Antonio Vivaldi Magnificat
Henry Purcell String Anthems
George Frederic Handel Dixit Dominus

Yorkshire Bach Choir
Yorkshire Baroque Soloists
Peter Seymour conductor

The late seventeenth century Italian choral tradition, with its exuberant string writing, had a great  influence on Vivaldi and Handel. The latter went to Italy specifically to study with Alessandro Scarlatti and Corelli. Vivaldi’s concise setting of the Magnificat for chorus and soloists contains all the colour and imagination you would expect. The Italian and French styles were brought together on English soil by Purcell in his anthems for choir and strings, many of which were written for the Chapel Royal. Handel’s vivid setting of Dixit Dominus, a direct outcome of his Italian studies, is one of his most impressive choral compositions.