Chandos Anthem No. 6 (HWV 251) in E Minor for Winds & Strings

Georg Friedrich Händel (1685 – 1759) was a German, later British, baroque composer who spent the bulk of his career in London, becoming well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, and organ concertos. Handel received important training in Halle and worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712; he became a naturalised British subject in 1727. He was strongly influenced both by the great composers of the Italian Baroque and by the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition.

Chandos Anthems, HWV 246–256, is the common name of a set of anthems written by George Frideric Handel. These sacred choral compositions number eleven; a twelfth of disputed authorship is not considered here. The texts are psalms and combined psalm verses in English. Handel wrote the anthems as composer in residence at Cannons, the court of James Brydges, who became the First Duke of Chandos in 1719. His chapel was not yet finished, and services were therefore held at St Lawrence in Whitchurch. The scoring is intimate, in keeping with the possibilities there. Some of the anthems rely on earlier works, and some were later revised for other purposes.

Ten of the anthems were published in 1748. With a leading Jubilate, an additional closing anthem in different scoring, and in different order, they were published in the Samuel Arnold edition of Handel's works. In the Hallische Händel-Ausgabe, anthems 1 to 11 are titled Anthems for Cannons. Carus-Verlag published an edition in 2009, calling them Cannons Anthems.

No. 6 (HWV 251) "As pants the hart for cooling streams" was written in March 1738 for performance at a benefit concert for the King’s Theatre in the Haymarket. Until just before Handel’s first visit to England , the only instrument permitted to accompany the service in the Chapel Royal was the organ. These four works (O sing unto the Lord HWV 249a, I will magnify thee HWV 250b, As pants the hart HWV 251e, Let God arise HWV 256b), with their orchestral accompaniments, thus represent something akin to a new genre in English church music.

Source: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandos....

Although originally written for Voice (STB), Violins, Oboes & Basso Continuo (Cello, Bassoon & Bass), I created this Interpretation of the Chandos Anthem No. 6 in E Minor (HWV 251) for Winds (Flute, Oboe, French Horn & Bassoon) & Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).