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Handel Music For The Royal Fireworks

December 12, 2011 by Gonzalo Snyder

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Music is one of the most powerful tools to set the mood for any occasion, so the sounds will commemorate your particular day must be given severe thought. Wedding music may be broken down into three categories: prelude, processional, and recessional.

Prelude music will have to be soft selections of classical or instrumental jazz. Typically, the musicians will play when it comes to five to six pieces (or twenty to thirty minutes worth) while your guests are seated, followed by one while the mothers are seated. Choose from:

Wachet Auf – Bach

Water Music: Air on a G String – Handel

Minuet in G – Beethoven

Greensleeves

Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony

Arioso – Bach

Sheep May Safely Graze – Bach

Bist du Bei Mir – Bach

Silent Worship – Handel

Ave Maria – Schubert

Midsummer Night’s Dream: Nocturne – Mendelssohn

Wedding Day at Troldhaugen – Grieg

Pastorale – Handel

Next, the processional will include two pieces: one for the bridesmaids and flower girl, and one for you. When selecting these songs, think with regards to the rhythm speed, because you and your bridesmaids may unconsciously fall into step with the beat. Imagine the moment that you ultimately appear at the door of the church. What sounds will support to calm you as you take those introductory steps towards your future husband? Top selections include:

Prelude no. 1 – Gounod

Four Seasons: Spring – Vivaldi

Canon in D – Pachelbel

Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring – Bach

Four Seasons: Winter – Vivaldi

Water Music: Allegro I – Handel

Arrival of the Queen of Sheba – Handel

Wedding Cantata – Bach

Toccata – Widor

Bridal Chorus (Here Comes the Bride) – Wagner

Lastly, the recessional will get started with a joyous, declaratory song while you and your new husband walk back down the aisle. Musicians will proceed to play three to five pieces while your guests are excused from their seats. Favorite recessional selections include:

Ode to Joy – Beethoven

Trumpet Voluntary – Clarke

Water Music: Hornpipe – Handel

Psalm XIX – Marcello

The Royal Fireworks: La Rejoissance (The Rejoicing)

Sinfonies De Fanfares: Rondeau – Mouret

Midsummer Night’s Dream: Wedding March – Mendelssohn

Now, how do you choose amidst these? Either borrow a classical cd from your local library or order one from Amazon, eBay or Walmart. The most frequent selections of wedding CDs are: “25 Wedding Favorites,” “Classical Wedding” by Craig Duncan, and “A Day to Remember” by the O’Neill Brothers, (Piano Brothers). Another option would be to listen to 30 second samples online at a service like Rhapsody, and then download or buy the ones you like.


Handel Music For The Royal Fireworks

No Description Available.
Genre: Classical Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 1-JAN-2002

Sir Neville Marriner thins out the usual ASMF textures and leads vigorous, stately accounts of both the Water Music Suites and the Music for the Royal Fireworks. The playing is snappy, the sentiment of dance-inspired animation just right. This is the idealisti compilation, presenting both scores complete; and the sound is open, well balanced, and exceedingly well defined. –Ted Libbey

Handel Music For The Royal Fireworks

Handel Music For The Royal Fireworks Pic

Handel Music For The Royal Fireworks

Handel Music For The Royal Fireworks Pic

Handel Music For The Royal Fireworks

Handel Music For The Royal Fireworks Picture

Handel Music For The Royal Fireworks

Handel Music For The Royal Fireworks Picture

Handel Music For The Royal Fireworks

Handel Music For The Royal Fireworks Picture

Handel Music For The Royal Fireworks

Handel Music For The Royal Fireworks Picture


Most helpful customer reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful.
5A great performance
By E. McKnight
There are countless versions of Handel’s Royal Fireworks/Water Music available. This recording unlike many others uses modern instruments which tend to give a fuller sound, particularly with the string section. Marriner is one of my favourite conductors and a great exponent of Handel’s music and this disc I am lead to believe is probably the best available using modern instruments. If you prefer the more historically accurate period instrument versions I would recommend recordings by Gardiner or Pinnock

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful.
5Courtly music
By Brett A. Kniess
Georg Friedrich Handel’s most famous instrumental works are presented here: his Music for the Royal Fireworks and his three suites of Water Music in F major, D major, and G major. A grand occasion celebrating a treaty is the backdrop for Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks. Grand stories surrounding the event exist, including a great traffic jam on the London Bridge, a 101 canon salute, and a fire which led to a swordfight. There were 100 musicians outside to play music including 12 trumpets and 16 french horns, and Handel was far from happy with the situation. In any case, the music is very stately, featuring trumpets, horns, and oboes in many guises, not to mention plenty of fanfares.

Handel’s Water Music Suites were composed for the King’s Wednesday evening excursions on the water. A separate barge was allocated to the musicians. Some 50 musicians played entertainment, an event to bring Venice to England. Some of Handel’s greatest melodies situate themselves into these three suites. Very courtly and often rooted in dance, these works represent Handel at the top of his game. Each suite is scored slightly differently: F major has oboes, bassoons, horns, and strings, while the D major adds trumpets, and the G major includes recorders and flutes; all have the standard basso continuo, well played on this recording.

The chamber ensemble Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields has the right touch in all of these works, but as opposed to many performances, a general courtliness (one might go so far as to say stuffiness) is present in these pieces, giving a dignified grandeur, as opposed to the freneticism of other recordings. As is usually the case with Sir Neville Marriner, great lengths are taken to provide the public with the most scholarly performances of 17th and 18th century music; this CD is no exception. Aside from scholarship, the playing and the sound is beautiful and equally balanced. The acoustic of Wood Hall is dry enough so as to not make this chamber ensemble sound over reverberant. Really, all in all, if you want these Handel masterpieces on one disk, the recording is as good as any out there.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
5Highly Recommended!
By A Minstrel in the Gallery
Without a doubt this piece could be described, along with Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, as the “Stairway to Heaven” of Baroque era classical music. It is a shame Handel’s most well-known composition has been played to death because it is really a joyous and fascinating piece. In this vibrant version from 1971, the Academy under the direction of Neville Marriner play the Music for the Royal Fireworks with the fire and spirit it deserves, and then treat the Water Music with exceptional delicacy and refinement. This is an exquisite recording that any fan of Sir Neville Marriner, Handel, or classical music in general should hear.

See all 7 customer reviews…


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