Donald Burrows

Handel's English church music spans the complete period of his active career in London: his first anthem and the Utrecht Te Deum were composed soon after his arrival in London, and his last works nearly 40 years later. The repertory, which includes the Coronation Anthem Zadok the Priest,forms one of the most impressive and engaging areas of Baroque church music. Most of it was stimulated by Handel's creative contact with the English Chapel Royal, a group of professional singers in a different tradition from the opera stars with whom he worked in the theatre.This is the first full-length study of Handel's English Church music. As well as dealing with the many aspects of the compositions themselves, it traces the background to the diverse items in the repertory, which relates directly to Handel's constant but changing relationship with the HanoverianBritish royal family, and was affected by political and dynastic events. It also examines the circumstances of Handel's performances, the building which (unlike his theatres) still survives in London today.

Handel and the English Chapel Royal

James Harris

Rosemary Dunhill

James Harris (1709-80) was an author of philosophical treatises and an enthusiastic amateur musician who directed the concerts and music festivals at Salisbury for nearly fifty years. His family and social circle had close connections with London's music-making: his brother was a witness to Handel's will, and his correspondents sent him lively reports on all aspects of musical life in the capital-opera, oratorio, concerts, but also about the leading performers, music copyists, and instrument makers. In 1761 Harris became a member of Parliament and thereafter divided his time between London and Salisbury. His letters and diaries provide an unrivalled record of concert- and theatre-going in London, including exchanges of letters with David Garrick about a production at Drury Lane. As his children grew up an engaging family correspondence emerged. We learn of his daughters' involvement in concerts and amateur theatrical productions; his son, who pursued a diplomatic career, reported on operas, concerts, and plays in the court of Frederick the Great and Catherine the Great. Now, for the first time, it is possible to enjoy in full the lively first-hand descriptions from Harris's family papers, which contribute fascinating insights into contemporary eighteenth-century musical and theatrical life.

The Family Papers of James Harris, 1732-1780

Music and Theatre in Handel's World

George Frideric Handel

HWV 56 : Autograph, the British Library, London

Messiah

Jonathan Cross

Professor of Music Donald Burrows

Burrows Donald

A Companion to one of the principal creative figures in Baroque music.

The Cambridge Companion to Handel

Donald Burrows

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