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BBC Proms - 17 July - 12 September 2009 - The World's Greatest Classical Music Festival
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What's On / Programme Notes
George Frideric Handel (1685–1759)
Organ Concerto in F major, Op. 4 No. 4
(original version) (1735) FIRST PERFORMANCE AT THE PROMS
(original version) (1735) FIRST PERFORMANCE AT THE PROMS
1 Allegro
2 Andante
3 Adagio –
4 Allegro
The success of Handel’s first English
oratorio, Esther, with its ‘coronation’ choruses,
signalled a gradual change in direction for the composer in the
1730s. Hitherto still known as a ‘composer to the
opera’, he now began to move away from this primarily
aristocratic entertainment towards oratorio, a genre with
greater appeal to middle-class audiences and, with that,
stronger commercial potential. Esther was followed
in 1733 by Deborah and Athalia, and in 1735 Handel planned his first full
season of oratorios in London, presenting all three works in
performances at the Covent Garden Theatre. As an added
attraction, he drew on his reputation as one of the finest
organists of the age by offering a show of virtuosity during
the intervals. London’s theatres at that time usually had
organs of the characteristic English 18th-century type, which
is to say small and with no pedals, and in writing music that
combined his own improvisatory flair on the instrument with the
lusty support of the orchestra in the pit, Handel effectively
became the creator of a totally new genre, the organ concerto.
The concerto which Handel created for Athalia differed
from the others in being designed to be played at the end of
the work rather than between acts, and for this reason the last
movement is run on into a rousing ‘Alleluia’
chorus. Thus Handel not only extended the musical celebrations
of the oratorio’s happy ending, but also threw the final
spotlight more strongly on himself as master of proceedings.
This chorus was omitted when the concerto was published with
five others as his Op. 4 in 1738, but is restored in
tonight’s performance.
Even when writing in established genres,
Handel was apt to follow his own fancy when it came to the
number, disposition and nature of movements. Op. 4 No. 4 opens
with a jauntily striding Allegro (adapted from an unused chorus
from his recently composed opera Alcina) and moves on
to a yearning and beautiful Andante. A short Adagio for organ
alone then serves as introduction to the finale, a fugal
movement with the chorus joining in just over halfway through.
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2009 Calendar
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July | ||||||
| 17 | 18 | |||||
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |
| August | ||||||
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| 30 | 31 | |||||
| September | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
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