Fernando De Luca - George Friederic Handel: Complete Harpsichord Music, Vol. 2 '2024

Tracks list

Tracklist

CD1
01. Chaconne in F Major, HWV 485
02. Suite in D Minor, HWV 448: I. Ouverture
03. Suite in D Minor, HWV 448: II. Allemande
04. Suite in D Minor, HWV 448: III. Courante
05. Suite in D Minor, HWV 448: IV. Sarabande I-II
06. Suite in D Minor, HWV 448: V. Chaconne
07. Suite in D Minor, HWV 449: I. Prelude
08. Suite in D Minor, HWV 449: II. Allemande
09. Suite in D Minor, HWV 449: III. Courante
10. Suite in D Minor, HWV 449: IV. Sarabande
11. Suite in D Minor, HWV 449: V. Air
12. Suite in D Minor, HWV 449: VI. Gigue
13. Suite in D Minor, HWV 449: VII. Menuet
14. Sonatina in D Minor, HWV 581
15. Allemande in A Minor, HWV 478
16. Chaconne in G Minor, HWV 486
17. Partita in C Minor, HWV 444: I. Prelude
18. Partita in C Minor, HWV 444: II. Allemande
19. Partita in C Minor, HWV 444: III. Courante
20. Partita in C Minor, HWV 444: IV. Gavotte
21. Partita in C Minor, HWV 444: V. Menuet

CD2
01. Suite in C Minor, HWV 445: I. Prelude
02. Suite in C Minor, HWV 445: II. Allemande
03. Suite in C Minor, HWV 445: III. Courante
04. Prelude and Allegro in A Minor, HWV 576
05. Air in G Minor, HWV 467
06. Toccata in G Minor, HWV 586
07. Sonatina in G Minor, HWV 583
08. Sonata in G Minor, HWV 580
09. Concerto in G Major, HWV 487
10. Air in B-Flat Major, HWV 471
11. Preludium in F Major, HWV 567
12. Preludium in F Minor, HWV 568
13. Prelude in G Minor, HWV 573
14. Prelude in E Major, HWV 566
15. Air in G Minor, HWV 566
16. Air in B-Flat Major, HWV 470
17. Impertinence in G Minor, HWV 494
18. Air with Double I-II in F Major, HWV 465
19. Allegro in D Minor, HWV 475
20. Allemande in B Minor, HWV 479
21. Courante in B Minor, HWV 489
22. Air in C Minor, HWV 458
23. Sonatina in A Minor, HWV 584
24. Partita in A Major, HWV 454: I. Allemande
25. Partita in A Major, HWV 454: II. Courante
26. Partita in A Major, HWV 454: III. Sarabande
27. Partita in A Major, HWV 454: IV. Gigue
28. Air in C Minor, HWV 459

It is a somewhat curious circumstance that Handel is unanimously considered as
one of the greatest composers of the eighteenth century, but that, at the same
time, a large quantity of his oeuvre remains virtually unexplored outside a
niche of specialists. Crowds gather when The Messiah is performed, and the
Hallelujah chorus is part of our pop culture as very few other classical music
works are. Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks are similarly
disseminated, and extremely well known by the large public. Handel’s
other oratorios and his operas are less frequently performed, as is his
instrumental music in general (with the exception of the Concerti grossi and
organ concertos); but, all things considered, what the general public knows is
just the tip of the iceberg of his large output. It is true that Handel’s
complete works constitute a very huge catalogue, which is difficult to master
and to know in its entirety; however, for instance, so is Bach’s
catalogue, but Bach’s numerous cantatas are probably better known than
Handel’s operas, on average.
The most astonishing omission the musical world must account for is its neglect
of Handel’s keyboard works. Whilst Bach’s keyboard oeuvre
constitutes the daily bread of all harpsichordists, organists, and pianists, and
a large portion of it must be mastered by all keyboardists aiming at a
professional level, many keyboard players graduate from Conservatories worldwide
without having played a single note by Bach’s most famous contemporary.
And this is a very unjust incident of music history, since Handel’s
keyboard works are by no means the minor works of a lesser composer, and they
fully deserve a different kind of appreciation.
Furthermore, during his lifetime Handel was considered as one of the greatest
keyboard players of his era; he came off with colours flying from a contest, or
rather a keyboard duel, with Domenico Scarlatti, another exceptional virtuoso.
It was acknowledged that Handel was the best of the two in his organ playing, as
was reported by Mainwaring: “Though no persons ever arrived at such
perfection on their respective instruments, yet it is remarkable that there was
a total difference in their manner. The characteristic excellence of Scarlatti
seems to have consisted in a certain elegance and delicacy of expression. Handel
had an uncommon brilliancy and command of finger: but what distinguished him
from all other players who possessed those same qualities, was that amazing
fullness, force, and energy, which he joined with them”.
Handel had been a keyboard player all his life. He came from an artistic lineage
which comprised Pachelbel, Kuhnau, Froberger, and his direct teacher, Zachow,
who was an exceptional organ virtuoso. Therefore, although information is
missing about Handel’s childhood, it can be surmised that he lived a kind
of symbiosis with his keyboard instruments, and that he must have begun writing
new works for them at an early age. A chronology of his compositions is
difficult to establish, especially as concerns his youthful works; it has been
supposed that a couple of Suites, among those still extant, may have been
written in Halle. A contemporary of Handel, who met him in the 1730s in London,
reports that Handel indicated four pieces among those issued by Witvogel of
Amsterdam in 1732 as having been written “in his early youth”.
Later, when Handel was in Hamburg in his late teens (1703), giving keyboard
lessons was an activity he regularly practised in order to make ends meet; this,
furthermore, encourages us to surmise that he should have written new keyboard
works on that occasion. It was a common practice for keyboard teachers to create
pieces for their pupils, particularly for aristocrats. Since such works aimed
normally at combining technical improvement with musical enjoyment, these could
frequently be coupled in such forms as the Chaconne. This was a piece in ternary
time, in the style of a dance, and founded upon a repeated bass line; the other
part(s) created melodic variations over the harmony implicitly contained in the
bass, with the result that each variation could count as an
“exercise” (or “lesson”, as they were sometimes called
in the English-speaking world) toward a specific technical goal, but, at the
same time, the association of reassuring repetitiveness and refreshing novelty
made that exercise very pleasurable.
During Handel’s stay in Italy, vocal music absorbed his full attention
and his entire energy; unsurprisingly, the keyboard remained somewhat in the
background of his life. Only in 1710, when Handel returned to his homeland,
Germany (Hanover), was his interest in keyboard music rekindled. It is in fact
in that decade that the bulk of his keyboard works was written – only a
small percentage of his keyboard oeuvre was created ex novo in the later
decades.
During an absence of the composer from London, a substantial portion of that
output was printed, unbeknownst by him and, of course, without his
authorization. Copyright did not yet exist, and piracy was very much practised.
Of course, it was not thought of as of a virtuous deed, but neither was it
prosecuted. The publication of pirated copies was even seen as a demonstration
of a composer’s worth! Flattering as that might be, Handel was not
particularly pleased with that publication, whose official issuer was an
Amsterdam publisher (Amsterdam was a kind of safe harbour for all kinds of
forbidden books), but whose actual printer was almost certainly John Walsh.
Ironically, the publisher who probably pirated Handel’s works would later
become his reference company during the years he would spend in London.
Back in London, between 1719 and 1720 Handel sought and obtained a Privilege
from the King, and was therefore allowed the exclusive right to print his own
works for fourteen years. This permitted him to prepare an edition of his
keyboard works for his own profit and with some authorial control on what was
printed. (Handel did not always perform careful proofreading on these
publications, however, and therefore there are many unsolved issues in some of
his works). Still, the wording of his Preface, which is in fact an open letter
to England, is very meaningful and conveys the deep attitude of the composer in
these endeavours: “I have been obliged to publish Some of the following
Lessons, because Surrepticious (sic) and incorrect Copies of them had got
Abroad. I have added several new ones to make the Work more usefull (sic), which
if it meets with a favourable Reception; I will Still proceed to publish more,
reckoning it my duty, with my Small Talent, to Serve a Nation from which I have
receiv’d so Generous a Protection”.
These were the eight great Suites which are still today Handel’s
best-known keyboard works. In spite of Handel’s statement that he would
be publishing more keyboard works in the future, had the first edition been
successful (and successful it was, beyond any doubt), the 1720 Suites were not
followed by other new works. According to Handel scholar Terence Best,
“the 1720 edition, although known as the ‘First Set’ of
suites, represents [Handel’s] most mature work for the instrument”.
Another edition actually followed, in 1733 (i.e. just before the
Privilege’s expiration), comprising some works that had appeared in the
pirated edition of 1719 but had not been included in the official publication of
1720. The 1733 pieces had actually been written before those of the 1720
publication, and they had not been their composer’s first choice on that
occasion. Even though they do not always bespeak Handel’s full maturity
as a composer, there are masterly works here.
Among them is the Suite in D minor HWV 449, which actually had not been printed
in the Roger edition, and was therefore probably written between 1719 and 1733.
For Best, “it is much the most mature of the suites, and is contemporary
in style with the 1720 set”.
Pieces out of this Suite were reemployed in other suites: the Allemande, for
instance, which is one of Handel’s most beautiful examples in this genre,
found its way within the G-minor Suite HWV 451, and the Aria con variazioni,
reminiscent of French music (e.g. Rameau’s Gavotte et variations from his
A minor Suite) after a thorough revision, was included in the D-minor Suite HWV
428. The Courante represents some musical ideas found already in the Allemande,
and the Sarabande is one of the most touching examples of Handel’s
keyboard music, displaying a magnificent counterpoint.
The other D-minor Suite included here (HWV 448) is probably one of the earliest
surviving examples of Handel’s keyboard art (it was probably written
before 1707). Its opening movement represents the classical topos of the French
Overture: an opening, slow section in dotted rhythm, followed by a fugato with a
quick pace and closing on a shorter reprise of the initial, solemn music. In the
Allemande, Handel skillfully plays with the listener’s ears, suggesting
hidden parts, whilst the Courante is extremely brilliant and almost
breath-taking. There are two Sarabandes here, and both are intensely expressive.
Here again we have a movement with variations – a Chaconne in this case.
Almost coeval (inferentially) with HWV 448 is HWV 454, which, just as the
preceding ones, was issued in the 1733 publication. It is an impressive essay of
Handel’s mastery. The broad Allemande, ingeniously written, is followed
by a Courante where one may discern the influence of Corelli. In the Sarabande,
instead, the influence of vocal music is more clearly observable, and the final
Gigue refers once more to Italian music for strings.
Other works, among the many offered in this Da Vinci Classics publication, come
from the “Aylesford manuscripts”, once belonging to Charles Jennens,
who penned the librettos for Israel in Egypt and Messiah. There are several gems
there, including the G-minor Sonata and D-minor Allegro, which are pure Handel
at his best.
Together, both the multi-movement works recorded here, and the shorter pieces,
which may or may not have once belonged in larger works, display the fascinating
array of Handel’s fantasy, of his creativity, of his capability to evoke
the touching and the hilarious, the funny and the expressive, the lyrical and
the light. It is “devoutly to be wish’d” that endeavours such
as the current one will contribute to the rescue of Handel’s keyboard
works from the near-oblivion in which they have fallen, and to bring them back,
eventually, in the keyboard classrooms as in the concert halls of the entire
world.

Related artists