in a new version edited by Arnold Goldsbrough and Basil Lam (soprano) (tenor) (tenor)(bass)
Carl Dolmetsch
and (recorders) Marie Dolmetsch
Boris Ord (harpsichord)
Hubert Dawkes (organ)
Choristers from the London Choir School
BBC Chorus
(Chorus-Master, Leslie Woodgate )
The Goldsbrough Orchestra (Leader, Emanuel Hurwitz )
Conductor. Arnold Goldsbrough
Part 1
It was in 1708, when he was twenty-three and on a visit to Naples, that Handel first wrote a serenata on the subject of Acis and Galatea. Twelve years later, when he was Chapel Master to the Duke of Chandas at Cannons, near Edgware, he produced quite a different version, to words by John Gay. In 1732, a further twelve years later, this was presented at the Little Theatre in the Haymarket, not by Handel, but by Thomas Arne , father of the composer, who conducted the work, and of Susanna Maria, who sang in it and who later became Mrs. Cibber. It was given without Handel's authority; not a penny piece was paid to him; and to add insult to injury, his cook, Waltz, who had a useful tenor voice, also took part in it! Handel retaliated by himself producing a new and fuller version at the King's Theatre; and for this he made considerable use of the serenata written in Naples. It was given with scenery, representing ' in a picturesque manner, a rural prospect, with rocks, groves, fountains, and grottoes,* but without action; and it became one of Handel's most popular pieces.
The editors of the version to be broadcast tonight have attempted to restore at any rate the spirit of Handel's own performances. A small orchestra and chorus will be used, and the material has been prepared wherever possible from the original edition. Ornaments have been added in the arias, especially in the repeats. Harold Rutland