Golden Evenings at Cannons

Kate Molleson explores the home of Handel’s most extravagant employer.

When he arrived in London in 1712, German-born George Frideric Handel was already one of Europe’s most exciting musical minds. Over the next decades he would not only carve a living for himself, but transform British musical life, from the opera stage to the choir stalls, and hardwire his legacy into our culture. All this week, Kate Molleson tells the stories of five summer soirees from across his life in the British Isles – golden evenings of 18th-century music making, and some of his most eventful performances.

Today, we head to the private arcadian idyll where Handel was composer-in-residence from 1717-1719. Cannons was a stately home belonging to James Brydges, the cash-flashing Duke of Chandos. With 84-acres of exquisite gardens and a full court of musicians at his disposal, Handel could stretch his creative wings, from chapel music to his pastoral opera Acis and Galatea.

Acis and Galatea (Overture)
London Early Opera
Bridget Cunningham, conductor

Chandos Te Deum (excerpt)
London Handel Orchestra
Adrian Butterfield, conductor

Chandos Anthem No 4 ‘O sing unto the Lord a new song’
Ian Partridge, tenor
Lynne Dawson, soprano
The Sixteen Choir and Orchestra
Harry Christophers, conductor

Acis and Galatea, Act II: Nos 25-29
Susan Hamilton, soprano (Galatea)
Dunedin Consort
John Butt, conductor

Keyboard Suite in E major ‘The Harmonious Blacksmith’, HWV430 (Air & Variations)
Sviatoslav Richter, piano

Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Wales and West