Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne ( HWV 74), also Eternal source of light divine after the opening words , is an ode by Georg Friedrich Handel .

Emergence

The ode, which lasts about half an hour, was written as tribute music for the birthday of the British Queen Anne on February 6, 1713, a few months after Handel had come to London for the second time (and now forever). Ambrose Philips (1674–1749) wrote the libretto . At the time of the conception, the Treaty of Utrecht was about to be concluded, in the negotiations of which Queen Anne had participated. The poetry is therefore also a thank you for the peace agreement. Since Queen Anne was ill on her birthday in 1713, it is believed that the performance did not take place until a year later.

The text consists of seven stanzas, each of which ends with a refrain:

The day that gave great Anne birth
Who fixed a lasting peace on Earth.
The day that gave us the birth of the great Anne
Who secured the lasting peace on earth.

Handel's setting is divided into nine parts, with the chorus always being sung by the choir, but with varying musical material.

Web links