Georg Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Chandos Anthems (Anthems for Cannons)
O Sing unto the Lord
Have Mercy Upon Me, O God
As Pants the Hart
Let God Arise
Arcangelo/Jonathan Cohen (harpsichord)
rec. 2023, St Jude-on-the-Hill, London
Alpha Classics 1153 [75]
This is a lovely disc; proof, as though it were needed, that Handel’s Chandos anthems are not only worth your time but are capable of sustaining multiple interpretations.
Handel wrote these for the limited forces of the Duke of Chandos at his chapel in Edgware, but Arcangelo strips back even those limited forces to the bare minimum they could sustain. The orchestral ensemble uses six violins (three firsts, three seconds), but otherwise is one-to-a-part, so the principal benefit is transparency and flexibility. However, these may be small forces but they have a large presence, the instrumental Sonatas that open each anthem sounding lithe and silky but with a palpable sense of energy in the fugal moments. They play the more meditative moments with a great sense of space, like the opening chorus of Have Mercy Upon Me, O God, but they’re capable of tremendously energetic fun in the faster ones, like “Let the sea make a noise” from O Sing unto the Lord, and the faster section of the Symphony from Let God Arise feels like a jolly jig.
Here, as elsewhere, you sense the personality of conductor Jonathan Cohen, who sounds as though he was having a marvellous time directing performances of energy, bounce and vigour. However, he’s also capable of relaxing and responding to Handel’s more meditative moments so that this is never in any way a cookie-cutter approach: instead his approach is supple and flexible so that the mood of every moment is brought expertly to life.
He is helped in this by his crack team of singers, eight in total, who both sing the solos and come together as the small chorus. Alpha’s helpful booklet names each for the moments where they take the limelight. They sound great together, beautifully blended, with bright sopranos on top and impressively hefty basses at the bottom, singing a tremendously satisfying fugue at the end of Have Mercy Upon Me, O God, yet sounding limpid and longingly beautiful in the opening chorus of As pants the hart. They’re at their best as a unit in Let God Arise, with its the marvellous, bustling opening chorus and subsequent, exhilarating exhortations of praise, but their standard is consistently excellent across the disc, and they’ve got just the right balance of unity with characterful individuality.
Of the soloists, tenor Hugo Hymas is probably the standout, consistently smooth and bright but capable of superb coloratura in his aria from O Sing unto the Lord describing the raging of the sea. In the duet with soprano which immediately follows, however, Samuel Boden (here designated as a “high tenor”) more than gives him a run for his money in the beauty stakes. Deborah Cachet and Hilary Cronin are very different but very effective sopranos, Cronin standing out particularly in her aria of lonely longing in As Pants the Hart.
The whole team colours each anthem very distinctively so that, listening to the whole disc in one setting, there’s never any sense of monotony or homogeneity. O Sing Unto the Lord, for example, bustles with busy energy, as does much of Have Mercy Upon Me, O God; but As Pants the Hart is much more limpid, thoughtful and contemplative. Others who want more heft will look elsewhere, but if you want performances where you can hear the daylight between the notes then you’ll find these very satisfying. The recorded sound is excellent, and the booklet contains the full texts with French translation, alongside a brief but helpful essay from Handel authority David Vickers. Will there be a Volume Two, I wonder?
Simon Thompson
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