Handel's Dettingen Te Deum - Twin Cities area

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CHGiffen
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Handel's Dettingen Te Deum - Twin Cities area

Post by CHGiffen »

The Phipps Oratorio Society chorus will perform G.F. Handel's Dettingen Te Deum with orchestra and soloists at Bethel Lutheran Church, Hudson, Wisconsin, on Sunday March 29, 2009 at 2:00pm.

Chuck
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carlos
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Re: Handel's Dettingen Te Deum - Twin Cities area

Post by carlos »

Whoever is able to attend to this concert should definitely go, this Te Deum is magnificent!
I sang it in 1989 with a then traditional local choir called Coral Feliz (now extinct) and it was one of the best musical experiences I've had.

I have a nice recording of it sang in German. A couple of days ago I found another version in English but didn't like it very much, because I couldn't sing along as I desired (I sang the German version, titled Dettinger Te Deum, and still remember long passages of it, even though my memory is awful). I have a feeling that the English version loses a bit of the text impact; the sonority of phrases like O Gott wir preisen dich and Tag für Tag are unique.
CHGiffen
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Re: Handel's Dettingen Te Deum - Twin Cities area

Post by CHGiffen »

Carlos, you are right about this being a marvellous work. I've only sung it previously in English (once with only 16 singers, in a very "period" style performance), and we are singing it in English at the Phipps with a chorus of approximately 50-60. The work was originally sung (and conceived?) in English - probably because of the connection with the English victory at Dettingen.

I do understand that singing it in German can have quite an effect for a non-native German speaker - much like singing in Latin can be more exciting than singing in a vernacular. I've enjoyed singing (and hearing) Messiah sung in German, even though it is was textually more awkward for me than the English version (which I grew up with). It is much the same with some Bach and Brahms works that are sometimes (too frequently, for my taste) sung in English here in the USA. Last year we performed the German Requiem in English (in a new translation, which at least made it a bit more palatable), although I would have preferred the German. And, even though it is very much ingrained in the English world, the Bach chorale (from the Christmas Oratorio) Break forth, O beauteous heav'nly light just isn't as expressive (to me) as Brich an o schönes Morgenlicht is.

Of course, we are singers, so we come at these issues from a singer's perspective. I wonder what it is like for listeners who are not singers. Oh well, tonight, I'm attending a Minnesota Opera performance of Gounod's Faust - sung in English. Opera in English is a bit different, though, since there are all the other aspects of the dramatic action. The review in yesterday's paper of the weekend performances was very good.

Chuck
Charles H. Giffen
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carlos
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Re: Handel's Dettingen Te Deum - Twin Cities area

Post by carlos »

Chuck, I never imagined this Te Deum would have been written in English first and then translated to German, but after reading what you wrote, it makes all sense now. Probably we sang it in German just because the sponsor was a German language school... :D
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