
and 18 brass in total...valves werent there at that time, and these instruments are accurate replicas
wakato101 1 year ago
Awesome to see periodic instruments... Go double reeds!
twosevj 2 years ago
Meine wundervolle Musik zum Neuen Jahr 2010 ! Thank you from Germany!! Händel is the King of Musik!!!
denkfrau 2 years ago 2
This has been flagged as spam show
NIGGER
CowHoofOnAHotPlate 2 years ago
Comment removed
DECBAR 2 years ago
I'm so glad that Youtube exists, without it I would not be able to listen to such great music.
hazo28 2 years ago 160
@hazo28 there are, like 1000 other sites with video or music streaming. Don't mind, I just hate Google a.k.a. "Big Brother".
Drzoibber 1 year ago
Can you tell me the Orchestra?
vuk1973july 1 year ago
@vuk1973july
I think the period instrument orchestra is called The King's Consort, founded by Robert KIng - the conductor of this piece.
gmgaston 1 year ago
@hazo28
That's right!
Thanls a lot!! Greetings from Stuttgart!
TROMBONEFUN 1 year ago
@hazo28 Or you could just buy the recording, so that these people can continue to make a living without their work being pirated.
jasonb195 6 months ago
You're watch Prime Minister's questions, on C-SPAN. This week, Prime Minister Brown fields questions on funding for the National Health Service, the parking situation in Benchley, and the Duke of York's recent arrest on drug charges. And now, the House of of Commons...
CharlesShawRules 2 years ago
The Gents in white, the Ladies in metallic blue! Great music; great performance
5stickers 2 years ago
It must have been so difficult playing in tune with these instruments. Bravo to them!
rugbyplayer9999 2 years ago 3
Handel forever and ever!!!
camposi 2 years ago 28
This makes me wanna dance and prance around silly! :P
HerrWarja 2 years ago 3
This has been flagged as spam show
I say why not.
billjhyt 2 years ago
At 5:37 is that "Crispin Steele-Perkins" on principle trumpet?
falcons1988 2 years ago
I love the period instruments...and the 'period' outfits from the 80s! lol
flootloops 2 years ago 8
Im kinda bummed they didn't have tubas back then...
bobmusick 2 years ago
haha tubas weren't invented for a LOOOONGG time after,
scottjop656 2 years ago
Holy crap! Not only the original instrumentation, but original instruments! Has Trevor Pinnock been outdone? LOL
fhudkins 2 years ago 4
Natur HornZ =)
PrincessOfHessz 2 years ago
Actually, whilst in England Handel spelled his name exactly like that: Handel .
So, please, give the pedantry a rest already.
69carlo69 2 years ago 8
Haendel , not Handel .
MortalBugage 2 years ago
I prefer Händel (A)
HerrWarja 2 years ago
..actually, it's both. He Anglicized the spelling when he moved to England, so in fact Handel, not Händel would be more correct at the time of writing this piece.
kenalebla 2 years ago 3
puede ser ''haendel'' o händel
dantebulsara 2 years ago
Can't conceive of a valid reason to challenge this interpretation of Handel's work...
It is not only moving and inspirational...it also annimates, or, rather, evokes a sense of time and presence... Hurrah for this and many plaudits to the musicians who made it possible...x
vazjam 2 years ago 2
Bello! da fuochi d'artificio
giannibodoar 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
I used to listen to this when I was 2
USAGRL12783 2 years ago
baroque n' roll!
yarrtiscrapulence 2 years ago 95
lol
itsydogcello 2 years ago
@yarrtiscrapulence heheheheh, hey lad, you are very funny, "baroque n`roll", hehehheheh goood!! I like that !! "Baroque n`roll", hehehehhehe, very good....well, Baroque was a very good time in music, always is good to spirit hear that excelent music
hunnol 1 year ago
@yarrtiscrapulence
A very witty definition, bravo!
48stefano 1 year ago
@yarrtiscrapulence thats a malmsteen song xD
jcast18k 1 year ago
you are better?...
royzoley88 2 years ago
Not a nice or grand performance in any way. Why does the conductor insist breaking up each note and untimately ruining the whole flow of the piece - crash, bang, wallop is all I hear.
Check Boulez and the NY Phil ANYTIME over this cold,stiff treatment.
Disappointing
amigomatt 2 years ago
Click the more info button "The recording with my old Telefunken machine has a slightly overmodulated sound" Also, Youtube isn't the best sonically for reproduction. Anyways, it is a Period instrument orchestra that was intended for outdoors. If this had been performed as the composer intended as an accompaniment to a Fireworks display (which were quite noisy affairs), the aspects of which you commented on would have been "softened." At least the conductor followed the score.
Renshen1957 2 years ago
Actually, I have a Musical Heritage Society of the same piece, likewise with Period Instruments, and the bombast is how the piece was written. I haven't heard the recording you recommended. If it is typical Boulez, he followed his heart rather than the composer's intention. Boulez is a fine conductor of the old school; his interpretation of the music with a "modern" orchestra, making something new from something old.
Renshen1957 2 years ago
Sorry to sound so critical, and thank you for your reply. It's not the sound quality that I'm having problems with, nor is it the bombast, which I understand is appropriate for the piece. It's the shortening of the notes and clipping of the phrases that I don't like. After hearing Boulez's reading (bear in mind that I usually have some issues with Boulez's interpretations anyway), I was astounded by the resplendence and majesty he brought to this music and nothing since has ever come close!
amigomatt 2 years ago
You can hear snippets of the Boulez reading if you go to Amazon and type Boulez Handel, there's previews down the page. Let me know what you think!
Also, this performance feels rushed and lacking in grandeur
amigomatt 2 years ago
Indeed... And the tempo is a bit to fast as well.
HGSparv 2 years ago
Actually - I like the sound of it. It may not be your cup of tea - but the sound of natural instruments comes across very well to me.
dcool446 2 years ago 8
First trumpet is Crispian Steele-Perkins,
second is Mark Bennet.
Ole
ojtrumpet 2 years ago
who?
aertnhun 2 years ago
Jesus Christ, 16 bassoons?!
Reedmane 2 years ago 3
Sixteen bassoons.
KnightGarter 2 years ago
aye!
gdbalck 2 years ago
hahahah :)
Robert king is a lucky chap. i'd LOVE to conduct this band!
phlarrdboi 2 years ago
Handel's orchestration stipulates for , and appropriate as this was outdoor music and the score was also without Strings! 24 oboes, 12 bassoons (and a contra), 9 trumpets, 9 french horns, 3pairs of kettledrums, 3unspecified number of side drums. 3 In the overture he assigned 3 players to each of the 3 trumpet parts; oboes are divided 12, 8 and 4; 312 bassoons are divided 8 and 4. Side drums to play in La Réjouissance and the second Menuet, but very likely also played in the Ouverture
Renshen1957 2 years ago
That shews the danger of copying the orchestration details from Wikipedia, as it is incomplete. True, the original commission was for martial instruments but Handel decided to add what the event director called "his damned violeens" before even the first "rehearsal" performance at Vauxhall.
PaulCDickie 2 years ago
The old instruments were less powerful than their modern equivalents. As this was intended for outdoor performance, strings were too weak to be really effective. Handel could have written for shawms (loud oboes), intended for outdoor use.
BayAreaBiker2001 2 years ago 6
Love Matt Lucas on the far left pair of timps!
GreigRatcliff 2 years ago
Muy buena interpretación de esta partitura de Haendel, solo vientos y percusión... magnífico. Para mi gusto un poco lenta, pero muy buena.
galkap 2 years ago
First of all, my comments are AWESOME and deserve to be respected. Second of all, I will agree that Mozart is one of the best classical composers, home grown in Austria, one of the best countries on Earth.
2ndltpollock2 2 years ago
it is nakedBison's comments that are the most AWESOME of all
nakedBison69 2 years ago
Comment removed
haddyanne 2 years ago
haddyAnne is shallow and messy
nakedBison69 2 years ago
I will concede that I have heard better recordings of this, but I still believe it to be one of the best. (Although I do like the baroque instruments and the percussion battery, it is very nice.)
2ndltpollock2 2 years ago
i will concede that I have read better comments than this one by 2ndLtPollock2
nakedBison69 2 years ago
no trombones?well i even knoe how to play this piece!
XxXBlitzLoveXxX 2 years ago
holy cow! those are natural trumpets. extremely difficult to play. they're awesome looking though.
arvenwoosley 2 years ago
6:37 what a cool horn! lol yay
dahae0421 2 years ago
Hey.... Composi.... I don't know who you think you are....but this is by far the best classical piece EVER WRITTEN. Rivaled only by Beethoven's 9th symphony.
2ndltpollock2 2 years ago
It's personal opinion, you have yours he has his. Personally I agree with him, but everyone is different, and they each have their own opinion.
almale36 2 years ago
no, the greatest classical piece EVER WRITTEN is anything written by Mozart in the last ten years of his life
nakedBison69 2 years ago
I have to say, I like baroque music much more^^
0xxxXbellaXxxx0 2 years ago 3
This little diddee made me a Baroque music fan for life!
gdbalck 2 years ago
Handel had much better works. I don´t like this one so much.
camposi 2 years ago
youTube has much better commentators than composi. I don't like camposi so much
nakedBison69 2 years ago
Funny answer - respect! I´m not angry ....
camposi 2 years ago
good sport of an answer. but then, what else can i expect from somebody who appreciates the greatness of Handel's music? ;-)
nakedBison69 2 years ago
Be sure, Handel is one of my greatest composers. Best regards.
camposi 2 years ago
I think that the five greatest musical composers of all time are, in chronological order, Handel Bach Haydn Mozart Beethoven. My favorite of those happens to be Mozart, followed by either Bach or Handel.
nakedBison69 2 years ago
.....you forgot Johannes Brahms who wrote the great lullaby and the tragic oveture!
camposi 2 years ago
.....and the hungarian dance!
camposi 2 years ago
I do not know Brahms music well enough to agree or disagree. I think that in the vast majority of cases, the greatest music ever written was written in Germany/Austria/Italy in the 1700's. What complicates matters about Brahms is that he is considered a throwback to that very era, yet he himself lived in the mid to late 1800's.
nakedBison69 2 years ago
The concert band and I are playing this for our concert. Probably one of my favorites on the list. It's really fun, especially towards the end. Hooray! :D
GulpOne69 2 years ago
Ok, just because i must, its spelled:
*Acceptable
*Excellent
And two thumbs up for the "ship in a lion's skin" comment xD
Arachnomen 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
No, Not exceptable! This is not music for the royal ears but for a peasant! I thought that Handel was made of something!
cooltiger333 2 years ago
Please, have the title in mind! This work isn't salon music, but incidental music of a real firework.
SzijjFerenc 2 years ago
Eccellente******
decimaquinta69 2 years ago
Shouldn't a serpent be included in the ensemble?
metoyen 2 years ago
no this is the original arrangement
fagottist 2 years ago
woahh how do you guys have more oboes than trumpets?? luckyy duckyss you
im the only oboe
bplainfieldgirl 2 years ago
OMG !!! did i really write SHIP ? It's sheep, of course ...
ernent 2 years ago 2
Handel is really a ship in a lion's skin. Under all those grandiose choirs, blazing brass fanfares and massive sound-falls there is a lyrical and tender, almost romantic soul.
Remove the sonic splendour from any of his works and you'll still have a genial COMPOSITION.
ernent 2 years ago 2
dmens, you are absolutely right
the conducting style is determined because of the rendering of inegale, some notes are made more longer soem are shortened, fine preformance indeed
slanisjaak 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Gawd what an awful version. This is the worst MRF I've ever heard. It doesn't flow. Ruined a beautiful piece of music.
Haematochezia 2 years ago
i agree mate that was a bad arrangement
greendaysaint8302 2 years ago
LOL.
This is the original, first arrangement for military band (woodwinds, brass and percussion).
Try again
dmens 2 years ago
WOW - this is awesome... All those BASSOONS!!! (Guess what I used to play in the day?) It is amazing to see all those period instruments in one place. And NO VALVES!