Handel celebrates peace

Synopsis

Unless you’re just mad about 18th century history, it’s unlikely you know off the top of your head who the winners and losers were in the War of the Spanish Succession. Suffice it to say, on today’s date in 1713, to celebrate the successful resolution of that conflict, a festive choral Te Deum was performed at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

It was written by ambitious 28-year old German composer, George Friedrich Handel. We’re not sure if Handel wrote his Utrecht Te Deum in response to an invitation from the British royal family or wrote it “on spec” to win their favor. In any case, when performed by the Royal Musicians and the choir of the Chapel Royal on July 7, 1713, it made a tremendous impression.

Handel’s first royal employer was King George the First, and three years after Handel’s death, King George III sat on the throne. Now, King George may have suffered from madness and lost the American colonies, but at least he did know a good composer when he heard one. He idolized Handel and saw to it that the composer was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Music Played in Today's Program

George Frederic Handel (1685-1757): Utrecht Te Deum; St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir; The Parley of Instruments; John Scott, conductor; Hyperion 67009

On This Day

Births

• 1860 - Austrian composer and conductor Gustav Mahler, in Kalischt, Bohemia

• 1911 - Italian-born American composer and conductor Gian Carlo Menotti, in Cadegliano

• 1940 - Drummer and songwriter Ringo Starr (of the Beatles), in Liverpool, England

Deaths

• 1968 - American organist and composer Leo Sowerby, 73, in Port Clinton, Ohio

Premieres

• 1713 - Handel: Utrecht Te Deum, at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London (Gregorian Date: July 18)

• 1956 - Moore: opera The Ballade of Baby Doe, in Center City, Colorado. According to Opera America, this is one of the most frequently-produced American operas during the past decade.

• 1994 - John Williams: Cello Concerto, at the opening of Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, Massachusetts, by the Boston Symphony, with the composer conducting and Yo-Yo Ma the soloist

• 2001 - David Ward-Steinman: Dublin Down, for two pianos, during the College Music Society International Conference in Limerick, Ireland, by the composer and Patrice Madura Ward-Steinman

Others

• 1720 - Funeral of J.S. Bach’s first wife, Maria Barbara (age 35). The cause of her death is unknown, and Bach’s son Carl Philip Emmanuel reported that his father was at Carlsbad when she died: “The news that she had been ill and died reached him only when he entered his own house.”

• 1747 - J.S. Bach dedicates his Musical Offering to Frederich the Great of Prussia

• 1791 - Haydn conducts his Symphony No. 92 (Oxford) at the Sheldonian Theater of Oxford University, where he was awarded an honorary degree.