Robert King, The King's Consort, New College Choir Oxford - George Frideric Handel: Music for royal occasions (1989)
Robert King, The King's Consort, New College Choir Oxford - George Frideric Handel: Music for royal occasions (1989)
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 251 Mb | Total time: 55:00 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Hyperion | # CDA66315 | Recorded: 1988
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue & Log) ~ 251 Mb | Total time: 55:00 | Scans included
Classical | Label: Hyperion | # CDA66315 | Recorded: 1988
One might think that with all of the attention that Handel’s music has received over the years and especially since the tercentenary of his birth in 1985, that no stone has been left unturned in the effort to accord the composer his due. Indeed, there have been revelatory and monumental cycles of his operas and oratorios—especially Messiah—as well as numerous releases of Music for the Royal Fireworks, Water Music, the Concerti grossi, ops. 3 and 6—the list goes on and on, almost ad nauseam. As with any composer, though, there are darker recesses in Handel’s œuvre that seemed to have attracted the interest of a multitude of dust bunnies, but few performers. This Hyperion recording, originally recorded in 1988 and released under the title Music for Royal Occasions, holds three such works specifically composed for English courtly festivities of various import between 1713 and 1736.
Handel returned to Germany from England in 1711, and was asked to quill a Te Deum and Jubilate to commemorate the Treaty of Utrecht (1712) and an ode for the Queen’s birthday (1713). There is no record of a prima of the Birthday Ode, but it was intended for use on February 6, 1713. There is much variety within its nine movements and half-hour run, but the most breathtaking is the opening movement, “Eternal Source of Light Divine,” an exquisite Andante, sung here by counter-tenor James Bowman against a background of sustained string passages and gentle trumpet obbligato played by Crispian Steele-Perkins, whose eloquent execution of the trumpet part had a lasting effect upon this auditor. The Te Deum included on this release (a separate entity from the so-called “Utrecht” Te Deum) wasn’t performed until 1714, when the former Elector of Hanover, now George I, had assumed the English throne. In 1736, Handel was firmly established on the English musical scene via numerous successes and was tapped for more music of festal pomp and splendor, this time for the wedding of the Prince of Wales. Handel knew his Bible, as the text for this work illustrates, for he chose appropriate material contained in Psalms 68, 106, and 128. Again—as in the Birthday Ode—we find Handel at his regal best with trumpets and timpani, but again offering us a variety of moods.
In the years since the release of this disc, Robert King and his performers have become one of the most respected ensembles involved in period-instrument performance. Of course, that’s not meant to dismiss their early efforts as anything less than exceptional, for here scrupulous scholarship is ideally combined with common sense to produce recordings that evince a cri de cœur. The exceptional tonal beauty and spontaneity plead the case of this repertoire quite well, as do the poise, style, agility, and verve displayed not only by the soloists, but also by the Choir of New College, Oxford. In sum, one cannot help but appreciate Robert King’s excellent feel for the music and certainly we must envy his ability and that of his colleagues to communicate this to us. None of these works will ever rival the cornerstones of Handel’s catalog and the keystones of the 18th-century choral repertoire, but these enthusiastic and sparkling readings do make one sit bolt upright and wonder why so few have ventured here before.–Michael Carter
Performer:
Gillian Fisher, soprano
James Bowman, countertenor
John Mark Ainsley, tenor
Michael George, bass
New College Choir Oxford
The King's Consort
Robert King, conductor
Tracklist:
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Birthday Ode for Queen Anne
01. Eternal source of light divine
02. The day that gave great Anna birth
03. Let all the winged race with joy
04. Let flocks and herds their fear forget
05. Let rolling streams their gladness show
06. Kind Health descends on downy wings
07. The day that gave great Anna birth
08. Let envy then conceal her head
09. United nations shall combine
Te Deum in D Major
10. We praise thee O God
11. The glorious company of the Apostles praise thee
12. When thou tookest unon thee to deliver man
13. Day by day we magnify thee
14. Vouchsafe, O Lord, to keep us this day without sin
15. O Lord, in thee have I trusted
Sing unto God
16. Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth
17. Blessed are all they that fear the Lord
18. Thy wife shall be as the fruitful vine
19. Lo, thus shall the man be blessed
20. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel
21. And let all the people say
Exact Audio Copy V1.3 from 2. September 2016
EAC extraction logfile from 5. June 2018, 20:49
Gillian Fisher, James Bowman, John Mark Ainsley, Michael George; Robert King / Handel - Music for Royal Occasions
Used drive : ATAPI iHAS124 F Adapter: 1 ID: 0
Read mode : Secure
Utilize accurate stream : Yes
Defeat audio cache : Yes
Make use of C2 pointers : No
Read offset correction : 6
Overread into Lead-In and Lead-Out : No
Fill up missing offset samples with silence : Yes
Delete leading and trailing silent blocks : No
Null samples used in CRC calculations : Yes
Used interface : Native Win32 interface for Win NT & 2000
Used output format : User Defined Encoder
Selected bitrate : 1024 kBit/s
Quality : High
Add ID3 tag : No
Command line compressor : C:\Program Files (x86)\Exact Audio Copy\FLAC\FLAC.EXE
Additional command line options : -8 -V -T "TITLE=%title%" -T "ARTIST=%artist%" -T "ALBUMARTIST=%albumartist%" -T "ALBUM=%albumtitle%" -T "DATE=%year%" -T "TRACKNUMBER=%tracknr%" -T "TRACKTOTAL=%numtracks%" -T "GENRE=%genre%" -T "COMMENT=%comment%" -T "PERFORMER=%albuminterpret%" -T "COMPOSER=%composer%" %source% -o %dest%
TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 0:00.00 | 3:23.15 | 0 | 15239
2 | 3:23.15 | 2:44.42 | 15240 | 27581
3 | 6:07.57 | 2:37.73 | 27582 | 39429
4 | 8:45.55 | 2:37.60 | 39430 | 51264
5 | 11:23.40 | 2:41.72 | 51265 | 63411
6 | 14:05.37 | 4:44.13 | 63412 | 84724
7 | 18:49.50 | 1:44.15 | 84725 | 92539
8 | 20:33.65 | 2:14.70 | 92540 | 102659
9 | 22:48.60 | 3:17.65 | 102660 | 117499
10 | 26:06.50 | 1:54.65 | 117500 | 126114
11 | 28:01.40 | 3:05.52 | 126115 | 140041
12 | 31:07.17 | 3:04.65 | 140042 | 153906
13 | 34:12.07 | 1:03.13 | 153907 | 158644
14 | 35:15.20 | 1:39.02 | 158645 | 166071
15 | 36:54.22 | 1:22.53 | 166072 | 172274
16 | 38:17.00 | 3:06.12 | 172275 | 186236
17 | 41:23.12 | 2:22.03 | 186237 | 196889
18 | 43:45.15 | 3:51.10 | 196890 | 214224
19 | 47:36.25 | 1:45.22 | 214225 | 222121
20 | 49:21.47 | 0:49.70 | 222122 | 225866
21 | 50:11.42 | 4:49.33 | 225867 | 247574
Range status and errors
Selected range
Filename C:\EACRip\HANDEL\Handel - Music for Royal Occasions (Robert King) (1988)\Handel - Music for Royal Occasions - Robert King.wav
Peak level 99.9 %
Extraction speed 8.4 X
Range quality 100.0 %
Test CRC AB10F220
Copy CRC AB10F220
Copy OK
No errors occurred
AccurateRip summary
Track 1 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [37E93C53] (AR v2)
Track 2 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [08C5C775] (AR v2)
Track 3 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [A21952DA] (AR v2)
Track 4 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [294001E3] (AR v2)
Track 5 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [65D9799F] (AR v2)
Track 6 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [F10C32F1] (AR v2)
Track 7 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [39A6EA63] (AR v2)
Track 8 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [8BA3EA35] (AR v2)
Track 9 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [F710FC05] (AR v2)
Track 10 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [7D66B16A] (AR v2)
Track 11 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [F46B66F2] (AR v2)
Track 12 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [937AC8E1] (AR v2)
Track 13 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [9E9D250C] (AR v2)
Track 14 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [BB7F95BB] (AR v2)
Track 15 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [1E29F069] (AR v2)
Track 16 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [668CEDCA] (AR v2)
Track 17 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [8C4F7CCF] (AR v2)
Track 18 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [BAA072F1] (AR v2)
Track 19 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [338A6D0B] (AR v2)
Track 20 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [CAE9DDD9] (AR v2)
Track 21 accurately ripped (confidence 4) [BFB8E7C0] (AR v2)
All tracks accurately ripped
End of status report
–– CUETools DB Plugin V2.1.6
[CTDB TOCID: J.aWTm0m2c9mIuTJuBrYs2PfRco-] found
Submit result: J.aWTm0m2c9mIuTJuBrYs2PfRco- has been confirmed
Track | CTDB Status
1 | (16/17) Accurately ripped
2 | (16/17) Accurately ripped
3 | (16/17) Accurately ripped
4 | (16/17) Accurately ripped
5 | (16/17) Accurately ripped
6 | (16/17) Accurately ripped
7 | (16/17) Accurately ripped
8 | (16/17) Accurately ripped
9 | (16/17) Accurately ripped
10 | (16/17) Accurately ripped
11 | (16/17) Accurately ripped
12 | (16/17) Accurately ripped
13 | (16/17) Accurately ripped
14 | (16/17) Accurately ripped
15 | (16/17) Accurately ripped
16 | (16/17) Accurately ripped
17 | (16/17) Accurately ripped
18 | (16/17) Accurately ripped
19 | (16/17) Accurately ripped
20 | (16/17) Accurately ripped
21 | (16/17) Accurately ripped
==== Log checksum 25116975D6B93F670C6E921F9BBD4B59C472DA40A92461B438172C8A7590D54A ====
Robert King, The King's Consort, New College Choir Oxford - George Frideric Handel: Music for royal occasions (1989)
Thanks to the original releaser