Ravinia 2026 Issue 5

Each Coronation Anthem is divided into sev- eral sections, or movements, distinguished by contrasts in tempo, meter, and mood. The text declamation is clear: Handel employs a great deal of homophonic writing, and the words follow speech-like rhythms. Harmonies and tonal relationships are uncomplicated. Faster tempos are favored at the beginning and end- ing of the anthems. Only My Heart Is Inditing , HWV 261, which opens with three slow sections before closing in a faster tempo, breaks from this pattern. The orchestration remains fairly consistent among the four anthems: three trumpets, timpa- ni, two oboes, strings divided into two or three violins and viola, and a basso continuo including bassoon, cello, bass, and organ. Trumpets are not employed in Let Thy Hand Be Strengthened , HWV 259, and are used sparingly in My Heart Is Inditing . The five-voice choir with two alto parts is augmented in Zadok the Priest , HWV 258, by additional soprano and bass parts and in The King Shall Rejoice , HWV 260, by a second bass part. My Heart Is Inditing is the only anthem to include parts for soloists, in this case two altos and two basses. The “pageantry and splendour” of George II’s coronation in Westminster Abbey surpassed that of the previous monarch. Lord John Her- vey, later the Second Baron Hervey, portrayed the queen’s appearance in the most flattering of terms: “The dress of the Queen on this occasion was as fine as the accumulated riches of the city and the suburbs could make it; for besides her own jewels (which were a great number and very valuable), she had on her head and on her shoulders all the pearls she could borrow of the ladies of quality at one end of the town, and on her petticoat all the diamonds she could hire.” The musical resources available to Handel were equally magnificent. The choir consisted of the combined singers of the Chapel Royal, West- minster Abbey, and, according to some newspa- per reports, the Italian opera. Instrumentalists were drawn from the King’s Musick, the state trumpeters and their timpanist, and numerous extra players hired for the occasion. The exact number of performers is difficult to pinpoint, although every count is impressive and unprec- edented. The Memorandum for Ld Marshall, what will be contain’d in Westmr Abby describes two seating areas for 65 and 120 musicians re- spectively, making a total of 185 performers. The Norwich Gazette (October 14, 1727) recorded an even larger, perhaps intentionally inflated, num- ber of 200 musicians at the rehearsal. Handel’s list of singers and authorized clothing purchas- es for the musicians suggest an ensemble of 61 singers and 100 instrumentalists. The splendors of this ceremony remained in collective memory for years. Thirty-four after, while preparing music for the coronation of King George III and Queen Charlotte in 1761, the Master of the King’s Music, William Boyce, described the 1727 coronation as the “First Grand Musical Performance in the Abbey.” Music for the Royal Fireworks , HWV 351 All London stood poised to celebrate the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, the treaty signed in October 1748 by Britain, France, and the Dutch Republic to end the eight-year War of Austrian Succes- sion. British and European sources record dif- ferent signing dates: Great Britain still used the Julian calendar (October 7), while continental Europe followed the Gregorian calendar (Octo- ber 18). The conflict began with the contested accession of Maria Theresa, whose claim to the Austrian throne after her father, Charles VI, died without a male heir ignited a global war waged in Europe, South Asia, and North Amer- ica. Political loyalties were divided between the Pragmatic Alliance, led by Great Britain and the Dutch Republic in support of Maria Theresa, and the Anti-Habsburg Alliance anchored by France, Prussia, Bavaria, and Spain. Many issues remained unresolved at the war’s conclusion. Maria Theresa retained her throne, but the Habsburg empire emerged weakened, having ceded minor territories in Italy and lost Silesia to Prussia. Great Britain regained control of Ma- dras in India, which the French had captured, and reasserted the Hanoverian succession in England and Hanover. As the reigning Elector of Hanover and King of Great Britain, George II had abundant reason to celebrate. Machine for the Fireworks celebrating the Peace of Aix la Chapelle (1749) Preparations for a magnificent national celebra- tion of peace extended over several months as workmen constructed a Greek-style building designed by Jean-Nicolas Servan, the celebrated scenic designer at the Paris Opera better known by the Italian name Giovanni Niccolò Servan- doni. The temporary building (“the Machine”) combined a triumphal arch, Doric columns, statues of Greek gods, and a bas-relief portray- ing the victorious King of England. Construct- ed entirely of wood covered in whitewashed canvas, paintings, and ornate decorations, the structure measured 114 feet from the ground to the top of the royal coat of arms and spanned 410 feet along its two lateral wings, each termi- nating in a tall pavilion. The central sculpture of the Goddess of Peace holding an olive branch and flanked by Neptune and Mars was the most prominent of the 21 statues. A pamphlet published for the celebration, A De- scription of the Machine for the Fireworks, with all its Ornaments and A Detail of the Manner in which they are to be exhibited , provided a full ac- counting of the fireworks: rockets, mortars with air balloons, stars, spinning fireworks, suns, wheels, globes of fire, falls of fire, fountains, pyr- amids of brilliant fire, fire pots, serpents, rains, circles of rays, and “A grand Girandole from the Top of the Machine, consisting of six thou- sand Rockets headed with Stars, Rains, and Ser- pents, which form one Flight.” Charles Frederick (“Comptroller of his Majesty’s Fireworks as well as for War as for Triumph”) and Capt. Thomas Desaguliers (“Chief Fire Master of His Majesty’s Royal Laboratory”) presided over the event. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 77