Music of Celebration

North Herts Guild of Singers

Handel: Coronation Anthems 

Mozart: Missa Brevis in B flat 

Stanford: Te Deum 

Conductor: Harry Bradford

Organist: Richard Leach

Soprano: Claire Ward, Mezzo soprano: Sally Lundgren

Tenor: Alexander Hume, Bass: Johannes Moore

The concert features Handel’s Coronation anthems, commissioned for the coronation of King George II, which represent some of his most vivacious and musically satisfying writing. The set is most known for the infamous ‘Zadok the Priest’ a favourite of classical audiences and football crowds alike but it is perhaps in the other anthems where Handel’s exquisite counterpoint and melodic capabilities come to the fore. The Coronation anthems are paired with Stanford’s majestic Te Deum in B flat, orchestrated for the coronation of Edward VII in 1902, and Mozart’s exuberant Missa Brevis in B flat - a charming piece that combines intuitive musical design with characteristic Mozartian flair and wit.