The secular cantata Diana Cacciatrice, probably composed in 1707, was written at the request of Handel’s friend and patron the Marchese Francesco Maria Ruspoli and premiered privately at his country Palazzo outside Rome. The Marchese was an enthusiastic hunter, and though the cantata nominally celebrates Diana, goddess of hunting, in its martial rhythms, galloping semiquavers and horn-calls (rendered by a solo trumpet rather than a horn) it’s also an elegant homage to Ruspoli himself.

from notes by Alexandra Coghlan © 2018