Join us for a Handel Festival celebrating the pomp and fanfare of some of Handel’s most famous Coronation Anthems, including Zadok the Priest and The King Shall Rejoice. Handel initially composed the works for the coronation of Great Britain’s King George II in 1727, but they have been used ever since for the coronation ceremonies of successive British monarchs, including Queen Elizabeth, the longest-standing monarch in Great Britain’s history. Traditionally, Zadok the Priest is performed during the sovereign’s anointing. The joyful The King Shall Rejoice follows, ending in a closing “Alleluia” played at the precise moment the king or queen is crowned. The concert includes The Music for the Royal Fireworks and excerpts from Water Music. The Music for Royal Fireworks is a band suite composed by Handel to celebrate the end of the War of the Austrian Succession and the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. It premiered with fireworks in London’s Green Park for an audience of over 12,000 in 1749. Water Music is an ebullient collection of orchestral movements commissioned by King George. It premiered on July 17, 1717 on the River Thames. The quartet of popular works made Handel a legend in his own time and secured his place as one of the greatest composers the world has ever known.