SONATAS

In 1732 Handel's publisher John Walsh of London produced "Solos for a German Flute a Hoboy or a Violin with Thorough Bass for the Harpsichord or Bass Violin Compos'd by Mr Handel", containing 12 sonatas for the various instruments mentioned and calling the collection 'Opus 1'. As was common practice at the time, only the melody and figured bass lines were given, but the figured bass has been fully realized in this edition.

Described here as 'Sonate II', Op.1 No.6 (HWV 364a) in G minor was probably composed between 1722 and 1724 and Handel's autograph score, which is in the Fitzwilliam Collection at Cambridge University, shows that it was written for violin, possibly with the viola da gamba as an alternative. Walsh seems to have misattributed it to the oboe in his 1732 publication, possibly for commercial reasons. Nevertheless, the stately dotted Larghetto of the first movement sounds very well on the oboe and contrasts strongly with the jaunty Allegro second movement and the rollicking 12/8 of the finale.

The C minor sonata (HWV 366), published here as 'Sonate I', first appeared in Walsh's 1732 collection as Op.1 No.8. It dates from 1711 or 1712 which was about the time Handel settled in London, and there is nothing to suggest that it was not intended for the oboe from the outset. It is the only oboe sonata within Op.1 and is made up of four short movements - majestic adagios for the first and third which contrast with the sprightly octave leaps of the second movement Allegro and the lively bourrée of the finale.

• Adagio
• Allegro
• Adagio
• Allegro
• 'Sonate II' in G minor - HWV 364a (6.37)
• Larghetto
• Allegro
• Adagio
• Allegro

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