Barokorkest B'Rock & Zweeds Radio Koor . Peter Dijkstra

For this royal spread of Baroque music, B'Rock has turned to the big guns: top works from two iconic composers, the vocal mastery of the Swedish Radio Choir and soloists who are racking up success after success on the international concert circuit. Nothing appears too much for this consummate, celebratory singing! Temporal power is honoured with Händel's four 'Coronation Anthems', which he composed in 1727 for the coronation of George II at Westminster Abbey. They are marked by opulent instrumentation, brilliant counterpoint and rich harmonies. Händel also brings in variation in writing and emotion, contrasting - for example - the staggeringly majestic 'Zadok the Priest' with the tender 'My Heart is Inditing' and the dramatic 'Let thy Hand be Strengthened'. In Vivaldi's 'Gloria', the gaze is turned towards the heavens: this paean to the Almighty is divided into eleven sections, and it employs an ingenious succession of passages in concertato style, fugues, intimate duets and riveting choral passages. Rediscovered only in the twentieth century, this score has grown to become one of the most loved in the classical canon.