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George Frideric Handel

As Pants the Hart, HWV 251a

HWV 251a

As pants the hart (HWV 251) is an anthem composed by George Frideric Handel for the Chapel Royal of Queen Anne and subsequently revised. There are five versions of the work (indicated by the letters a to e), the first being completed in 1713, and the final in 1738. HWV 251a was the first anthem Handel composed for the Chapel Royal.

The 1713 version is an early example of Handel setting words in English, which was his third language. The anthem takes its title from the first line, the incipit, of Psalm 42. The rest of the text – it is the same for all of Handel's versions of the anthem – is also taken from the psalm, and has been attributed to John Arbuthnot. Arbuthnot clearly based his work on earlier translations, as the text opens with lines from Tate and Brady’s metrical version, but reverts at verse two to the Prayer Book version.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Movements

  1. Soli and Chorus: As pants the hart
  2. Solo and Quartet: Tears are my daily food
  3. Recitative
  4. Chorus: In the voice of praise and thanksgiving
  5. Duet
  6. Solo and Chorus: Put thy trust in God
  7. Sonata
  8. Trio
  9. Solo
  10. Recitative
  11. Chorus: For I went with the multitude in the voice of praise and thanksgiving
  12. Duet
  13. Solo and Chorus: Put thy trust in God
  14. Sonata
  15. Soli and Chorus: As pants the hart
  16. Solo
  17. Solo
  18. Chorus: In the voice of praise and thanksgiving
  19. Duet
  20. Solo and Chorus: Put thy trust in God
  21. Soli and Chorus: As pants the hart
  22. Solo
  23. Solo
  24. Chorus: In the voice of praise and thanksgiving
  25. Duet
  26. Solo and Chorus: Put thy trust in God

Elsewhere

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