Pinnock keeps things moving with a lively tempo that's never too fast: the opening and the march are slow and stately enough, as are the slower, more meditative numbers and the "deaconing" of the chorus by the soprano that starts the finale. The tenor has a few quirks, whether his own or due to Pinnock, notably a huge and almost comical scoop up to the high note of "The trumpet's loud clangor" that pretty much breaks the mood (not a glorification of war but the recognition of its reality, as the words "`tis too late to retreat'" in Dryden's text make clear, and the matter-of-fact tone from tenor and chorus is otherwise spot on). Maybe that's historically authentic, but it's jarring.
