George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...

's ''Gloria'' is a sacred solo cantata, a setting of the Gloria, the liturgical part of the

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

, for soprano and strings. Handel may have composed it in Germany before departing for Italy in 1706. The composition was lost for many years and was attributed to Handel again only in 2001.

History

''Gloria'' (HWV deest, the Latin word meaning "missing"), is a work which was missing from the Handel thematic catalog, but was discovered at the Royal Academy of Music's library in 2001. Handel may have composed ''Gloria'', a demanding piece for a coloratura voice, two violins and

basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...

, during his early years in Germany prior to his departure for Italy in 1706 or in Italy in 1707. He divided the liturgical text into eight movements. Later he used parts of it for his compositions ''Laudate pueri dominum'' and ''

Utrecht Jubilate ''Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate'' is the common name for a sacred choral composition in two parts, written by George Frideric Handel to celebrate the Treaty of Utrecht, which established the Peace of Utrecht in 1713, ending the War of the Spani ...

''. The manuscript is not in Handel's hand but bound in a collection of arias by Handel. The singer

William Savage William Savage (1720 – 27 July 1789) was an English composer, organist, and singer of the 18th century. He sang as a boy treble and alto, a countertenor, and as a bass. He is best remembered for his association with the composer George ...

(1720-1789) owned the volume. Probably his pupil Robert Stevens left it to the Academy upon his death in 1837. The work was identified by

Hans Joachim Marx Hans Joachim Marx (born 16 December 1935) is a German music historian. He has been professor of European music history at the University of Hamburg. Life Born in Leipzig, Marx first studied music at the Academy of Music in Leipzig. In 1956 he es ...

, professor at the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vo ...

. A note in the

Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...

on 11 March 2001 announced "Lost work by Handel could rival

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

/ An unknown choral work by Handel that some music scholars believe will come to be regarded as significant as Messiah has been discovered in the library of the Royal Academy of Music", but that was a sensational heading, whereas the article described the work correctly. "Perhaps not too many sopranos will be able to perform this piece.", was a comment of Marx, who had found the manuscript.

Curtis Price Sir Curtis Alexander Price, KBE (born 1945, in Springfield, Missouri, USA) was the Warden of New College, Oxford, between October 2009 and September 2016. He was previously principal of the Royal Academy of Music from 1995 to 2008 and Professo ...

, the principal of the Academy, testified: "The music is fresh, exuberant and a little wild in places, but unmistakably Handel." It was then believed that the piece was written in Italy in 1707.

Emma Kirkby Dame Carolyn Emma Kirkby, (; born 26 February 1949) is an English soprano and early music specialist. She has sung on over 100 recordings. Education and early career Kirkby was educated at Hanford School, Sherborne School for Girls in Dors ...

, who performed the first recording, released in May 2001, said that "the piece has individuality and charm, good bravura moments, and, more important, some moments of depth, beauty, and poignancy". The first public performance was on 18 May 2001, sung by soprano Patrizia Kwella with Fiori Musicali and Penelope Rapson as artistic director, at the Hinchingbrooke Performing Arts Centre in

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...

. A second performance was given at the International Händel Göttingen Festival on 3 June 2001 by Dominique Labelle with the

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (PBO) is an American orchestra based in San Francisco. PBO is dedicated to historically informed performance of Baroque, Classical and early Romantic music on original instruments. The orchestra performs its su ...

and

Nicholas McGegan James Nicholas McGegan OBE (born 14 January 1950 in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, England) is a British harpsichordist, flutist, conductor and early music expert. Biography McGegan received his early education at Nottingham High School. He sub ...

Katia Plaschka Katia Plaschka is a German coloratura soprano who performs in opera, especially contemporary opera, and concert performances of oratorios. Career Katia Plaschka studied voice at the Hochschule für Musik in Frankfurt until 2002 with Gunnel Ta ...

performed it in 2003 in the

Unionskirche, Idstein The Unionskirche (Union Church) is the active Protestant parish church of Idstein, a town in the Rheingau-Taunus district in the German state of Hesse. Idstein was a residence of the counts of Nassau. The church building in the center of the h ...

, along with Handel's ''

Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate ''Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate'' is the common name for a sacred choral composition in two parts, written by George Frideric Handel to celebrate the Treaty of Utrecht, which established the Peace of Utrecht in 1713, ending the War of the Spani ...

''.

Structure

Handel divided the text in six movements. # Gloria in excelsis Deo # Et in terra pax # Laudamus te # Domine Deus, Rex coelestis # Qui tollis peccata mundi # Quoniam tu solus sanctus

References

External links

Handel's Gloria / Previously Unknown Composition
musicweb-international.com 2001

John Ostendorf & Elaine Comparone, liner notes 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gloria Handel Compositions by George Frideric Handel 1706 compositions

History

Structure

See also

References

External links