Let’s have a little fanfare, shall we? Handel composed his Music for the Royal Fireworks for a monumental occasion: the celebration of the end of an eight-year war and the signing of a treaty of peace. Per King George II, this triumphant music should have “no fidles,” so Handel wrote his festive Fireworks for a loud military band including 18 brass instruments and very few “fidles” (though he later revised the music to welcome strings back). Guest conductor Matthew Halls leads this 18th-century program, which begins with a breezy orchestral suite from Rameau’s opera dealing with Boreas, the god of the north wind. Muffat composed a series of five sonatas for chamber orchestra titled Armonico tributo (“Harmonic Tribute”); these concerts include the fifth in the series, which ends with an elaborate and lively passacaglia that Rameau loved so much he later reused.

Royal Fireworks

Start Time

conductor

oboe d’amore

Rameau

Bach

Muffat

Handel

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Food & Beverage Service featuring Staccato Bites