Music for the Royal Fireworks in D Major

The self-confident swagger of Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks exactly captures the optimistic and hedonistic spirit of the Georgian era. The music was written to mark the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, a victory worth celebrating because it was under the personal command of George II that the combined British and Hanoverian troops defeated the French at the decisive Battle of Dettingen in 1743. The festivities, held in Green Park in April 1749, were military in flavour, culminating in an elaborate firework display. Although we may imagine Handel’s vividly coloured music accompanying the spectacular illuminations, contemporary accounts suggest that the music actually provided a brilliant introduction to the proceedings. The fireworks themselves proved unpredictable, veering wildly off course, but Handel’s music hit the mark perfectly. His sturdy dance tunes and military-style orchestration suited the celebratory air and open-air conditions perfectly, and to make sure the music made sufficient impact outdoors Handel took the precaution of specifying multiple wind and brass instruments: 24 oboes, 12 bassoons, nine horns, nine trumpets and drums. The arresting, French-style overture makes powerful use of this brassy band, followed by a light, bouncy “Bourrée”, and a gently lilting slow movement entitled “La Paix” (“The Peace”). The rejoicing returns in “La Réjouissance” and two final “Minuets”, graceful and martial by turn.