Handel Weekend in Wardour Chapel, Wiltshire given in 2023 by Cherubim Chamber Choir & Orchestra,
conductor Harry Bradford.
ACIS & GALATEA
Sometimes described as masque, serenata or pastoral entertainment, this work (HWV 49) to a libretto by John Gay originally dated from Handel’s early days in London, when he was living at Cannons with the Duke of Chandos. Subsequently published in two acts in 1722, a production in 1731 by Thomas Arne so enraged Handel that he expanded it into a three act pastoral opera and staged it himself the following year to great acclaim at Drury Lane.
While the work is the only opera of Handel’s never to have left the repertoire, there is no single definitive version, and indeed it also exists in a version reorchestrated by Mozart in 1788.
O the pleasure of the plains,
Happy nymphs and happy swains.
Harmless, merry, free and gay,
Dance and sport the hours away.
For us the zephyr blows,
For us distils the dew,
For us the rose unfolds
And flowers display their hue.
Cherubim Music Trust is a charity that loans professional-calibre orchestral instruments to advanced music students in the UK, aged 15-25, who cannot afford one that matches their ability. See [ Ссылка ]
