Vox Luminis: Handel in Versailles
Haendel composed only episodically for the church: the Dixit Dominus is a psalm written during his stay in Rome, based on the Venetian models with borrowed Gregorian singing. We are stroke by the wealth of the words we hear: emotion pierces the mind. Humanity, very small, facing the immensity…
To reach the Almighty, Saint Cecilia, Patroness of Music, sings her prayers in the secret of her soul. On November 22, 1739, Haendel paid tribute to her by composing an ode to a poem by John Dryden. We hear the words: "From harmony, from heav'nly harmony, this universal frame began."
If harmony is the beginning, music is given to us as a precious tool.
George Frideric Haendel: Nisi Dominus HWV 238, Dixit Dominus HWV 232, Ode for Saint Cecilia’s Day HWV 76, Messiah: Hallelujah HWV 56