Handel's Unsung Heroes

Featuring

David Bates
Iestyn Davies
Christine Rice
Alexander Chance
Lucy Crowe
La Nuova Musica

George Frideric Handel

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Compositional Technique

The aria "Or la tromba" from Rinaldo is the only aria Handel ever wrote with four trumpets, as well as strings, oboes, and drums.

Compositional Technique

In his opera Rinaldo, Handel used four trumpets and timpani for a Christian march, positioning himself as a successor to Purcell, who used three trumpets on the operatic stage.

Album & Artwork

The album cover design for "Handel's Unsung Heroes" was inspired by a 1763 satirical print from the British Museum.

Recording & Production

This album was recorded in October 2020, during the break between the first and second lockdowns of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Interpretation

The album "Handel's Unsung Heroes" shifts focus from the star singer to the variety of Handel's orchestrations and the virtuosity of the obbligato soloists, treating them as equal duetting partners to the singers.

Composer Biography

Handel supported the Fund for the Support of Decay'd Musicians and their Families, an organization started by colleagues of the Dutch wind player Jean Christian Kytch, which still exists today as the Royal Society of Musicians.