G. F. Haendel - Music For The Royal Fireworks HWV351 - II. Allegro, Lentement, Allegro (2/5)

Georg Friedrich Handel (1685 - 1759)
The Music For The Royal Fireworks HWV351 - II. Allegro, Lentement, Allegro -
Le Concert Des Nations, Jordi Savall.


The Music for the Royal Fireworks was written in 1748 to celebrate the signing of the peace treaty at Aix-la-Chapelle, which brought the War of the Austrian Succession to an end. In this war between Austria and Prussia, Britain supported Austria, and France and Spain were allied to Prussia. King George II, who was not exactly an outstanding leader in war, commanded that the event be celebrated with great festivities, crowned by an immense firework display, the latter being set up on a huge wooden structure (known as the Machine) erected in Green Park by the theatrical designer Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni. This structure, 410 feet long and 114 feet high, was completed on 26th April 1749, on the eve of the day the display was to take place. Handel had been commissioned to compose the music, and a raised gallery was built for the musicians, above a statue of Peace surrounded by a statue of Neptune and Mars and a low relief showing George II offering peace to Britannia. Suspended above all this was a sun, which caught fire on the night of the celebration, illuminating Green Park as if it was in broad daylight.

George II wanted only martial music without fiddles, whereas Handel had in mind a work for strings and wind instruments. The composer did not give in until the last moment. On 21st April, he gave a public rehearsal in Vauxhall Gardens, with an orchestra composed of wind instruments, kettledrums (and perhaps strings); according to the newspapers, there were a hundred musicians. Twelve thousand people attended, bringing traffic on London Bridge to a standstill for three hours. The crowds had flocked there for Handel, for there were no fireworks, no wooden structures and no statues, allegorical or otherwise, on the day of the rehearsal. The autograph manuscript indicates 24 oboes, 12 bassoons, 9 trumpets, 9 horns, 3 pairs of kettledrums, a double bassoon and a serpent, but it is possible that on 27th April 1749 Handel conducted an even larger ensemble. The ceremony was fraught with incidents, the fireworks went awry, and only Handels music saved the occasion from complete disaster. During the resulting fire, Servandoni drew his sword on a royal official; he was disarmed and spent the night in prison. A month later, on 27th May, Handel conducted a special concert for the benefit of the Foundling Hospital in London; the programme included the Music for the Royal Fireworks and we know that on that occasion he returned to his original idea, with string parts.

The work is in five movements: an Overture (other versions in all probability later compositions ¬ exist), followed by a Bourrée, a Sicilienne entitled La Paix (with virtuoso horn parts), a piece entitled La Rejouissance, intended to be played three times (by trumpets, woodwind and strings, by horns and woodwind, and then by all the instruments together), and finally two Minuets (Minuet I being repeated after Minuet II).

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• Georg
• Friedrich
• Handel
• 1685
• 1759
• The
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• For
• Royal
• Fireworks
• HWV351
• Ouverture
• Le
• Concert
• Des
• Nations
• Jordi
• Savall

[PapagenoJuan2]

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[tito554]

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