Queen Caroline Te Deum


The Te Deum in D major, "Queen Caroline" is a canticle Te Deum in D major composed by George Frideric Handel in 1714.

Background

When Queen Anne died in 1714, her second cousin the Elector of Hanover became King of Great Britain as George I. His daughter-in-law Caroline of Ansbach thus became Princess of Wales. Caroline left Hanover and traveled to Britain, making the only sea voyage she ever took in her life, and arrived at Margate in September 1714. Her safe arrival was celebrated by the composition of this Te Deum by Handel, who had been resident in London since 1712 and had composed a number of pieces for royal occasions. The Te Deum was performed in the Chapel Royal of St. James's Palace in that same month, on the 26th, and again on 17 October. Since Caroline later became Queen as consort of George II, the Te Deum composed to give thanks for her safe arrival in Britain became known as the "Queen Caroline" Te Deum. George I attended the performance of the Te Deum and subsequently doubled Handel's "pension", or salary, he had been granted by Queen Anne of two hundred pounds a year for life to four hundred.

Text and Structure

The work calls for six solo vocalists, chorus and instrumental ensemble including trumpet.
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Musical style

Handel, a recent emigrant to Britain from Germany, studied the works of Henry Purcell in learning how to set English words to music. The section beginning "Vouchsafe, O Lord", shows a particular influence of Purcell, but the piece also includes the operatic style Handel used in the theatre, for instance in the alto aria with recorder, "When thou tookest upon thee."

Recordings