A Battle of Baroque Bands
In the mid-1740s, London was gripped by patriotic fervor. The Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, an attempt to restore the Stuart monarchy, had been decisively crushed, and the Hanoverian King George II was secure on his throne. Handel, ever attuned to the public mood, composed a series of hugely popular "victory" oratorios, such as Judas Maccabaeus and Joshua, which used biblical stories as allegories for England's own triumphs. To add to the splendor of these performances, he composed three magnificent concertos a due cori to be played during the intermissions. The grand, martial, and celebratory character of these works, with their brilliant trumpet and horn calls, was perfectly calculated to stir the patriotic sentiments of his audience. The Concerto No. 2 in F Major is the most famous of this set, a work whose spectacular sound and brilliant melodies made it an immediate favorite.
The "Due Cori" Tradition Handel's Stereo Sound
The technique of using multiple, spatially separated choirs of instruments was not invented by Handel. The idea dates back to the late Renaissance composers of the Venetian School, like Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli. These composers created spectacular sacred works for St. Mark's Basilica in Venice by placing choirs of singers and instrumentalists in the different organ lofts and balconies of the cathedral, creating a thrilling antiphonal, or call-and-response, effect. Handel masterfully adapts this ceremonial Venetian tradition for the London theatre. In his concerti a due cori, he divides his orchestra into three distinct groups: the main string orchestra, and two identical wind choirs, each consisting of two oboes and a bassoon, often reinforced by horns. This setup allows for a stunning variety of textures, from the full power of all three groups playing together to intricate dialogues between the two wind choirs, which echo each other across the stage.
A Brilliant Recycling Program The Art of the Pastiche
This concerto is a supreme example of Handel’s practical genius for "borrowing" or creating a pastiche from his own greatest hits. Rather than composing entirely new music, he took some of his most beloved choruses from his oratorios—works the London audience would have known well—and brilliantly recast them as purely instrumental movements. The Overture is an arrangement of a chorus from a pastiche oratorio, but the heart of the work is derived from Messiah. The second movement is based on the chorus "Lift up your heads," the fourth is a reworking of "And the glory of the Lord," and the grand finale is a thrilling instrumental transcription of the "Hallelujah" chorus. This was not an act of laziness, but of brilliant transformation, allowing the audience to appreciate his famous melodies in a new and exciting instrumental guise.
A Tour of the Movements From Overture to "Hallelujah"
The concerto unfolds in six distinct movements. It begins with a grand Overture in the French style, with a majestic, slow introduction marked Pomposo (pompously), full of stately dotted rhythms. This leads to a lively Allegro that showcases the brilliant antiphonal effects between the two wind choirs. The second movement, an Allegro ma non troppo, is the brilliant instrumental setting of "Lift up your heads," with the different orchestral groups taking on the roles of the questioning and answering choirs from the original text. A graceful, dance-like A tempo giusto provides a moment of relaxation between the grander movements. A stately Largo, based on "And the glory of the Lord," serves as a solemn introduction to a spirited Allegro. The work then concludes with its most famous movement, a final, jubilant Allegro that is a pure celebration. Here, Handel unleashes the full power of his triple orchestra in a thrilling instrumental version of the "Hallelujah" chorus, with the horns and trumpets ringing out the famous melodies in a blaze of D major glory.
A Masterpiece of Occasion The Concerto's Legacy
The Concerti a due cori are masterpieces of "occasional music"—works written for a specific event and a specific purpose. They are grand, public, and ceremonial in character, designed to delight and impress a large audience. They are less contrapuntally complex than the great concertos of J.S. Bach and less formally rigorous than Handel's own Opus 6 Concerti Grossi. Their genius lies in their spectacular and imaginative use of orchestral color and their brilliant transformation of familiar vocal music into a new instrumental context. The Concerto No. 2, in particular, stands as one of Handel’s most joyous and exhilarating orchestral works, a magnificent battle of the bands that ends in a triumphant, unified celebration.
