Antonio Vivaldi The Four Seasons
George Frederic Handel Dixit Dominus, HWV 232

King’s Lynn Festival Chorus
European Union Chamber Orchestra
Adrian Butterfield leader
Angela Hicks soprano
Louise Fuller soprano
Ben Horden conductor

As part of this year’s King’s Lynn Festival, the Chorus teams up with the European Union Chamber Orchestra to showcase a cornerstone work of the high baroque; Handel’s Dixit Dominus. The virtuosic work, sets the Latin text of Psalm 110, “The Lord said unto my Lord: Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy foot-stool.” Handel, although German-born, demonstrates his ability to write in the Italian style in his Dixit Dominus. It was written in April 1707, while the composer was in residence in Italy, and premiered three months later on the 16 July in the Church of Santa Maria in Montesanto, under the patronage of the Colonna family, members of the Carmelite Order, from whom several of Handel’s works were commissioned. It is scored for soloists, five-part chorus, strings and continuo.