HANDELMUSIC FOR THE ROYAL FIREWORKSWater Music Suites 1 & 2

Tasmanian Symphony OrchestraGraham Abbott

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GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL 1685-1759

Music for the Royal Fireworks, HWV351 [16’28]1 I. Ouverture 8’052 II. Bourrée 1’143 III. La Paix (Peace) 3’054 IV. La Réjouissance (Rejoicing) 2’035 V. Menuet I & II 2’01

Water Music: Suite in F major, HWV348 [27’21]6 I. Ouverture 3’297 II. Adagio e staccato 2’198 III. [Allegro] – 2’319 IV. Andante – 2’230 III. [Allegro] da capo 2’34! V. [Allegro] 3’05@ VI. Air 2’46£ VII. Minuet 2’44$ VIII. Bourrée 0’45% IX. Hornpipe 0’54^ X. [Air] 3’51

Water Music: Suite in D major, HWV349 [9’29]& I. [Prelude] 2’13* II. Alla Hornpipe 3’07( IV. Lentement 1’45) V. Bourrée 1’19¡ III. Minuet 1’05

Total Playing Time 53’27

Tasmanian Symphony OrchestraGraham Abbott conductor

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The Bookends of a Brilliant Career

The two works on this recording represent almost the beginning and the end of Handel’s nearly fiftyyears in England. Most unusually for a composer whose life’s work was based so consistently oncomposing for the human voice, they are purely instrumental works. Yet they are probably, along withMessiah, his best-known compositions, by title if not by content.

Both the Water Music and the Music for the Royal Fireworks have politics as their point of origin.George I, formerly Prince-Elector Georg of Hanover, came to the British throne in 1714, and theestablishment of the House of Hanover by the accession of a German-born king was controversial tomany. George was 52nd in line to the throne, but the first Protestant, and in accordance with the 1701 Act of Settlement (which prohibited Catholics from acceding to the throne) was proclaimed thenew monarch on the death of Queen Anne.

The groundwork had been laid for the establishment of a new German court in London some yearsbefore the Queen’s death, and a number of the new king’s former employees found their way toEngland. One was the career diplomat Baron Johann Adolf Kielmansegge. As Hanover’s ambassador toVenice he had encountered the young Handel in 1709; Handel’s opera Agrippina had been a sensationalsuccess in Venice that year. Kielmansegge made it possible for Handel to become Kapellmeister inHanover in 1710 after his Italian sojourn, and it was Prince-Elector Georg who gave Handel permissionto spend an extended period in London almost as soon as he was appointed. When it was clear thatHandel had no intention of returning to Hanover, Kielmansegge had the task of informing Handel thathe was dismissed from his post.

Kielmansegge came to London to become George I’s Master of the Horse. Handel had been residentthere since 1712, and had rapidly made a name for himself as a brilliant composer of opera. The newking had already shown himself to be a supporter of his former Kapellmeister. He had renewedHandel’s royal pension (originally granted by Queen Anne) and had employed him as music master tothe royal princesses. He also supported Handel’s operatic ventures consistently; he went to seeHandel’s Admeto no fewer than 19 times in seven weeks! Thus, the notion that Handel wascommissioned to write music for the royal water party on the Thames to effect a reconciliation with theking after his delinquent absences from Hanover (as proposed by Mainwaring in his 1760 biography ofHandel) seems to be a myth.

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Kielmansegge again is the link here, as it was he who arranged for Handel to compose music for the1717 water party. Such aquatic processions were not uncommon – there were at least six in 1715 alone– but the event on 17 July 1717 was reported in a number of sources, both public and private, and isthe only such event with which Handel’s name is directly associated.

These sources tell us that Handel’s music lasted for about an hour when played complete; that it wasplayed three times that evening (twice on the way from Whitehall to Chelsea – where the King hadsupper between 11pm and 2am – and once on the return journey); and that about 50 musicians wereinvolved. Furthermore, the description of instruments used that night exactly accords with therequirements of the music now called Handel’s Water Music.

Most frustratingly, though, the composer’s manuscript for the Water Music has not survived. The orderof movements has thus long been open to question, as during the 18th century various publications ofthe music included different selections in different arrangements. There are in all 22 movements whichseem to fall into three suites with three instrumental groupings, and for many years it has been thepractice to arrange the music into these suites: F major with horns, D major with horns and trumpets,and G major with flutes.

However, the discovery in 2004 of the earliest known manuscript score for the Water Music, not in thecomposer’s hand but dating from 1719, has shed light on the probable intended order of movements. It seems the music was almost certainly intended to be a single, hour-long suite which passed throughdifferent keys, something which was most unusual for the period. The 1719 score presents the F majormovements first and then the movements in D major and G major conflated, ending with the D major‘Trumpet Minuet’. This makes a completely satisfying sequence and it was published in this order inFriedrich Chrysander’s edition in 1886.

Still, there is historical precedent for performing selections from the whole, and the present recordingpresents the F major and D major ‘suites’ only. Following the lead of the 1719 score, we have changedthe order of movements from that presented in the Bärenreiter performance material, to end with theD major minuet.

George I’s water parties were without doubt meant to be seen and heard by the public. In the fewyears he had been on the throne, disquiet over the succession had not dissipated, and deep tensionswith the Prince of Wales meant an ongoing PR battle between two rival courts. The 32-year-old Handel’s

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connection with the king meant that he was a trusted ally, able to supply music in 1717 which wouldnot only bring glory to the king but also help cement the Hanoverian succession in the public’s mind.References to the ‘celebrated Water Music’ in subsequent publications prove that, artistically at least,the king had backed a winner.

By the time he came to compose the Music for the Royal Fireworks in 1749, Handel was a very differentcomposer. The 32 years between the Water Music and this commission had seen him complete a totalof more than 40 operas (the last, Deidamia, was premiered in 1741) and embark on a career as acomposer of English oratorio. He became a naturalised British subject in 1727, the year of George II’saccession to the throne, and had gone from being a German import to an English institution.

By 1749, with almost all the oratorios written, Handel had mastered the grand statement and the publicgesture. It’s interesting, though, that in accepting the commission to compose music for a fireworksdisplay designed to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Aix-La-Chapelle, he resisted falling into triedand true formulas. Far from tossing off some predictable bombast, the 64-year-old master createdsomething completely unique.

The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was designed to conclude the messy War of Austrian Succession, whichhad largely been fought between England and France. The fact of the matter was that the Treaty wasunfavourable to British colonial interests and widely unpopular. In Christopher Hogwood’s words,‘Frankly, there was little to celebrate…and some dramatic spin-doctoring was called for to stimulate (orsimulate) public approval.’ Handel’s music was commissioned as part of a public relations campaigndesigned to dazzle the public with trumped-up celebration.

Fascinating correspondence and Court records exist regarding the organisation of the music to bewritten for the fireworks display in London’s Green Park. There was some dispute with the composerabout whether or not strings were to be involved (Handel would have known from the start that stringsoutdoors would have been unworkable), but most likely this was part of Handel’s negotiating strategywith the organisers, who really had no idea when it came to musical matters. The music for the outdoorevent was written in twelve real parts, for three oboes, two bassoons, three trumpets, three horns andtimpani. At the first performance these were played by massed forces; some 24 oboes, 16 bassoons,nine horns, nine trumpets and three sets of timpani were involved, in addition to side drums,contrabassoon and possibly even a serpent.

Handel held a run-through of the music in his house in Brook Street on 17 April 1749. This clearly couldnot have involved the whole ensemble; most likely it was for the principal players only. Even so, itwould have been a squeeze and the neighbours wouldn’t have missed a thing.

The organisers of the event pressured Handel into holding a public rehearsal of the music in VauxhallGardens a few days before the actual fireworks display. Handel initially resisted this too; he had plannedto present the music in a fundraising concert for the Foundling Hospital four weeks later and wasclearly not keen to do anything which would make the music less of a crowd puller. He was persuaded,though, and the public rehearsal eventually took place on 21 April at 11am. Contemporary reports say12,000 people were present and that they were charged 2/6 for the privilege. Given the size of VauxhallGardens, such an attendance figure is almost certainly a vast exaggeration.

Still, the audience numbers at the rehearsal were large enough to cause London’s first recorded trafficjam. The recently-completed Westminster Bridge was closed for subsidence repairs, and LondonBridge was at virtual gridlock for hours.

The actual event in Green Park, attended by tens of thousands of people, took place on 27 April. Anenormous ‘machine’ was built, a gigantic theatrical set made of wood and canvas in the form of atemple which was decorated with allegorical figures and representations of George II. It was nearly 35 metres high at the centre and 125 metres long. The evening started about 6pm, with the king andhis entourage touring the edifice, and it was during this that Handel’s music was played. The fireworksstarted about 8.30, and went off successfully until one end of the wood and canvas structure caughtfire. Once this was under control the fireworks continued and the whole event lasted some ninehours, finishing around 3am.

Considering Handel’s popularity it is very strange that none of the contemporary reports of either thepublic rehearsal or the actual performance say anything about his music. Maybe then, as now, thedistraction of the eyes can lead to a disconnection of the ears…

Still, Handel had the last laugh and eventually got the strings he’d planned for all along. His desire tokeep the music alive by way of a concert performance after the Green Park fireworks made it possiblefor him to present the music indoors with more usual forces. For the Foundling Hospital performanceon 27 May, reduced numbers were used for the winds, brass and timpani, and strings were added bydoubling the oboe and bassoon parts. (This explains the high-lying viola part, which mostly doubles thethird oboe.) It is this ‘concert scoring’ which has been used in this recording.

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The massively imposing Ouverture has to be one of Handel’s most thrilling instrumental creations; it iscertainly one of the most exhausting to perform. The only dance forms represented are the Bourréeand the Menuet, in the midst of which come two programmatic movements peculiarly appropriate tothe occasion. Representing peace and rejoicing, these movements display the mastery of Europe’sleading theatrical composer. Certainly in his final years Handel understood that politics is as muchabout theatre as it is about anything else. And vice versa.

Graham Abbott

Source: Christopher Hogwood Handel: Water Music & Music for the Royal Fireworks

(Cambridge Music Handbooks, 2005)

Handel on Modern Instruments

The development of the Early Music movement over much of the 20th century has changed forever theway we expect music written before 1800 to sound. Saint-Saëns, assuming the superiority of the modernpiano, may have told Wanda Landowska that she was wasting her time playing Bach on the harpsichord,but fortunately she ignored him. Pioneers like Landowska, along with Arnold Dolmetsch and NadiaBoulanger, paved the way for the major names in early music we know well today from their recordings,such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Gustav Leonhardt and Frans Brüggen. In more recent times this streamhas grown into a major tributary of the music industry, both in recording and in live performance.

Ensembles using ‘period’ instruments – that is, instruments made according to the specifications ofearlier times and played in ways appropriate to those times – have done much to enable all musicians andthe public to appreciate afresh the glories of early music. Musicians in mainstream, modern-instrumentorchestras have over the past twenty or thirty years completely altered the ways in which they approachmusic from the 18th century, largely due to the exciting influence of the Early Music movement.

The downside to these developments has been one I am certain the Early Music movement neverintended. Surely the primary aim of early music research has been to make music of earlier timesaccessible. Unfortunately, many musicians have been reticent to perform early music on moderninstruments because of the very success of period-instrument ensembles. In other words, we are soused to hearing 18th-century music performed on period instruments that some have regarded it asout of bounds to modern-instrument performers.

My opinion is exactly the opposite. Period-instrument performance is wonderful, but this should notdiscourage modern-instrument ensembles such as symphony orchestras from playing early music in ahistorically appropriate manner. Modern-instrument ensembles have learned a great deal from the earlymusic specialists, and the adoption of the spirit of early music performance practice can open up anentire new world of musical experience to symphony orchestras and – most importantly – theiraudiences. It would be a tragedy if early music were put off limits by a too-narrow application of so-called ‘authenticity’, a term no longer used even by the period-instrument ensembles themselves.

The line is drawn in different places. No-one seems to mind a chamber organ with an electric blower,or the use of an electronic tuner by the oboe, or the addition of tuning holes in allegedly ‘natural’trumpets. Countertenors in Handel operas are regarded as authentic whereas Handel never used themin this way, and performing spaces are very different from those Bach or Handel would have known. Allthese practices are common in early music groups and accepted by audiences. While no-one wouldargue that Handel’s orchestra sounded anything like a modern symphony orchestra, it remains my firmbelief that Handel’s music should be open to all, and that it’s the art of the music itself which matters.

Shakespeare’s plays are nowadays almost never given in productions which the bard himself wouldrecognise; ditto the operas of most composers from any period. Yet the art of the creator is stillevident, and capable of moving an audience to its core, provided the words or the notes on the pageare treated with respect. (And yes, I love Bach on the piano as well as the harpsichord!)

In recording these Handel works with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, the players and I haveapplied many lessons learned from our period-instrument colleagues. Most orchestral players today arevery well informed with regard to issues of phrasing, articulation, tempo relationships and style in 18th-century music, and it has been a journey of discovery and delight for all of us in looking again atthis wonderful music.

Graham Abbott

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Graham Abbott

Sydney-born Graham Abbott is a graduate of the SydneyConservatorium. His repertoire in orchestral, choral and operaticfields spans almost every conceivable period and style and he hasbeen a frequent guest conductor with all six Symphony Australianetwork orchestras as well as other orchestras, choirs and variousnew music and early music ensembles throughout Australia. He hasalso worked with Opera Australia and all the state opera companies.

Graham Abbott has been Musical Director of the Adelaide Chorus,Associate Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra andMusical Director of the Melbourne Chorale. During 1997, he was theacting Chorus Master with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra,and guest conductor with the Edinburgh Royal Choral Union, RoyalScottish National Orchestra and the Ulster Orchestra.

In 2008 Graham Abbott was music advisor for State Opera of South Australia’s Baroque Project, alsoconducting The Marriage of Figaro for the company, in addition to concerts with Adelaide andTasmanian Symphony Orchestras and a Save the Children Fund Gala in Melbourne. In 2009 heconducted Fidelio for Opera Queensland and concerts with the TSO and Sydney Chamber Choir, aswell as the Classic FM Classic 100 Symphony gala concert with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Other recent appearances have included The Creation (Opera Queensland), Dvořák’s Stabat Mater(Prague Chamber Orchestra), Israel in Egypt (Adelaide Intervarsity Choral Festival), Bach’s St MatthewPassion (Perth Festival), Aida and a Mozart Gala (SOSA), The Elixir of Love (Opera Queensland) andSymphony under the Stars with Barbara Bonney and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra.

A respected music educator, Graham Abbott is in demand as a teacher and workshop leader, and hasundertaken a residency engagement at the Singapore American School. Since 2003 he has beenproducer and presenter of Keys to Music on ABC Classic FM and in 2007 received the University ofMelbourne’s Bernard Heinze Award in recognition of his services to music in Australia.

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Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra

For more than six decades the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra (TSO) has been at the forefront ofconcert life in Tasmania. Established in 1948 and declared a Tasmanian Icon in 1998, the TSO givesmore than 40 concerts annually including seasons in Hobart and Launceston, and appearances inTasmanian regional centres. In recent years the TSO has performed at City Recital Hall Angel Place inSydney and at the Adelaide Festival, and makes its debut at Melbourne Recital Centre in September2011. International touring has taken the orchestra to North and South America, Greece, Israel, SouthKorea, China, Indonesia and Japan.

Resident in Hobart’s purpose-built Federation Concert Hall, the TSO has a full complement of 47musicians. German-born Sebastian Lang-Lessing has been the orchestra’s Chief Conductor and ArtisticDirector since 2004.

Australian music is one of the TSO’s focal points. The Australian Music Program, which was founded in2003, champions music by Australian composers through recordings, performances and commissions,and nurtures promising careers through the annual Australian Composers’ School.

Mindful of its mission to be a source of pride for all Tasmanians, the TSO performs a wide variety ofmusic. Vladimir Ashkenazy, Daniel Barenboim, Alfred Brendel, Lisa Gasteen, Nigel Kennedy, SaraMacliver, Howard Shelley, Teddy Tahu Rhodes and Richard Tognetti are among the soloists who haveappeared with the orchestra. Popular and jazz artists who have performed with the orchestra includeRhonda Burchmore, Kate Ceberano, Roberta Flack, James Morrison, Anthony Warlow, Human Natureand The Whitlams.

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Executive Producers Martin Buzacott, Robert Patterson

Recording Producer Brooke Green

Recording Engineer Veronika Vincze

Editing Brooke Green and Veronika Vincze

Mastering Veronika Vincze

Editorial and Production Manager Hilary Shrubb

Publications Editor Natalie Shea

Booklet Design Imagecorp Pty Ltd

Cover Photo Fotosearch / Photolibrary

Photo p9 Lisa Tomasetti

Recorded 9-11 December 2008 in Federation Concert Hall, Hobart.

ABC Classics thanks Laura Bell and Virginia Read.

For Tasmanian Symphony OrchestraManaging Director Nicholas Heyward

Manager, Artistic Planning Simon Rogers

Orchestra Manager Greg Low

Orchestra Coordinator Evan Woodroffe

www.tso.com.au

� 2011 Australian Broadcasting Corporation. � 2011 Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Distributed in Australia and New Zealand byUniversal Music Group, under exclusive licence. Made in Australia. All rights of the owner of copyright reserved. Any copying, renting,lending, diffusion, public performance or broadcast of this record without the authority of the copyright owner is prohibited.

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