By Les Robarts
In these short papers Tony Hicks explores some of the creative work of three men whose labours inextricably link them to Handel’s music. They are a twentieth-century conductor, an Italian poet who wrote verse to be set to music, and an English librettist for Handel. Written by an acknowledged expert on Handel sources, these papers typify the author’s assiduous scholarship. He delves behind the music, finding new sources and unveiling hidden meanings, taking readers carefully and logically through his topics, flawlessly sharing his extensive knowledge. He makes his methods approachable and, more importantly, readable.
Your eyes won’t glaze over at any discussion of diminished thirds, augmented fourths and submerged tenths, for there isn’t any. No technical words obscure meaning, no arcane musical analysis clogs the story. The few music examples illustrate verbal underlay, how the words fit musical notes. Written with rigour these papers allow discerning readers easily to follow this Handelian sleuth’s logic. He never assumes prior knowledge, for every point is explained. While detail is fastidious it is never otiose, its simplicity belying considerable intellectual depth.
In presenting Paolo Rolli’s cantatas and strophic songs, Hicks sets out concise terms of reference and makes no claim to being definitive. His decidedly exploratory style does not hide a confident expertise, inviting readers with occasional tentative suggestions, e.g. ‘it is plausible that Rolli and Handel would have encountered each other when they were in Rome’. He never hides the need for further research. Such provisos prevent reckless assertion and disarm negative criticism.
Wordbooks published for Handel’s oratorios whose words are by Thomas Morell aroused curiosity by some inverted commas preceding the poetic text on the page. Hicks identifies several sources for the quotations, concluding that what he found should provide ‘a better-informed view’ of the librettist’s work. Isn’t it odd that Handel’s reputation has suffered from indictments of ‘borrowings’ while literary writers are not morally scarred when employing ‘quotations’?
Reading a biography of Thomas Beecham led Hicks to explore connections between Beecham’s ballet music and Handel. Not all is what is claimed, he finds, for some locations are misattributed. Hicks sets all to right.
These papers resonate with the author’s astonishing grasp of sources, materials, context, and interleaved concepts. In a closely wrought discussion he never speculates but offers possibilities. Judicious conclusions carry us with him. Hicks opens fascinating vistas as he lets readers into a hitherto unrevealed world of three musical and poetic artists associated with Handel across three centuries.
Hicks is a secure guide, modest in style, never pompous. Be assured, he smiles as he conducts us to broad conclusions while sometimes accepting that for all his exertions he still cannot be certain. We emerge from these brief tours engrossed and wiser, even entertained. Be prepared to be amazed, for new information, fresh interpretation and invention await the purchaser. Colin Timms, editor of the three papers, updates Hicks’s spoken papers in the light of recent research. No lover of Handel’s music should be without this book.
The Gerald Coke Handel Foundation at the Foundling Museum together with the Handel Institute published this booklet as a tribute to Tony Hicks who died in 2010. Copies may be obtained from the Foundation through: colin@ foundlingmuseum.org.uk