Handel’s musical career in London was largely centred on the theatre—the annual seasons of operas and oratorios, and their performers, often dominated by castratos and sopranos. There was, however, an alternative strand to his creative achievement that related to the singers who held posts in London’s major ecclesiastical choirs—the Chapel Royal, Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s Cathedral—with particular strengths in alto and bass voices, and treble soloists. This relationship stretched from his first years in London, including the ‘Utrecht’ canticles, to the Thanksgiving service and the Foundling Hospital Anthem in 1749. Handel seems to have developed a social relationship with the choir musicians during his first years in London, and his music for the Chapel Royal bears evidence to the musical skills of singers such as the alto Francis Hughes and the bass Samuel Weely. Although these singers formed an independent professional circuit, there were some overlaps in personnel, as for example the tenor John Beard, who had been trained in the Chapel Royal but developed a career as a theatre and concert singer, and the bass Robert Wass, who sang as an oratorio soloist for Handel while also serving as a regular member of the choirs. The ensemble of singers was influential (via, for example, the Coronation Anthems) in the development of chorus movements as a characteristic element in Handel’s theatre oratorios. The choir members also contributed directly as chorus singers for his oratorios, particularly in his later years, and he had similar reliance on ‘church’ singers for his oratorio performances at Oxford and Dublin.

中文翻译：

---

来自伦敦合唱团的亨德尔歌手

亨德尔在伦敦的音乐生涯主要集中在剧院——歌剧和清唱剧的年度演出季，以及他们的表演者，通常由阉人和女高音主导。然而，除了他的创作成就之外，还有另一条与在伦敦主要教会合唱团（皇家教堂、威斯敏斯特教堂和圣保罗大教堂）任职的歌手有关，他们在中音和低音声部以及高音独奏方面具有特别的优势。这种关系从他在伦敦的第一年开始，包括“乌得勒支”颂歌，到 1749 年的感恩节仪式和弃儿医院国歌。亨德尔似乎在他在伦敦的第一年就与合唱团的音乐家建立了社会关系，他为皇家礼拜堂创作的音乐证明了女高音弗朗西斯·休斯和贝司塞缪尔·韦利等歌手的音乐技巧。虽然这些歌手组成了一个独立的专业巡回演唱会，但在人员上存在一些重叠，例如男高音约翰比尔德，他曾在皇家教堂接受过培训，但后来发展成为戏剧和音乐会歌手的职业生涯，以及贝斯罗伯特瓦斯，他作为亨德尔的清唱剧独奏家演唱，同时也是合唱团的正式成员。合唱团作为亨德尔戏剧清唱剧的特征元素，对合唱运动的发展产生了影响（例如，通过加冕国歌）。合唱团成员还直接为他的清唱剧担任合唱歌手，特别是在他的晚年，