Repost from Boston Musical Intelligencer
By: Lee Eiseman
January 19, 2025
A shocking discovery that its namesake composer Handel may have benefited from the slave trade led the Handel and Haydn Society to embark almost simultaneously on a research project and an act of musical restitution, “Crossing the Deep,” which is playing this weekend at Jordan Hall in two sold-out performances. Detailed research led to more nuanced understanding. No, Handel did not directly own stock in a company that traded in human lives, but his benefactor, the Duke of Chandos had established a diversified portfolio of investments benefiting Handel’s productions which included a company linked to such abominations. According to co-creators Anthony Trecek-King and Reginald Mobley,
Handel quickly divested himself of the stocks and immediately closed the accounts. … As musicians, we believe H+H can best respond to this dark and complex issue, and perhaps even attempt reconciliation, through music. By presenting Handel’s Bible-based Chandos Anthems alongside Negro Spirituals, also based on Biblical texts [through their conversions to Christianity], we can reflect on the past to provide insight into our lives today.
And we can remember the calls to divest from napalm-maker Dow Chemical during the Vietnam War and similar admonitions in subsequent eras.
“Crossing the Deep” unfolded with some interesting lighting…(Read More)