George Frideric Handel was the house composer at Cannons from August 1717 until February 1719.[1] The Chandos Anthems and other important works by Handel were conceived, written or first performed at Cannons.
Cannons was a large house in Middlesex, the seat of James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos who was a patron of Handel. The duke, a flute player, had a private orchestra, consisting of 24 instrumentalists.[2] Johann Christoph Pepusch was the Master of Music at Cannons from 1716 and he saw the size of the musical establishment at first expand and then decline in the 1720s in response to Brydges' losses in the South Sea Bubble, a financial crash which took place in 1720.[3]
- ^ Dean, W. & J.M. Knapp (1995) Handel's operas 1704–1726, p. 166.
- ^ Handel. A Celebration of his Life and Times 1685–1759, p. 99-100, 105–109. National Portrait Gallery London (1985). Some musicians doubled as a waiting page or a valet.
- ^ The Cambridge Companion to Handel, Donald Burrows