The Rise and Fall of the Duke of Chandos
Donald Macleod explores Handel’s time with the Duke of Chandos, where he composed major works including the Chandos Anthems and Acis and Galatea.
Donald Macleod turns to Handel’s association with James Brydges, later Duke of Chandos, whose wealth and ambition created a remarkable musical establishment at Cannons. Working with a resident ensemble of singers and instrumentalists, Handel composed on a scale suited to this grand setting, producing the Chandos Anthems alongside works such as Acis and Galatea and Esther. These pieces reflect both the resources available to him and a shift away from London’s commercial theatre. Chandos’s lavish musical world proved short-lived, but it gave Handel space to experiment and consolidate his style. The result was a body of music that would feed directly into the next, more public phase of his career.
Acis and Galatea: “Love sounds th’alarm”
Ian Bostridge, tenor
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Harry Bicket, conductor
As Pants the Hart
Arcangelo
Jonathan Cohen, conductor
Acis and Galatea: Sinfonia
Les Arts Florissants
William Christie, conductor
Esther: excerpts
The Sixteen
Symphony of Harmony and Invention
Harry Christophers, conductor
On radio
Broadcast
- Wed 22 Jul 202616:00BBC Radio 3
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