Most music lovers have encountered Georg Friedrich
Händel (1685 – 1759) through holiday-time renditions
of the Messiah's "Hallelujah" chorus. And many of them
know and love that oratorio on Christ's life, death,
and resurrection, as well as a few other greatest hits
like the orchestral Water Music and Royal Fireworks
Music, and perhaps Judas Maccabeus or one of the other
English oratorios. Yet his operas, for which he was
widely known in his own time, are the province mainly
of specialists in...(+)
Most music lovers have encountered Georg Friedrich
Händel (1685 – 1759) through holiday-time renditions
of the Messiah's "Hallelujah" chorus. And many of them
know and love that oratorio on Christ's life, death,
and resurrection, as well as a few other greatest hits
like the orchestral Water Music and Royal Fireworks
Music, and perhaps Judas Maccabeus or one of the other
English oratorios. Yet his operas, for which he was
widely known in his own time, are the province mainly
of specialists in Baroque music, and the events of his
life, even though they reflected some of the most
important musical issues of the day, have never become
as familiar as the careers of Bach or Mozart. Perhaps
the single word that best describes his life and music
is "cosmopolitan": he was a German composer, trained in
Italy, who spent most of his life in England.
Handel self-published the first volume of his Suites
for keyboard in 1720. Although this was outside his
usual activities as a composer, he did so because the
suites had been published the previous year in
Amsterdam by Jeanne Rogers, who, given the absence of
international copyright laws, paid Handel not a penny
for his work. The full title of the volume was Suites
de pièces pour le Clavecin and the suites are most
often sets of stylized dances with the occasional
addition of other movements. The Suite in E minor
consists of six movements: Fuga, Allemande, Courante,
Sarabande, Presto, and Gigue. Marked Allegro, the
opening four-voice Fuga has a hammering subject
pounding through the whole movement until the final,
massive Adagio cadence. The Allemande, marked Allegro
moderato, is a sweet and supple movement with
delicately intertwining voices. The Courante, marked
Allegretto tranquillo, is an easily flowing movement in
three voices that expand to four and then five voices
at the cadences. The Sarabande, marked Allegretto con
moto, is a quietly contemplative movement with an
inward melody. The closing Gigue, in 12/8 and marked
Vivace, is a hoot and a holler with a quick rush to the
final cadence.
PARTITION