Handel: 8 Great Suites for Solo Harpsichord (HWV 426-433)

Description

The distinction between composer and performer is a relatively new acquisition in the musical world. Of course, works designed for ensembles required the presence of performers other than the composer, but it was intended that in most cases these pieces would be conducted by the composer. Generally speaking, in many if not most works composed by an artist, it was expected that he or she would take an active part in its performance – at least as concerns its premiere, its public presentation. After that, if a work was successful, it would start to circulate in manuscript copies, and, if this too met with the audience’s favour, a print edition might be issued and released.
Thus, the best champion for Handel’s keyboard works was, in fact, Georg Friedrich Handel. As happened with most musicians, Handel had begun his musical training and activity as a keyboard player. Keyboard instruments were considered as the ideal medium for budding composers: harpsichords allowed a full musical texture to be rendered, but organs were considered as miniature orchestras due to the number of parts that could be played on them, and to the variety in timbre which could be obtained on them.
Handel was doubtlessly a virtuoso on both instruments. He had studied the works of the German masters of the previous generation during his musical education in Halle. His first notable compositional attempts had also been in the field of keyboard music, and this was a rather obvious choice for a young composer. Possessing high-level skills in keyboard playing allowed Handel to know perfectly well how to write effectively for the harpsichord. Furthermore, these compositions represented a “photograph” of his best improvisations, and, therefore, an excellent witness of his talent. Through the display of his artistry, he could demonstrate his value and therefore hope for more complex commissions.
Armed with his exceptional virtuosity, young Handel arrived in Rome. His coming was witnessed by a contemporaneous writer, Francesco Valesio, who penned in his journal, on January 14th, 1707: “There is lately arrived in this city a Saxon who is a most excellent player upon the harpsichord and composer of music and who today made great pomp of his virtue in playing upon the organ in the church of San Giovanni to the amazement of all”.
This amazement was certainly a shared experience. Many were awed that it was even possible to do such wonders on a harpsichord. And, as frequently happened with extraordinary virtuosi, there were a few who doubted that Handel’s superhuman skill could have been obtained through transactions with evil powers; he quickly dispelled such allegations and was unanimously hailed as an exceptional genius.
In Italy he had the possibility of meeting some of the greatest musicians of the era, and of obtaining important connections with noble churchmen of the Roman area. He was also the protagonist of a legendary (keyboard) duel with Domenico Scarlatti, who admired him openly. The result of their contest on the harpsichord was in the line of an ex-aequo, whilst Scarlatti himself was the first to acknowledge his competitor’s superiority on the organ.
Handel’s fame would continuingly increase in the following years. He obtained a job as a chapel master to the Elector of Hanover, who would later access the British throne. In fact, Handel took advantage of the generous leaves he was accorded in order to (musically) conquer England. After a first, successful stay, and having returned to his employer, Handel established himself in England, quickly becoming a national hero and the champion of “British” music after Purcell. Ironically, this title had been earned by Handel through his Italian operas – operas in Italian written by a German and becoming cultural icons in England.
After the Utrecht treaty which sanctioned the peace accords, and which Handel duly celebrated with his famous Te Deum, the composer became a fixed guest of the Earl of Carnarvon, later to become the Duke of Chandos; his Chandos anthems were written at that time. The late 1710s were also the period when Handel reverted to keyboard music, whose composition he had virtually abandoned after his youthful enthusiasm.
In 1719, Handel’s fame in London was at such heights that publisher Walsh issued a pirated copy of some of his keyboard works, derived from an equally unauthorized publication which had appeared in Amsterdam. This was by no means unheard-of, at a time when copyright did not yet exist. Still, Handel was understandably disappointed by both the missing profit he could have earned, and for the imprecisions in the printed scores. Therefore he resolved to publish a collection of keyboard pieces under his own supervision (and for his own profit), publishing eight keyboard Suites in 1720. That collection is currently known as “The Eight Great Suites”, and it forms the object of this Da Vinci Classics recording.
Many of the movements and pieces it includes had been composed at a much earlier date (when Handel was still in Germany, probably), but evidently Handel was still very satisfied with them. This is also demonstrated by the fact that he would reuse one of these movements on various occasions, including as the finale of an organ concerto, years later; and also by the fact that, when he felt that something was missing or in need of improvement, he did intervene on the earlier works (e.g. by adding extra movements).
The title of “suite” is, of course, reminiscent of the compilations of dances which were published and written by many musicians throughout Europe at Handel’s time and before it. However, if one compares the Great Eight Suites with the English or French Suites by Bach, their different concept becomes immediately clear. Whereas Bach aimed at order and consistency, finding a “recipe” for the presentation of the movements, which could be replicated at will, Handel seemed to value variety over consistency. Occasionally, there are suites with virtually no reference to dance types (not even to dance stylizations, as happens with Bach’s own sets).
The first Suite, in A major, is a majestic and shining piece, which opens with an improvisational Prelude based on arpeggios whose actual musical shape is left to the performer to determine. Here, as in other cases, some of Handel’s opening movements mirror very faithfully his improvisational habits, although we obviously miss the composer’s own skill and creativity. This Prelude is followed by three dance movements, which, in this case, remain fully within the boundaries of “typical” dance suites. A further difference with Bach, however, can be observed in the lighter contrapuntal and polyphonic structure and texture devised by Handel.
By way of contrast, the second Suite, in F major, resembles more closely a Church sonata than a Suite; in fact, it contains the four traditional movements of church sonatas, in their traditional alternation (slow/quick/slow/quick) and with a noteworthy fugal approach in the fourth and last movement. Handel’s skill as an operatic composer capable to evoke touching atmospheres and expressive moods is evident here.
This suite is followed by one in its relative minor key, i.e. in D minor. Its prelude owes much to the toccata style of the Italian masters, and is a display of utter brilliancy. In this case, different from the first Suite, the arpeggios are notated in detail, and prescribed without leaving room for uncertainty. After some dance movements, dutifully characterized according to their labels by Handel, there follows the expressive summit of the Suite: this is a doleful and intense Aria, whose singing style and refined ornamentation pay a rather explicit homage to the art of Arcangelo Corelli (whom Handel had met in Rome). This Aria is complemented by a set of Variations, called Doubles, and is somewhat reminiscent of Rameau’s keyboard works. The Suite is capped by the celebrated concluding Presto, highly valued by the composer who would re-employ it on no less than four occasions.
A fugal movement opens the E-minor Suite, and its masterful structure fully demonstrates Handel’s skill as a polyphonist. The two ensuing dance-movements are closely related to each other, in the fashion of Italian keyboard partitas. The two concluding movements of this Suite (which fully respects the diktats of the traditional French suite genre) embody the profound expressivity of the typical Sarabande and the equally typical brilliancy of the Gigue.
The E-major Suite is one of the best known of the set, also due to the (spurious) nickname of “The Harmonious Blacksmith” by which its concluding theme and variations came to be indicated. This set is preceded by an improvisational prelude and by a composite Allemande which anticipates fragments from the later movements, followed by a joyful Italianate Courante.
The most atypical of these Suites is the F-sharp minor one, in a key which was most unusual at Handel’s time. Its opening Prelude has a special aura of solemnity and sacredness, employing many topoi of the Baroque style (dotted rhythm, doleful chromaticism etc.). There follows a kind of French Overture, composed by a Largo and a fugato quick movement, and a Gigue which has very little of the usual cheerfulness characterizing this kind of movements.
In the G-minor Suite, the opening movement is a real French Overture (and would appear as such in a couple of vocal works by Handel himself). The following movements, reminiscent of dance types but not labelled as such, are in light contrapuntal textures, whilst the Sarabande is characterized by unexpected harmonic turns. After a brilliant Gigue, the famous Passacaglia follows, built on a traditional ground but displaying Handel’s genuine, idiomatic inventions.
The concluding Suite, in F minor, opens with a Prelude which seems more suited for playing on the organ than on the harpsichord, followed by a Fugue where typical traits of Handel’s style are clearly recognizable. After an Allemande and Courante where copious polyphonic elements are found, the concluding Gigue closes the cycle as brilliantly as the Prelude of the First Suite had opened it.
Chiara Bertoglio © 2024