Mahratta’s Picks
Music for the Chapel Royal
2009 marks the anniversary of the death of George Frederic Handel, the first true cosmopolitan composer of the Western tradition. Handel’s name is synonymous with his brilliant Baroque compositions ranging from oratarios to operas to concerti. However, the most enduring and popular (by far) of his works is the magnificent Messiah, the first of Handel’s works that cemented his name as the common-man’s composer. This was a far cry from the religiously inspired music of Bach or the courtly compositions of Purcell – Handel can arguably be seen as the first pop musician. However, Messiah’s incredible popularity caused some other (in my opinion equally brilliant) works to not receieve the recognition that they deserve. Handel’s oratarios were always overshadowed by Messiah, which caused works like Music for the Chapel Royal to go down in relative obscurity.
Handel’s reputation as the people’s composer caused some of his finest work, and indeed some of the finest works in English musical history, to not receive the credit they rightly deserve. Music for the Chapel Royal is the fruition of years spent as arguably the finest-ever composer of English church-based choral music. The Chapel Royal refers to the musicians and clergymen that tended to the royal household, and still exists to this day. Handel was a part of this establishment which, rather confusingly, performed and practiced throughout a group of Royal chapels before settling down in St. James’ Palace, known for this purpose from then on as the Chapel Royal.
The Chapel Royal was the venue for most of the glorious English composers of old, including Fayrfax, Byrd, and of course, Purcell. It had acquired a reputation for compositional brilliance and could be seen as a shining star in the relative darkness of English baroque music before Handel. By the time Handel arrived from his birthplace in Germany and his music studies all across Italy, the Chapel Royal could be said to be in (relative) creative decline. The coming of Handel, however, signalled the advent of one of the most brilliant periods in English musical history. This recording, performed by the present day Choir of the Chapel Royal & Musicians Extra-Ordinary and conducted by Andrew Gant, captures the original brilliance of the progression of Handel’s composition throughout his life in England. As Pants the Hart was the very first piece that Handel composed for the Chapel Royal to perform, and the various compositions of As Pants the Hart on this disc reflect the progression of Handel’s creative spirit. The texts remain the same, but the compositions change.
This year marks the anniversary of Handel’s death, and tributes to Handel are occurring all across England. Messiah and Zardok the Priest will both surely feature, in lieu of their eternal popularity. Music for the Chapel Royal, however, will still remain a hidden gem.
Intelligent Life
Lifestyle magazines have been marketed to virtually every social group, from the tech-savvy to the athletically-inclined, and beer-guzzling, rifle-toting farmhands to Starbucks-sipping metrosexuals. However, one social group has, until not long ago, been absent from the lifestyle magazine world. Where was the lifestyle magazine for those who enjoy Herzog and Kraftwerk alongside Liszt and Chopin, or Marx and the Economist. It seems like no lifestyle magazine has pandered to this group – understood as both unfocused and eclectic – until recently.
The Economist’s lifestyle-based sister publication Intelligent Life extends the formal, intelligent, witty and somewhat cynical attitude upon which the Economist has built its impeccable politico-economic reputation to the spheres of travel, ideas, and the arts. This brilliant publication covers every section of the aforementioned spheres, however the somewhat hefty subscription fee is slightly too expensive for this stingy blogger. However, Intelligent Life archives all of its articles online along with all of its present print articles. The publication makes all of its print articles available freely on the internet at its website, found here. At this site, all of Intelligent Life’s articles are available, and the somewhat more informal nature of its articles also foster lively debate and comment. On occaision, particularly provocative or well-argued commenters will be invited to write articles themselves. Finally, the eclectically inclined (and /or the completely unfocused) have found that they are not alone.
