Netherlands Bach Society

Jos van Veldhoven, conductor

 G.F. Handel ((1685 -1759 Te Deum HWV 278 (Music for the Peace of Utrecht, 1713) Jubilate HWV 279 (Music for the Peace of Utrecht)

W. Croft (1678 - 1727) worldpremiere recording Ode for the Peace of Utrecht (“With Noise of Cannon)

The Peace of Utrecht was celebrated in 1713 with music, festive fireworks and specially commissioned compositions such as the Utrecht Te Deum and Utrecht Jubilate by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) and the Ode for the Peace of Utrecht by William Croft (1678-1727). In 2013, Utrecht once again will be the host, stage and partner of festivities, arts and culture. Then we shall celebrate three hundred years of the Treaty of Utrecht in grand style.


It may well be that Handel had completed his Te Deum before he received an official commission. He was probably just waiting for his chance, and that chance par excellence was the Treaty of Utrecht. He got to know about the favourite ceremonies and celebrations of the English, what music was appropriate and what was specifically English about it. Then he tried to blend traditional English music with his own style. It is almost certain that Handel's examples were Purcell's Te Deum and the thanksgiving anthem Rejoice in the Lord by William Croft: both works offered starting points for his Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate. The result was a typical English blend of polyphonic and homophonic passages, seamless transitions from vocal solos to choral sections, and the occasional, very seventeenth-century English sounding modal melody. But the Utrecht Te Deum is on a grander scale than that of Purcell: it is longer, requires a larger orchestra, is more varied and brilliant in its technique and orchestration, and has a more refined text expression, despite the fact that Handel had hardly had time to become an Englishman.

Handel composed the Jubilate as a second thought - a supplement to the Te Deum - when a performance was imminent at a Thanksgiving Service after the Treaty of Utrecht. It took place on 7 July 1713 in London in a packed St Paul's Cathedral. "The Church-Musick was Excellent in its Performance, as is was exquisite in its Composure", the London press wrote. From that moment, Handel's Utrecht Te Deum was performed annually on St Cecilia’s Day (22 November), toppling Purcell's Te Deum from its place of honour.

The preface to William Croft's separately published overture With Noise of Cannon states that the composer wrote the piece to gain a doctorate at Oxford, and that it forms part of a larger composition.
Two things kept going through my mind: firstly, the date 13 July 1713, when Croft's music was first performed, three months after the Treaty of Utrecht was signed in Utrecht, and hardly a week after Handel's Te Deum and Jubilate rang out in St. Paul's in London to celebrate peace. Secondly, the intriguing title With Noise of Cannon, the canon perhaps referring to the peace that often follows war. Research in the Bodleian Library in Oxford almost immediately brought the following to light:

Jos van Veldhoven
 

 G.F. Handel ((1685 -1759)
Te Deum HWV 278 (Music for the Peace of Utrecht, 1713)

Jubilate HWV 279 (Music for the Peace of Utrecht)

W. Croft (1678 - 1727) worldpremiere recording
Ode for the Peace of Utrecht (“With Noise of Cannon)

(…) who better than the Netherlands Bach Society to sing the music composed for a treaty signed in their country? (…) With an excellent, attractively illustrated booklet and top-rate recording this may not be seasonal music but it is strongly recommended.
Musicweb International

(...) feestelijke en transparante uitvoering (...) de cd vormt een mooie opmaat naar het jaar 2013, als 300 jaar Vrede van Utrecht uitbundig gevierd gaat worden. (...)
Reformatorisch Dagblad

(...) Der brilliante Character der beiden Werke von Händel kommen in der Einspielung der Niederländischen Bachvereinigung sehr gut zum Tragen. (...) Chor und Orchester agieren auf hohem Niveau. (...)
Toccata

(…) Deze werken sluiten in hun Engelse pracht en praal naadloos op elkaar aan (…). Hier moet groots worden uitgepakt en dat gebeurt ook zeer overtuigend.
Tijdschrift Oude Muziek

 (…) Jos van Veldhoven gives us performances equal to the best previous recordings of the Handel. His soloists are all very good and equal to those on competing discs. The Netherlands Bach Society Orchestra plays brilliantly. (…)
Fanfare

Superbe spatialisation!
Les solistes réunis ici sont miraculeux d’expressivité, de justesse et de discrétion sensible. (…)
(…) Le tout est dirigé avec un sens rare de la ligne et une jubilation de chaque instant. Un disque original mérite vraiment le détour.
Classica ****

 (…) Wonderschone fluitsolo die Händel enkele keren schitterend laat versmelten met het koor en de solisten. (...) Introverte devotie wordt afgewisseld door luidruchtige koordelen met trompetten en pauken (...) Over de uitvoering niets dan lof: fris en gedreven en een fantastische solistencast. Heerlijk, heerlijk, Händel.
Kerk en Muziek

 Deze nieuwe uitgave biedt niet alleen een wereldpremière in de vorm van een hoogst geïnspireerde en doortimmerde uitvoering van William Crofts ‘Ode for the Peace of Utrecht’, maar tevens een niet minder bevlogen vertolking van Händels Te Deum en Jubilate. (…)  De opname klinkt ruimtelijker dan ik mij van de Philharmonie in Haarlem herinner, maar de gesuggereerde kerkakoestiek past deze muziek als een handschoen. Articulatie en helderheid blijven daarbij volkomen intact en laten nergens te wensen over. Solisten, koor en orkest staan er bijzonder fraai op, met volledig behoud van hun individuele karakteristieken. Het gebruik van historische instrumenten verhoogt de waarde van deze uitgave nog eens extra. (...) Een mooie, bijzonder goed verzorgde productie, de zoveelste van het huis Channel Classics.
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