Contenu
- Air: I will magnify Thee
- Duet: O worship the Lord
- Quartet et Chorus: Tell it out among the heathen
- Air: Righteousness and equity
- Duet et Chorus: My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord
Bärenreiter Urtext
Handel’s four anthems were all composed during his London period in the Chapel Royal .
“As pants the hart”, his fifth setting of this Psalm text, 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.
The four anthems are presented in clearly laid out vocal scores with easy-to-play piano reductions based on the Urtext from the “Halle Handel Edition”. Their winningly varied and self-sufficient orchestral writing provides a suitable framework for the festive chorus and the equally festive solo numbers.
Today they sound as splendid as ever before.
The full scores and vocal scores also contain a German translation along with the original English.
Scoring: soloists (SATB), chorus (SATB), oboe, strings, continuo