Amazing pieces of classical music - 50
Zadok the Priest (HWV 258) is a British anthem that was composed by George Frideric Handel for the coronation of George II in 1727. Music aside, when considering the biblical comparisons to the modern British monarchy, as any good catholic Anglican should do, this coronation anthem became the symbol of continuity of the British monarchy for nearly 300 years.
For the definitive, award-winning recording of George Frideric Händel's Zadok the Priest, stream the Coronation Anthems album on Presto Music by The Sixteen. Conducted by Harry Christophers, this performance won the 2009 Gramophone Baroque Vocal Award, balancing the thrilling orchestral swell with pristine choral vocals.
Part of the traditional content of British coronations, the texts for all four anthems were picked by Händel in a personal selection from the most accessibe account of an earlier coronation, the Coronation of King James II and VII in 1685, the text is a translation of the traditional antiphon, Unxerunt Salomonem, itself derived from the biblical account of the anointing of Solomon by the priest Zadok (1 Kings 1:38-40):
"38 So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon king David's mule, and brought him to Gihon.
39 And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon.
40 And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them."
That biblical passage describes the coronation of Solomon at the Gihon Spring, orchestrated by King David's trusted officials to secure his succession to the throne. The text describes the procession to the Gihon, the anointing of Solomon by Zadok the priest, and the joyful proclamation of the people, but the story behind it is far more interesting.
King David was old and nearing the end of his life. Sensing weakness, his fourth son, Adonijah, threw a lavish feast and declared himself the rightful successor. Both the army's chief general and the country's high priest backed him, but alarmed, the prophet Nathan and David's favored wife, Bathsheba, rushed to David's bedside to remind the king of a prior oath he had made: that Solomon would succeed him.
Roused to action, King David issued immediate, decisive orders to his loyalists. He instructed the priest Zadok, Nathan, and his own elite royal guard to place Solomon on David's royal mule. Riding the king's mule was on itself a profound political symbol and a sign to the people that Solomon had David's full authority and backing. This royal procession traveled just outside Jerusalem to the spring at Gihon.
At Gihon, Zadok the priest took sacred oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon as king. The trumpets sounded, and the crowd shouted in unified support: "God save king Solomon!" The public anointing of Solomon sparked an eruption of joy. The cheering and piping were so deafening that in the King James Version it notes, "the earth rent with the sound of them".
Händel's Zadok the Priest is written for a chorus and orchestra consisting of two oboes, two bassoons, three trumpets, timpani, strings with three violin parts rather than the usual two, and continuo, in the key of D major. The music prepares a surprise in its orchestral introduction through the use of static layering of soft string textures followed by a sudden rousing forte tutti entrance, augmented by three trumpets.
The middle section, "And all the people rejoic'd, and said", is a dance form in 3/4 time, with the choir singing chordally and a dotted rhythm in the strings. The final section, "God save the King", etc., is a return to common time (4/4), with the "God save the King" interspersed with the Amens incorporating long semiquaver runs. The chorus ends with a largo plagal cadence on "Alleluia".
[media=https://youtu.be/3ZyYuprUZOw]
For the definitive, award-winning recording of George Frideric Händel's Zadok the Priest, stream the Coronation Anthems album on Presto Music by The Sixteen. Conducted by Harry Christophers, this performance won the 2009 Gramophone Baroque Vocal Award, balancing the thrilling orchestral swell with pristine choral vocals.
Part of the traditional content of British coronations, the texts for all four anthems were picked by Händel in a personal selection from the most accessibe account of an earlier coronation, the Coronation of King James II and VII in 1685, the text is a translation of the traditional antiphon, Unxerunt Salomonem, itself derived from the biblical account of the anointing of Solomon by the priest Zadok (1 Kings 1:38-40):
"38 So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon king David's mule, and brought him to Gihon.
39 And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon.
40 And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them."
That biblical passage describes the coronation of Solomon at the Gihon Spring, orchestrated by King David's trusted officials to secure his succession to the throne. The text describes the procession to the Gihon, the anointing of Solomon by Zadok the priest, and the joyful proclamation of the people, but the story behind it is far more interesting.
King David was old and nearing the end of his life. Sensing weakness, his fourth son, Adonijah, threw a lavish feast and declared himself the rightful successor. Both the army's chief general and the country's high priest backed him, but alarmed, the prophet Nathan and David's favored wife, Bathsheba, rushed to David's bedside to remind the king of a prior oath he had made: that Solomon would succeed him.
Roused to action, King David issued immediate, decisive orders to his loyalists. He instructed the priest Zadok, Nathan, and his own elite royal guard to place Solomon on David's royal mule. Riding the king's mule was on itself a profound political symbol and a sign to the people that Solomon had David's full authority and backing. This royal procession traveled just outside Jerusalem to the spring at Gihon.
At Gihon, Zadok the priest took sacred oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon as king. The trumpets sounded, and the crowd shouted in unified support: "God save king Solomon!" The public anointing of Solomon sparked an eruption of joy. The cheering and piping were so deafening that in the King James Version it notes, "the earth rent with the sound of them".
Händel's Zadok the Priest is written for a chorus and orchestra consisting of two oboes, two bassoons, three trumpets, timpani, strings with three violin parts rather than the usual two, and continuo, in the key of D major. The music prepares a surprise in its orchestral introduction through the use of static layering of soft string textures followed by a sudden rousing forte tutti entrance, augmented by three trumpets.
The middle section, "And all the people rejoic'd, and said", is a dance form in 3/4 time, with the choir singing chordally and a dotted rhythm in the strings. The final section, "God save the King", etc., is a return to common time (4/4), with the "God save the King" interspersed with the Amens incorporating long semiquaver runs. The chorus ends with a largo plagal cadence on "Alleluia".
[media=https://youtu.be/3ZyYuprUZOw]
