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Georg Frideric HANDEL (1685-1759):
*Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline*
*’The ways of Zion do mourn’ HWV264*
*An Ode for St Cecilia’s Day HWV76*
Klara Ek _soprano_
Thomas Hobbs _tenor_
*Collegium Vocale Gent*
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Marcus Creed
Georg Frideric Händel was known to write fast. In 1739 he completed his festive _Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day_, a splendid addition to a long tradition, in under ten days! He had had another “rush job” two years before, when Queen Caroline died suddenly and he was asked to write music for the funeral in Westminster Abbey. To honour a fellow German, Händel worked several Lutheran chorales into _The Ways of Zion_. The depth and melancholy of this large-scale anthem also impressed Mozart half a century later, while he was looking for inspiration for another famous rush job, his Requiem …