This is the third volume in what promises to be a complete recorded set of Handel's 11 Chandos Anthems. They date from 1717–18 and were first performed at the church of St Lawrence, Whitchurch close to the Earl of Carnarvon's palace at Cannons, near Edgware. The Earl, later Duke of Chandos, employed Handel as his composer in residence at this time and, unusually for an English nobleman, kept his own band of singers and instrumentalists.
Handel's instrumental scoring of the anthem is typically for an oboe, bassoon, two violin parts and continuo, but there are small departures from this in three of them; one of these is O praise the Lord with one consent in which Handel dispenses with the bassoon. There is greater variation in the solo vocal scoring among the anthems, thus My song shall be a/way calls for soprano, alto, tenor and bass, O come, let us sing unto the Lord for soprano and two tenors and O praise the Lord for soprano, two tenors and a bass. Harry Christophers, who directs these performances, has decided to substitute an alto for the second tenor part in the last-mentioned anthem; I'm not quite sure why but I suppose if you have James Bowman in the wings that may be reason enough.
I found much more to enjoy in this third volume from The Sixteen than in the second ((LP) EBRD0504; (CD) CHAN0504, 8/89). My reservations there chiefly concerned poor instrumental ensemble and inadequate obbligato playing. Christophers has sorted out some of the problems and the results are altogether happier, yet I believe that much more could be made of Handel's instrumental writing; phrasing is not always convincing and too often the string playing sounds flaccid. Entries could, and indeed should, be more incisive and the orchestra generally would benefit from a more sharply focused sense of direction. Handel's writing sparkles with vigour as you can hear at once in the introductory 'Sonata' of My song shall be alway, but here too much of its energy is sapped by long poorly articulated legato contours.
No such criticism need be levelled at the singing on the disc for this is just the kind of repertory at which The Sixteen sound most at home. But even so, I feel that a lack of clear articulation in some of the choruses undermines the strength and suppleness of Handel's writing. The solo vocalists comprise an effective team and there are uniformly pleasing contributions from Patrizia Kwella James Bowman, Ian Partridge and Michaei George.
Something of a mixed success, perhaps, Vol. 3 nevertheless can be more warmly commended to readers than Vol. 2. But I am still left with the feeling that I want rather more from this wonderful music, a feeling which is strengthened by the fact that Christophers does give us tantalizing glimpses of what might have been.'