George Frederick Handel Organ Concerto in F major, Op.4/5, HWV 293 Especially during the Baroque era, the most widely influential musical innovations frequently occurred more or less by chance, as composers used the materials at their disposal to best suit an immediate practical need. George Frideric Handels invention of the organ concerto as a supplement to performances of his massive oratorios is just such a case -- Handel was simply using his legendary skill at the keyboard to keep his paying audience entertained while the singers took their much-needed intermissions. And so historys first real concertos for organ and orchestra appeared not to satisfy any inevitable artistic purpose but rather as a simple commercial aid; that the works are still so satisfying almost 300 years later is a credit to the composers unfailing creativity. Three large groups of these organ concertos were published during or immediately after Handels lifetime: Op. 4 (HWV 289-294), which contains six concertos composed between 1735 and 1736; Op. 7 (HWV 306-311), whose six concertos were written between 1740 and 1751; and a group without opus number (HWV 295-300) that contains Concertos 13 and 14 and a handful of works arranged from some of Handels concerti grossi. Concerto No. 15 (HWV 304) first appeared in print in 1797, while Concerto No. 16 is actually an adaptation of Handels Concerto à due cori No. 3 (HWV 334). There are also a handful of unnumbered concertos, most if not all of which are adaptations of existing music. Handel was quite resourceful when it came to form, and in the case of the organ concertos, no two works really follow the same pattern. The Concerto in G minor/major, Op. 4, No. 1, for instance, is a lengthy work whose three movements are fit into an unlikely slow-fast-medium vessel (Larghetto/Allegro/Andante), while the very next work (the Concerto in B flat major, Op. 4, No. 2), with its four-movement slow-fast-slow-fast plan, is a classic example of the trio sonata/concerto grosso format. A more modern three-movement fast-slow-fast concerto format is seen in the Concerto in B flat, Op. 4, No. 6 (published for organ but first performed as a harp concerto), while the first work of the Op. 7 group is built around a massive, two-movement chaconne. Throughout these concertos, the orchestra plays a role far more subordinate to the soloist than one usually finds in concertos of the time; in the opening Andante allegro of the Op. 4, No. 6 concerto, for example, the orchestra appears in just 20 of the movements 66 measures. Here, as in most of the concertos, the tutti serves just to open and close the movement, and to provide support for a few major internal cadences. By and large, the Op. 7 pieces are more polished works than those of Op. 4, better balanced and frequently sewn of more complex material. A particular delight is the Concerto in A major, Op. 7, No. 2, first performed on February 5, 1743, at a performance of Samson. This three-movement work opens with an Ouverture in regal dotted rhythms, and then plunges headlong into an Allegro of unusually thick scoring. Atypically, the organ doesnt venture out on its own until midway through the movement, when it makes up for its previous reticence with a most satisfying outburst of trills and -- if one chooses to play the pseudo-cadenza that Handel composed but which for some reason never found its way into the 1761 publication -- some electric left-hand fingerwork.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 09:57:14 +0000
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