Hook : Great Britain triumphant : Score, part(s) and cover page

Composer: James Hook (1746 - 1827)
Forces: S.S/T.T.B.(2Fl.)2Ob.2Bsn.2Tpt.2Hn.Tmpni.2Vn.Va.Vc./Cb.Kbd.
Lyrics: William Upton

1. Overture - 2. Hail Britannia, great and free - 3. For England's peace I quit ignoble ease - 4. What then shall I? - 5. For thee my fair - 6. When England's invaded - 7. Arm, valiant heroes

Written for performance at Vauxhall in 1794, during the period of burgeoning patriotism following Lord Howe's naval victory, the Glorious First of June. This is an afterpiece, setting a text by William Upton, which offers several vignettes, essentially as separate songs. With the exception of a common lyricist, there is no material to bind the individual into a coherent whole; a lack which causes an unsatisfactory conclusion, dramatically and musically. As a writer of individual songs, however, Hook was much respected.

The piece calls for an extravagant number of forces. These may be pared down a little for modern performance.
Hook's score gives arias to Anna Maria Franklin (soprano, 3) , Miss ? Milne (soprano, 7), Rosemond Mountain (soprano, 4,5), Edmund Phelps (treble, 4,5) Charles Dignum (tenor, 1,2,3) and Charles Taylor (Bass, 6), with a chorus (2) drawn from the ensemble.. There is an element here of using all singers who had been contracted for that season at Vauxhall, and the piece may be performed with four: SSTB, or STTB (with Master Phelps' part sung by either soprano or tenor).
Similarly, Vauxhall employed instrumentalists expected to play both oboe and flute. One air (5) calls for the latter instrument, but it is no less effective for the oboes, in whose parts it may be found.

Trumpet parts are for trumpets in C (Hook's specification). Horn parts are provided in both C and in Bb.

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