For the coronation of King George II of England in 1727, Handel wrote four anthems for chorus and instrumental ensemble (Zadok the Priest, Let Thy Hand Be Strengthened, The King Shall Rejoice, and My Heart Is Inditing).  Each of these anthems is a setting of Biblical verses appropriate for the occasion, and the musical style reflects the grandeur and opulence of the royal festivities.

‟Zadok the Priest” is in three short sections.  As musicologist Paul Henry Lang described it in his classic book on Handel, ‟[It] begins with a simple undulating introduction in the strings which, welling up repeatedly, leads to a veritable explosion when the chorus enters.”  The chorus makes a solemn proclamation (‟Zadok the Priest and Nathan the Prophet anointed Solomon King”) over the undulating string figure.  The second section, full of vitality, expresses the joy of the people (‟And all the people rejoiced”).  After a short Adagio cadence (‟and said:”), the chorus launches into the third and most substantial section of the anthem:  ‟God save the King! Long live the King!”  The music is one long strain of festive D-major fanfares and virtuoso choral passages, where the choral voices (sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses) take turns singing long runs of rapid sixteenth-notes.  The jubilant tone and the many repeats of the word ‟forever” anticipate the famous ‟Hallelujah” chorus from Messiah, written in the same key of D major some 15 years after Zadok the Priest.

Zadok the Priest and Nathan the Prophet anointed Solomon King.
And all the people rejoiced, and said:
God save the King! Long live the King!
May the King live forever! Amen, Alleluia. 

(after I Kings, 1:39-40)

Notes By Peter Laki