Hendel's letter to Jennens

8/15/2019 Hendel's letter to Jennens.

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choral singers rom the %roessional London church

musicians acti,e at the Cha%el :o#al- Westminster A$$e#-

and &t. ;aul's Cathedral- and the organ su%%ort to !hich

the# !ere accustomed came along as %art and %arcel o

(the &olemnit# o Church"6usic.( With Handel %residing

at the organ""or at times rom a com$ined har%sichord

and organ controlled rom one e#$oard


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continuations o the solo organ %art !ithin a mo,ement.

80hese concertos !ere %osthumousl# %u$lished as his

(2%us 7.( 0hus Handel's acclaimed im%ro,isations had

led him to create the genre o organ concerto in order to

com$ine his art as a e#$oard ,irtuoso !ith the orchestra

%resent in the London theaters. 0hese !ors !ere heard

in the inter,als $et!een the acts o the oratorios or

sometimes integrated !ith them. Handel created the

organ concerto in London much as ach !as in,enting

the har%sichord concerto a$out the same time in Lei%Big-

at /rst transcri$ing %reeistent music or the ne!

com$ination and then later !riting original e#$oardconcertos. 0he search or the sort o organ !hich Handel

used in ritain re,eals e! sur,i,ing instruments !hich

he %la#ed. 0he organ he used or his oratorio

%erormances at the 0heatre :o#al- Co,ent Garden""

donated to the theater at his death""%erished in a $uilding

/re in 1+.9 ts s%eci/cation !as the same as !hat he

recommended in the letter to Charles Jennens- though it

had a trum%et sto% rather than a ute. 0he organ Handellet to the Foundling Hos%ital Cha%el !as re%laced shortl#

ater his death- and the sur,i,ing e#$oard rom this

latter organ !as ne,er touched $# Handel- des%ite

re3uent claims to the contrar#.1+ Lie!ise man#

instruments sur,i,ing no!ada#s at statel# homes Handel

,isited rarel# turn out to $e instruments he actuall#

%la#ed. ach oten assumed the role o consultant toad,ise on changes or restorations o organs or to test

ne! instruments. Handel did the same on a lesser scale-

and his letter to Charles Jennens gi,es us a %icture o

Handel the consultant- recommending the s%eci/cation o

an organ to an a,id de,otee o his music. Fortunatel# not


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onl# does the letter sur,i,e- $ut so does the organ $uilt to

Handel's design- little altered ece%t or a contro,ersial

retuning a$out ort# #ears ago. Charles Jennens 817++"

177


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in Jaco$ean st#le- (into a s%lendid ;alladian mansion.(1)

Enortunatel# the house !as demolished in 19*1- $ut a

%ainting o it sur,i,es as do some eight#"nine dra!ings o

the interior design 8the %ainting is re%roduced in &mith's

article along !ith a discussion o Jennens's tastes in

remodeling. Among the contents o the house !ould

ha,e $een Jennens's li$rar# o musical manuscri%ts-

including man# ,olumes containing almost e,er# note

!hich Handel had com%osed 8the so"called (A#lesord

Collection-( com%rising $oth ull scores and se%arate

,ocal and instrumental %arts and also man# ,olumes o

talian music ac3uired or Jennens $# his riend d!ardHolds!orth during tours o tal#.1< Jennens !as ca%a$le

o %la#ing this music- or !hich %ur%ose he oten entered

meticulous /gured $asses into his Handel manuscri%ts.

He o!ned at least one har%sichord- another o his

ac3uisitions rom tal#- and lie man# other countr# house

o!ners o the time he !anted an organ or Go%sall. 0hus

he !rote to Handel or ad,ice- es%eciall# !ith regard to

:ichard ridge as an organ $uilder- in &e%tem$er 1749.Handel's %rom%t re%l# o &e%tem$er


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common at this time all o Handel's organ concertos

re3uire this note 8German organs o this %eriod usuall# go

onl# to C. 0he $ottom note is (Gamut-( that is- lo! G

$elo! three leger lines under the $ass cle. 0he lac o a

%edal di,ision in ritish organs !as %artl# com%ensated

$# this etended $ass range- allo!ing a good deal o

octa,e dou$ling o the $ass $oth in solo organ %la#ing

and continuo !or. # (ull octa,e( Handel meant a

com%ass chromaticall# com%lete rom lo! G""G"shar%- A-

"at- - C- etc. 6an# organs o this %eriod had a (short

octa,e( omitting some o the less"needed lo! notes

since these !ere the largest %i%es o the organ the# !erethe most e%ensi,e to $uild. 0he inclusion o lo! G"shar%

is rather unusual- and it !as in act included in the organ.

(Church Wor( reers to the scaling o the organ- Handel

o%ting here or a rather more ull sound and not the sort

o cham$er organ tone 8!ith narro! %i%es ound in most

domestic organs. ,en though a second e#$oard

controlling three sto%s !as added to the organ earl# in its

lie- Handel's design called or a com%lete chorus on themain e#$oard- rather than using some o the echo

eects ound in man# small organs. Handel's interest in a

com%lete chorus !ithout s%ecial eects sto%s is seen in

the re3uirement that there $e (!hole sto%s and none in

hal,es-( lie the cornet and trum%et sto%s common in

ritain in this %eriod- !hich sounded onl# in the tre$le

and thus !ere used or solo melodies $ut not in the$uilding o the chorus sound. 0he list o sto%s s%eci/ed $#

Handel ollo!s the ritish usage and terminolog# o the

time. 0he t!o Dia%asons constituted the $asis o the

organ sound dra!n together the# %roduced !hat !as

usuall# called (sot organ.( oth sounded at !hat !e no!


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reer to as "oot %itch. 80his nomenclature !as not used

in eighteenth"centur# ritain since a %i%e !hich %la#s lo!

C !hich is a$out eet in height- $ut the tallest %i%e in a

G"com%ass organ !ould $e 1+ to 1) eet in height-

de%ending on the %itch. 0he metal 2%en Dia%ason is

%laced (in Front( orming the ,isi$le acade o the organ.

t %roduces characteristic organ tone- !hile the 3uicer

s%eaing &to% Dia%ason gi,es a !ooden ute# sound.

Handel then adds the other sto%s t#%ical o the ritish

organ chorus- all metal %i%es o the Dia%ason amil#= a

;rinci%al 8sounds at 4"oot range- 0!elth 8) and )


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179) at the time o its remo,al rom Go%sall. Another

source suggests that the 0ierce !as re%laced-1* and i

this is so- 179) is the liel# date- as mutations ell into

disa,or around this time. 8t is o course %ossi$le that the

original 0ierce %i%es !ere let $ehind and are no! once

again in the organ the origins o the %resent 0ierce ran

are unclear. 6uch remains to $e done on attri$ution o

organs in this %eriod- made dicult $# the sur,i,al o so

e! unaltered eam%les. James oeringer's three",olume

2rgana ritannica1@ is the most com%rehensi,e stud#-

$ased on the so"called &%erling ote$oos- a list o a$out

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!ith orchestra !ere dicult""the organ !as lo!er than

standard modern orchestral %itch. 0rans%osing the organ

%art u% a hal"ste% still did not %roduce good results. &o

the decision !as made to raise the %itch o the organ to

modern standards- /tting the %i%es !ith tuning sliders

!hich could lengthen the %i%es $ac to their original %itch

i desired. 0he organ"$uilding /rm o .;. 6ander too this

on- a$out the onl# ritish /rm !ith an# e%erience at the

time !ith historical instruments.17 0o her credit organist

Lad# &usi Jeans 81911"199


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and %la#ed it in London !hen it !as /nished at the

$uilder's sho%. &itting in the C archi,es %ro$a$l# are

recordings made $eore the alteration o the tunings. 0he

iggs recording o the concertos- !ith Adrian oult

conducting- has $een issued se,eral times on long"

%la#ing records $# Colum$ia and recentl# remastered

onto com%act disc.19 2ne record in a series o the Handel

concertos $# &imon ;reston- organist- !ith ehudi

6enuhin conducting !as made at Great ;acington

around 197+.)+ A more recent digital recording o solo

organ music- including Handel's (&i Fugues or

Moluntar#s( 8HWM @+*"@1+- !as made there $# 0onNoo%man.)1 0ogether Handel's letter and the Great

;acington organ constitute an interesting cha%ter in the

stor# o Handel as an organist- as !ell as a ascinating

case stud# 8#et to $e !ritten in modern attem%ts at the

restoration and use o old instruments. 1 George &tauer

and rnest 6a#- eds.- J. &. ach as 2rganist= His

nstruments- 6usic- and ;erormance ;ractices

8loomington= ndiana Eni,ersit# ;ress- 19@. ) Cited ina num$er o Handel $iogra%hies and studies the

standard reerence is 2tto rich Deutsch- Handel= A

Documentar# iogra%h# 8e! or= 19**- :1974- %.

**9. < Charles urne#- An Account o the 6usical

;erormances in Westminster"A$$e# ... in

Commemoration o Handel 8London= 17*- :19@4-

ntroduction- %. . 4 $id.- (&etch o the Lie o Handel-(%. )


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19*= 71"7Fe$ruar# 19@9?= 1*4 urtherletters 8c >A%ril 19@9?= June 19@9?= @)))< and >Jul#

19@9?= 74+. An article $# oel 6ander- (:estoring 2ld

2rgans-( 8c >A%ril 19@9?= 4)+")1- s%ared more letters

and re%lies 8c >Jul# 19@9?= 74+"41 and >August 19@9?-


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organs-( c 8August 19@9= 7+"71. 0he editor o 0he

6usical 0imes closed the corres%ondence on the Great

;acington organ !ith a letter $# ;aul Nen#on 8c

>&e%tem$er 19@9?= 9

Documents

Hendel's letter to Jennens