2. DAS ZITTERNDE GLÄNZEN

The second of the German arias, performed by Chalium Poppy, musical director and basso continuo, Wella Tasma, flute, and Friederike André, soprano. The nine German arias were the last thing Händel set to music in his native German language. He chose the poems from a large collection named "Earthly delight in God" by Heinrich Brockes, a well-known poet he had been to university with during his time in Hamburg. These poems praise God through images of nature and Händel uses very fine musical means to describe these pictures in musical terms as well. Text: Das zitternde Glänzen der spielenden Wellen versilbert das Ufer, beperlet den Strand. Die rauschenden Flüsse, die sprudelnden Quellen, befruchten, bereichern, erfrischen das Land, und machen in tausend vergnügenden Fällen die Güte des herrlichen Schöpfers bekannt, Translation: The trembling shining of the waves at play make the shore like silver, the coast like pearls. The rushing rivers, the bubbling brooks fertilise, enrich, refresh the land and in thousand delightful cases make known the goodness of the glorious creator.