HANDEL, George Frideric 1685-1759

Anthem For the Wedding of Frederick Prince of Wales, and the Princess of Saxa-Gotha, Composed in the the Year 1736. [HWV 263]. [Full score]

London: Arnold, [1795].

Large folio (273 x 372 mm). Disbound. 1f. (recto title, verso blank), 3-85, [i] (blank), 1f. (recto contents, verso blank) pp. Engraved throughout. Arnold edition 153-154.

Occasional marginal soiling and very small stains; final signature detached. A crisp and clear impression on heavy paper.

First Edition. Smith p. 155, no. 1. RISM H1556 and HH1556.

"The wedding of the Prince of Wales on 27 April [1736] gave Handel an excuse for a short celebratory opera season consisting of a revival of Ariodante (in which Gioacchino Conti, a new castrato, was allowed to include non-Handelian arias from his previous continental repertory) and eight performances of the newly composed Atalanta (12 May 1736) – light in mood, as befitted the occasion, but not at all shallow; Frederick ostentatiously refused to attend the first night. Handel again supplied a wedding anthem (Sing unto God) for the ceremony itself, most of the music being new but with the final solo and chorus from Parnasso in festa re-used to make an exhilarating conclusion." Anthony Hicks in Grove Music Online.

Item #39742

Price: $750.00  other currencies