Music Notes from Music Director and Organist, Michael Latsko:

It’s my birthday so I’m going to play two of my favorite things, both composed by G. F. Handel (1685-1759). Although born in Germany, Handel was based in London permanently from about 1712 and became a naturalized British citizen in 1727. Therefore, his chosen Anglicized form of name was indisputably “George Frederick Handel,” as it appears in documents and publications authorized by the composer and on the monument he paid for in Westminster Abbey.

Among other things, Handel was one of the first composers to have a biography written of him (1760), to have centennial celebrations of his birth (1784-1786), and to have a complete edition of his music published (40 vol., 1787-1797). Beethoven is said to have cherished his set. Although today, as in the 19th century, Handel is best known for only a few works, such as Water Musicand Messiah, his oeuvre is vast and includes 42 operas, 25 oratorios, more than 120 cantatas, trios and duets, numerous arias, chamber music, a large number of ecumenical pieces, odes and serenades, 18 concerti grossi and 12 organ concertos.

The prelude is perhaps the first piece of “real organ music” that I learned once I mastered the basic organ technique of coordinating the opposite movement of hands and feet. It is an arrangement (called “Arioso”) of a melody attributed to G. F. Handel’s. An arrangement of the same tune set to the text “Dank sei dir, Herr" (Thanks be to thee) is believed to have been compiled by composer Siegfried Ochs (1858-1929) although many publications simply acknowledge Handel as the composer (much to the dismay of hardcore Handel scholars). Nevertheless, the beautiful main melody appears twice, played on the lushest stops of the organ, with a bridge played on clear, bright flute stops.

I heard the postlude, “The March from the Overture to The Occasional Oratorio,” at the wedding of The Prince of Wales to The Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 and immediately fell in love with it, although not with its long and complicated name. Handel composed The Occasional Oratorio (HWV 62), based on a libretto itself written after the poetry of John Milton and Edmund Spenser, was written in the midst of the Jacobite rising of 1745–1746. Unique among Handel's works, it is labelled "oratorio" but does not tell a story or contain elements of a drama but was intended as a defiant and patriotic rallying piece. The work premiered on 14 February 1746 at Covent Garden. The festive four-section overture, with trumpets and drums, is sometimes performed outside the context of the entire piece. The “March,” one of the four sections, is full of regal pomp and circumstance mixed with just a dash of Handelian sparkle and wit.

Officiant and Homilist: Fr. Miles Smith

The liturgical excerpts are from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer.