Coming up in Philly music: A New Year’s Eve fit for a king

The last time he conducted Handel’s Zadok the Priest, Choral Arts Philadelphia artistic director Matthew Glandorf said it was his favorite piece of music. Anybody who’s familiar with it can understand why. It’s one of the most rousing pieces Handel created. It received its premiere at the coronation of George II and the English loved it so much it’s been played at every coronation since then.

Glandorf will lead Zadok once again when he conducts the annual New Year’s Eve concert that has become one of the most popular events presented by Choral Arts Philadelphia. It will be one item in a program that includes all four of the anthems Handel wrote for the 1727 coronation.

The coronation anthems will be paired with an equally popular work by Handel’s greatest contemporary: Bach’s setting of the Latin text of the Magnificat. For this performance, Choral Arts will present Bach’s original version, which inserts short Christmas chorales in the standard text. Nowadays, Bach’s Magnificat is normally performed in a later version Bach prepared for the Easter season.

Glandorf took a risk in 2014 when Choral Arts presented Bach’s complete Christmas Oratorio on New Year’s Eve. The event was so well attended he repeated it two years later and followed it with Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 in 2017. A Baroque choral concert might seem like an odd choice for a time traditionally associated with more boisterous amusements, but the New Year’s Eve performances attract most of the people I normally see at concerts. It’s one of the cheeriest, most sociable happenings on the music calendar. Glandorf wisely schedules the event early in the evening. You can enjoy the brilliance and depth of the High Baroque and still have time for less lofty carousing. This year you can start your revels with five of the most forward-looking pieces in the repertory.

Choral Arts Philadelphia will present Bach’s Magnificat and Handel’s Coronation Anthems on December 31 at 4pm at Saint Clement’s Church (2013 Appletree Street, Philadelphia). Tickets ($45; $30 for seniors and $15 for students) are available online and at the door.