Handel: God Save the King!

The Coronation Anthems and Dixit Dominus

La Nuova Musica celebrates Handel’s genius in the year of the Coronation of Charles III. 

Originally commissioned for the coronation of George II and Queen Caroline, Handel’s Coronation Anthems are supreme examples of grand celebratory music. The first, Zadok the Priest, has been played at every coronation since its premier in 1727.

The Coronation Anthems

Zadok the Priest, tells of the anointing of Solomon by Zadok and Nathan and the people's rejoicing at this event.  

Let Thy Hand Be Strengthened, the first of the anthems to be performed at the original ceremony, uses text from Psalm 89 

The King Shall Rejoice celebrates the King's joy in God's power

My Heart is Inditing sets a text developed by Henry Purcell for the 1685 coronation of King James II.

Dixit Dominus 

is a virtuosic display of vocal exuberance written by Handel flexing his young compositional muscles in Rome in 1707.  He was hoping to ingratiate himself with the most powerful men in town - the Cardinals. The text talks of the power of ‘God’s men’ on earth to overpower their enemies by any means necessary.