The Art Of The Baroque Trumpet, Vol. 3

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Cat No: 8553735

Release Date: 12 January 1999

Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 730099473521

Genres: Classical

Composer/Series: THE ART OF THE BAROQUE TRUMPET, Vol. 3

Description
The Art of the Baroque Trumpet, Vol. 3 Music forSoprano and Trumpet Handel Caldara Fux Predieri Stradella ScarlattiDuring the late Baroque period it became fairlycommon for a vocal part to be accompanied by an instrument, in order to heightenthe expressiveness of the text. These additional instrumental parts weredescribed as obbligato, or necessary. During the 1670s this had becomecommon practice in operas, especially in Venice, but it gradually became lessfrequent and by about 1710 had almost ceased to exist in Italy. This wascertainly owing to the fact that now the singer was to be the centre ofattention, without competition from any instrumentalists. The singer was tohave full scope for his virtuosity and power of expression and the orchestrawas to serve merely as a background. The trumpet, as an obbligato instrument,where such parts were employed, was mainly used to symbolize war, combat,revenge or Fama, the goddess of rumour. This association of ideas could beextended to fights for love and, strangely enough, also to feelings of griefand pain, as, for example, those experienced over unrequited love. Born in Halle in 1685, George Frideric Handelshowed early promise, studying there with Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow. In 1702 heembarked on a musical career, with employment at the Hamburg opera-house,moving in 1706, to Italy, where the leading composers of the day made a greatimpression on him. In 1710 he was engaged as Kapellmeister at the court ofHanover, but in the same year was given permission to visit London, where,after a second visit in 1712, he took up permanent residence. Here his firstengagement had been for the provision of Italian opera and at first his workfor the opera-house was very successful, but when public interest began todecline in the 1730s, he turned also to the composition of English oratorio.His Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne, described as a Serenata, waswritten for the Queen's birthday on 16th February 1714 and was his firstselling of an English text. This commission shows even at this stage the extentof Handel's renown in England. The aria Eternal source of light divine, whichintroduces the cantata, was originally written for a countertenor but it wasnot uncommon to adapt an aria to suit a different singer, with transpositionsand other changes.In some of his earlier operas Handel had used obbligatotrumpet parts, and the same holds true for his oratorios in the 1740s. Theoratorio Samson was, apart from the recitatives, composed in October1741, to be completed only after the composition of Messiah. A yearlater Handel made changes in his score, to accommodate a larger group ofsingers, adding the aria Let the bright Seraphim, which, placedimmediately before the final chorus, became the high point of the oratorio. Thetrumpet part was written for Valentine Snow, the foremost English trumpeter ofhis time, who had been a member of Handel's orchestra since the 1730s. Thewell-known music historian Charles Burney praised Snow
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