Handel’s creative identity in his recorder sonatas.

Although a number of movements from these compositions, intended by Handel primarily for recorder, appeared in part in several of his early 18th-century works, it has been established that the six sonatas for recorder and basso continuo were composed in London. During that time, the composer was fully engaged in the production of operas at London’s Royal Academy of Music, founded in 1719 by a group of English aristocrats in connection with Handel’s stay in the city. Shortly afterwards, the sonatas made their formal appearance between 1724 and 1726. The main recipients are likely to have been Princess Anne, daughter of George II, as well as the young musician John Christopher Smith Jr, to whom Handel gave lessons in basso continuo on the harpsichord (1). It is very likely that the recorder part was played by a male player, as playing and teaching the recorder in those days were reserved for men only (2).

Analytical studies of Handel’s work show that he commonly ‘borrowed’ material from other compositions in various genres, as well as quoting and reworking sonatas in his own compositions for opera, oratorios, orchestral suites, harpsichord suites, concerti grossi and concertos for solo instrument, among others.

This practice, which he maintained from his youth until his mature works, was not frowned upon until before the 19th century. It was even considered a good thing, as long as the composer improved the material by adding his personal stylistic stamp, as Johann Mattheson pointed out in his book The Perfect Conductor (3). Thus, the “borrowings” were reworked into the new piece by means of a wide range of devices such as melodic, harmonic or contrapuntal variations, insertions of opera and ballet dances and arias in a different musical form, and also the use of a wide variety of improvised-looking rhetorical figures and gestures, as well as changes of tonality, instrumentation and character from the original sources. Thus, these sonatas form a kind of summa of Handel’s most loved and frequented formal and rhetorical devices. Such characteristics, masterfully administered by Handel’s creative genius, place these sonatas among the most important works of instrumental chamber music of the first half of the 18th century. However, in his time they did not have the importance or benefit for the prestige of their author as did his operas and oratorios, in whose scores he occasionally inserted some melodic themes or parts of the sonatas, and sometimes also as interludes between the acts.

Although the formal characteristics of these sonatas show that Handel had a high command of Italian and

French styles, in addition to the discursive-musical technique of his time, the Italian imprint is prevalent. This certainly relates to his stay at the Hamburg opera house between 1703 and 1706, as well as his time in Italy between 1707 and 1710, where his writing was clearly influenced by the trio sonata and violin sonata genres of A. Corelli and A. Scarlatti, composers with whom he was able to interact at the Academie PoeticoMusicale of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni in Rome.

Jan de Winne (4) has suggested that the general formal scheme of Handel’s sonatas follows the model of the sonata da chiesa in four contrasting movements, which were increasingly characterized by the composers who succeeded Corelli, with a dynamic of affetti perhaps related to the classical psychological theory of the four basic temperaments. The first movement, with a strong musical development, would represent the melancholic temperament (understood as a tendency to calm concentration and constructive planning); the second movement, fast, the choleric temperament (understood as an active and enterprising position); the third movement, slow, the phlegmatic (without much structure, somewhat inactive and fluid); the fourth movement (which in some cases is extended with more than one dance), would represent the sanguine temperament, characterized by light physical action and danceable movement (in Handel’s sonatas appear, for example, the gavotte, the minuet, the passepied and the gigue). always occupied a rather secondary position in orchestras, theater and dance music, being much more frequent and widespread in chamber music, which was performed in the theaters and residences of the bourgeoisie and nobility. During these five decades or so there was a large production of repertoire for this instrument, mainly for amateur musicians and audiences who enjoyed the performance of original works and arrangements for recorder by composers - many of them oboists - such as Barsanti, Loeillet, Sammartini, Bononcini, Finger, Croft, Paisible, Purcell, Dieupart, Corelli, Vivaldi, Baston, Woodcock, Arne, Pepusch and Croft, among many others (5). to English society occurred in 1675. From then on, a growing enthusiasm for creating and listening to music dedicated to this instrument began, to the point that by the end of the 17th century the recorder enjoyed widespread prestige among professional and amateur musicians, with its use probably more widespread than in Italy and France at the same time.

On the use of the recorder in England in Handel’s day

The historical and cultural context in England, in the period between approximately 1680 and 1730, allows us to understand Handel’s attention to the recorder, which

Gerhard Braun (6) notes that the baroque recorder probably arrived in England in 1673, along with French musicians from the court of Louis XIV such as the most famous recorder player of the time, Jacques Paisible, whose musical presentation

In those days it was normal in the high culture circles of central European countries that there were no professional recorder players. It was common practice for the oboists in the orchestras to be the recorder and transverse players, depending on the needs of each piece. Thus, it is very likely that, as Thorby suggests (7), Handel also occasionally assigned the performance of these sonatas to one of the virtuoso instrumentalists in his orchestra or other prominent musicians who roamed the London theatrical, operatic and concert halls. Cornsweet (8) notes that, in the period between 1725 and 1730, Handel had more virtuoso flautists and oboists in his orchestra, which enabled him to write more elaborate recorder parts. In this regard, Cornsweet notes that:

“In eighteenth-century Europe, the same performers used to play all the upper woodwind parts. Handel had access to several good players of oboe, flute and recorder from the period of the Royal Academy, 1720-1729. Jean Baptiste Loeillet (“John Loeillet of London”, 1680-1730) was perhaps the best known of the flautists, although John Ernest Galliard (c. 1687-1749) settled in London around 1706, forging a reputation as a fine oboist and recorder player. Michael Festing played flute at the King’s Theatre in the early Royal Academy period; his son Jack played flute and oboe for Handel while amassing a fortune - amounting to £8000 at his death - teaching these instruments. Charles Weideman settled in London around 1726, joining

Handel’s forces as a flautist. Other oboists, such as Kytsch, Sammartini and Richard Vincent, probably also doubled on transverse flutes and recorders.” (9) Handel used the transverse flute or recorder in 125 of his works, alternating between using it in separate parts or doubling other instrumental parts. In both orchestral and vocal works (operas and cantatas) the recorder was used in pairs, although several solos in obbligato also appear (10). He also used one or two recorders of various sizes and intonations in a large number of operatic and orchestral works, because their sound color was usually evocative of emotional scenes or moments of a loving, pastoral or religious nature, often associated with the representation of lament or introspective contemplation (11).

The keys in which he most frequently used the different types of recorder were G major, D major,

F major, B flat major and the relative minor keys of E minor, B minor, D minor and G minor (12). The latter suggests a probable association with the different sizes of recorder used in England at the time (13). The most commonly used designations for each recorder size referred to the alto recorder in F, indicating in the designation the interval upwards from the lowest F of this alto recorder. One of the most famous makers in England was Peter (or Pierre) Jaillard Bressan (1663-1731) who published a table with the respective denominations, which were used relatively generally, both by composers and by professional and amateur players, who often played the written parts as a transposing instrument. Bressan’s list includes the sopranino recorder in F (Eighth higher), the soprano in C (Fifth higher or Fifth flute), the alto in F (which he only called Treble), the tenor or alto in D (Voice, Third lower or “voice flute”), the bass in F (Bass) and the bass in C (Pedal or Double Bass). (14)

In various documentary sources of the period there are mentions of the alto flute in F as well as the voice flute, an alto in a lower minor third (in D), of French origin but more frequently used in England. To these was added the tenor in C, called by Thomas Stanesby Jr. (1692-1754)

“the true concert flute”, because it could be interchangeable with the oboe or transverse flute in an orchestra. There are also many mentions of flutes in the soprano or treble register, such as the fourth flute (soprano in B flat) and the sixth flute (sopranino in D). It is more likely that the latter types of recorder were mostly used by professional orchestral musicians, either as doubling instruments or in solo parts, to play music in keys other than those best suited to the recorder in F. The above background gives some historical, albeit highly speculative, support that the performance of Handel’s sonatas by professional musicians may have sometimes been performed in transposed keys and with some of these ‘transposing’ instruments. counterpoint, dissonances and harmonic sequences.

The basso

continuo with viola da gamba in Handel’s sonatas

In some of Handel’s autograph manuscripts the indication Sonata a Flauto e Cembalo (Sonata for recorder and harpsichord) can be seen. This formal conception a due led Handel to develop a much more complex and interdependent basso continuo line, which also allowed him to show his rhetorical expertise and to construct an accompaniment that was fully integrated into the “narrative” of the soprano instrument. Perhaps because of this the function of the basso continuo is richer and more complex than in the Italian equivalents of the genre, such as the sonatas of Corelli, Barsanti, Bononcini, Mancini, Sammartini and Veracini among others, participating fully in the cantabile and producing dense textures in terms of middle of the 18th century, leads us to consider two references close to Handel for this practice: the sonatas for violin Op. 5 by Corelli, whose title page indicates Sonate a violino e violone o cimbalo (15), as well as the Sonate a flauto o violino solo con basso per violone o clavicembalo, by Francesco Barsanti, published in 1724 and then republished in 1727 as Sonatas or Solos for a flute with a Thorough Bass for the harpsichord or bass violin, confirming the possibility of this practice of accompaniment as an alternative to the more common one performed with the harpsichord. In this respect there is evidence that until the end of the 18th century cellists were required to be able to perform the basso continuo accompanying opera recitatives, dispensing with the harpsichord to perform the harmony (16). two modes of solo performance: melodic and harmonic-polyphonic.

It is precisely this somewhat more “polyphonic” conception of the bass line that makes its performance on melodic instruments, such as the bassoon, cello or viola da gamba, attractive. There are some indications that Handel himself considered these instruments suitable, as he revised his works and introduced some modifications for the publication of the second revised edition, published by Walsh in 1732. In the title, the bass violin (a relative of the cello) is singled out as an alternative continuo instrument: Solo’s for a German Flute, a Hoboy or Violin with a Thorough Bass for the Harpsicord or Bass Violin, composed by Mr Handel. This is more correct than the former Edition.

The latter reached its apogee in England in the mid-17th century with the performance of the lyra viol and division viol, a practice that probably spread to the following century thanks to the influence of virtuoso French violists such as Marais, the Forquerays and Caix D’Hervelois, in whose works for solo viola da gamba both harmonic and polyphonic treatment is evident in their performance (17).

The performance of harmony on the bass violin to play the continuo, both in Italy towards the end of the 17th century and in England until the

As for the viola da gamba as a continuo instrument in the Baroque period, and particularly in France and England in the second half of the 17th century, there were

However, by the time of the publication of Handel’s sonatas, the practice of the viola da gamba and lyra viol in England was no longer common and was probably considered somewhat archaic, unlike in Germany, where the viola da gamba continued to be included in various types of music, as a solo instrument or as an accompaniment to the basso continuo, without completely abandoning the practice of polyphonic performance. An example of this is the numerous works that J.S. Bach and G.Ph. Telemann is dedicated to this instrument.

As for the relationship of the viola da gamba with other continuo instruments more commonly used by Handel, such as the harpsichord or the organ, it is curious to note that there were viola da gamba labial registrations (jeux gambés) on certain German organs, such as those of Martin Baumeister around the third decade of the 18th century (18). It can be assumed then that the sound and possibilities of the viola da gamba in harmonic and polyphonic accompaniment were well known to Handel. All the above considerations suggest that the sonority of the viola da gamba in the continuo of these recorder sonatas was not alien to the sound imaginary and musical taste of Handel and his contemporaries. However, we have opted for a basso continuo with two violas da gamba, trying to produce by means of this resource the typical “suonare pieno” (between 4 and 10 sounds per chord) of the basso continuo, in the Italian style. It is, in short, a “middle line” solution, which does not overlook the fact that our decision to “sound” these works in this particular organic way is nothing more than a plausible and “historically inspired” proposition. On the ornamentation in our version of the sonatas.

The numerous editions and performances of Handel’s sonatas that are available today show a predilection for an ornamentation inspired by the Italian violinistic style, close to what appeared in the first editions of Corelli’s Sonatas. This is fully justified by what we know of the practices of the performersmostly Italian violinists, flautists and oboists - in the opera orchestras in London at the same time as these sonatas came to light. It is even credited that French virtuosos of the harpsichord, violin and flute, such as Dieupart and Paisible, were inclined to Italian tastes. Roger North wrote in 1710 that Corelli’s influence and popularity was widespread in England and Scotland by the first decade of the eighteenth century, and the stylistic and formal imprint of his Op. 5 was already a canonical matter among professional musicians and musical societies where staunch amateurs of Corelli’s music gathered. Erin Elyard (19) notes that in the period between 1725 and 1750 more than 50 of these societies or musical clubs were subscribers to reprints and publications of Corelli’s works. In London the societies of Corelli’s followers included the Academy of Ancient Music, so that the association of Handel’s chamber and concert music with Corellian taste is clearly established. It is precisely in these instances that arrangements of the sonatas and concerti grossi for chamber formats proliferated, performed by amateurs or by professionals in concerts organized for this purpose.

However, in our version we have preferred to opt for an ornamentation inspired primarily by the comparative study of various instrumental works by Handel himself, mainly his collections of solo sonatas, trio sonatas, concerti grossi and concertos for organ, in which the recurrent use of certain melodic and rhythmic formulas characteristic of him can be noted, and where the “organistic style” prevails. For this reason, in many cases we have developed a procedure of ornamentation by borrowing the variants recorded by Handel himself in those works with a large number of concordances between them (solo sonatas from his Op.1, organ concertos Op.4, opera arias and overtures, etc.). The predilection for this type of ornamentation on the recorder also takes into account his familiarity with the sound color and articulation of the chamber organ which Handel used very frequently, as well as its natural association with cantabile speech. This is evident in Handel’s use of the recorder in several organ works and arias in his operas. We have also taken into consideration some other authors of recorder repertoire of Italian origin, such as the few but significant samples of ornamentation recorded by Barsanti in his recorder sonatas, in which some characteristics different from the “Corellian” violinistic style can be appreciated. It is worth mentioning here some biographical information about Barsanti that links his musical background to that of Handel. In 1714, Barsanti emigrated to London with Francesco Geminiani, and soon obtained a position in the orchestra of the Haymarket Opera. Barsanti returned from Edinburgh to London after 1743, taking up a position as a violist in Handel’s opera orchestra. As for certain contrapuntal elaborations of the chant parts and the basso continuo developed by the violas da gamba, we have also had in mind the “Neapolitan” sonatas for recorder, strings and continuo by Alessandro Scarlatti, another stylistic reference probably considered by Handel from the time of his first extended stay in Italy.

Finally, we cannot fail to mention that our ornamentation work is also inspired by the marvelous testimony left by G. Ph. Telemann in several movements of his 12 “Sonate Metodiche” (1728-1732), which also show traces of a more international style, or “goûts réunis”, to which Handel seems to have decidedly adhered.

Sources for this comment:

(1) Thorby, Pamela (2003): Handel Recorder Sonatas, Linn Records; Braun, Gerhard (2004): “Some notes on the sonatas for the recorder by George Frederic Handel”, in: Oberlinger, Dorothee: G.F. Handel. Sonatas for the recorder, Marc Aurel edition + DeutschlandRadio.

(2) Braun, Gerhard (2004): loc.cit.

(3) Cornsweet, Amy (1990): “Handel’s use of flute and recorder in opera and oratorio”, Thesis, The University of Arizona, 1990; http://hdl.handle. net/10150/291499; 06/09/2021 22:20:13; Braun (2004), loc.cit.

(4) In CD booklet: Kuijken, B. et al.: Georg Friedrich Händel. Flute Sonatas, Accent, 1992.

(5) Cornsweet,1990, loc.cit.; Lasocki, David: Not just the alto. Sizes and types of recorder in the baroque and classical periods, Portland, Oregon. Instant Harmony Music, 2020; Andrés, Ramón: Diccionario de instrumentos musicales. De Píndaro a J.S.Bach, Vox / Biblograf, Barcelona, 1995.

Sergio Candia

(6) Braun, Gerhard (2004): loc.cit.

(7) Thorby, Pamela (2003): loc.cit.

(8) Cornsweet (1990), loc.cit.

(9) Cornsweet (1990), loc.cit.

(10) Cornsweet (1990), loc.cit.

(11) Cornsweet: 1990, op. cit.; Thorby: 2003, op. cit.

(12) Cornsweet: ibid.

(13) Lasocki: op.cit.:120-124

(14) Lasocki: op.cit.:120

(15) SONATE A VIOLINO E VIOLONE O CIMBALO […] DA ARCANGELO CORELLI DA FUSIGNANO. OPERA QUINTA. Incisa da Gasparo Pietra Santa. Roma, 1700.

(16) Watkin, David: “Corelli’s Op.5 Sonatas: ‘Violino e violone o cimbalo’?”, Early Music, Vol. 24, Nº 4 (Nov. 1996): 645-663, Oxford University Press.

(17) Andrés, R.: op. cit., “viola da gamba”.

(18) Caballero, Gonzalo: Blog “Ars Organica”, 28-11-2018. https://www. enharmonia.es/blog/80-nociones-de-registracion-v-las-gambas.

(19) Elyard, Erin: “But Corelli’s the man after all”. Professionals and Amateurs in the Cult of Corelli. En: Mr Corelli in London. Recorder concertos. La Follia after Corelli Op.5. Maurice Steger. The English Concert. CD. Harmonia Mundi USA, 2014.

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The recording for this publication was made at the San Mateo Auditorium, Instituto de Música, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago de Chile, March 2022. The sound recording and digital audio editing was done by Félix Rodríguez Betancourt.