Lammermuir Festival 2024: Roman, Händel, London

…a journey of discovery in music. 

Concerto Copenhagen presents music by "the Swedish Handel, Handelmusic that changed Swedish music forever...

This concert tells a story we have heard many times before: a young, talented artist travels the world in search of inspiration, and his encounter with the wider world changes his life and his art. Countless artists undertook such ‘educational journeys’ in the 18th and 19th centuries. But this journey of discovery would prove to have major consequences, not only for the artist himself, but also for art and history as such. For this journey changed Swedish music forever.

In 1716, the young Swedish violinist and composer Johan Helmich Roman traveled to London on a study trip. Roman came from the German-dominated music scene in Stockholm to a London where the dominant musical trend was Italian, manifested in the recently arrived G. F. Handel. Roman quickly became an active part of London's musical life. He played in Handel's orchestra the King's Theatre and met other musicians and composers from all over Europe – all of whom had come to London to take part in the Italian music festival, but also with their own traditions and styles from home.

So when Roman returned to Stockholm in 1721, he was a well-educated, modern-minded musician and a brilliant violinist. Most importantly, as a composer, he had acquired a thorough knowledge of new European stylistic trends, not only in opera but also in instrumental music. Roman remained associated with the Swedish court orchestra throughout his life, and his stay in London thus not only influenced the "father of Swedish music," as Roman is known today, but also changed the history of Swedish music.

This program presents the music that Johan Helmich Roman, known as "the Swedish Handelencountered in London, as well as the music he composed himself.