The genesis for
the Dettingen Te Deum is
well known. To celebrate the British
victory over the French in the summer
of 1743 at the Battle of Dettingen,
Handel composed the celebratory
choral work in his most festive
style. This occasion would mark
the last time a British monarch,
George II, personally led an army
and fought in battle. As David Vickers
writes in his extensive notes in
the accompanying booklet, this turned
out to be a miscalculation on Handel’s
part. Britain was not officially
at war with France and the outcome
was not the great victory the composer
had imagined. The Te Deum was
finally premiered five months after
the battle at the Chapel Royal on
Sunday, 27 November 1743. This large-scale
music was totally unlike anything
the tiny chapel had heretofore experienced
and, as Vickers’ notes say, must
have been "an odd experience
for all participants".
Today the Te
Deum, although typically Handelian,
is not considered to be from the
composer’s top-drawer. I find this
hard to fathom, because the work
contains many beautiful, quiet numbers
as well as spectacular, celebratory
ones with trumpets and drums. In
any case, the performance under
review could change this attitude.
Layton and his superb choir and
orchestra, perform the work with
all the commitment and excitement
imaginable. The big choruses are
indeed thrilling and the quieter
sections are particularly beautiful.
For example, "We believe that
thou shalt come to be our judge,"
(track 8) is sung with great depth
of feeling, and Neal Davies, wonderful
in all his solos, is especially
touching in "Vouchsafe. O Lord,
to keep us this day without sin"
(Track 15). The other vocal solos
come from members of the choir and
all are excellent. Special mention
should be made of the Academy of
Ancient Music’s contribution, too.
While the orchestra as a whole leaves
nothing to be desired, David Blackadder’s
trumpet solos (Tracks 1, 6, 14,
16) are especially noteworthy with
his gleaming tone and superb technique.
The Te Deum has not had as
many recordings as one might expect,
but an earlier one with the Choir
of Westminster under Simon Preston
and the English Concert with Trevor
Pinnock on DG Archiv should not
be forgotten. It may not be as exuberant
as this new one, but it puts the
work across well and also contains
the Dettingen Anthem that
Handel wrote for the occasion.
This new disc,
though, is better value in that
it contains two other major works
by Handel. The first is a concerto
that may be more familiar to listeners
in its alternate guise as the Concerto
Grosso No. 11 from the Op. 6 set.
The organ version presented here
was actually composed first, although
the exact date of the composition
is not indicated on the composer’s
manuscript. Richard Marlow and the
Academy perform the work well, although
one could imagine a livelier account.
The disc is rounded off with a terrific
performance of one of the favorite
choral works by Handel, the coronation
anthem Zadok the Priest.
This piece should be familiar to
many and to British audiences, in
particular, because it is has been
performed at every coronation since
the occasion for which it was composed:
the coronation of King George II
and Queen Caroline in 1727. It is
only one of four such anthems, but
the most popular. There are recordings
of all four. One of the best of
these is by Neville Marriner and
the Academy and Chorus of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
on Philips. Nonetheless, Zadok
the Priest can stand by itself
and it completes a very satisfying
program on the current disc.
Leslie Wright
Neal Davies (bass) (Te Deum) 
