SONATA No.3

The work described as 'Sonata No.3' by Handel was first published in London by John Walsh during 1732 (a century or so before the saxophone was invented) as part of a collection of twelve sonatas for various melody instruments and harpsichord, generally referred to as 'Opus 1'. This sonata, in F Major for violin, was given the number xii, but is now catalogued as HWV 370. Probably for copyright reasons, Shaw tried to pass off the collection as being published by Jeanne Roger in Amsterdam, but current opinion is very doubtful of Handel's authorship of the sonata anyway, although no alternative composer has been suggested.

Sigurd Rascher (1907-2001) moved from his native Germany in the 1930's to the USA from where he developed a career as a saxophone soloist spanning the world and over forty years. Over two hundred works for saxophone were dedicated to him, but he commissioned none, and it is fair to say that much of the twentieth century saxophone repertoire was written for Rascher. As early as 1938 he saw the potential of arranging baroque solo pieces for saxophone and chose this sonata for the purpose, transcribing it into Ab Major (concert pitch) to put the Eb alto saxophone part into F Major.

• Allegro
• Largo - Allegro

Delivery Details

We endeavour to dispatch all orders which are in stock on the day the order has been placed. If you need delivery by a certain time please state this clearly on your order and we will do our best to oblige.

For Royal Mail Special Delivery, Airmail (Signed For) and Courier shipments, a signature may be required upon delivery to your address. You are responsible for your order once the package arrives at the supplied delivery address. We cannot be held responsible if the package(s) goes missing once delivered. If any goods are received faulty or damaged on receipt, you must notify us within 7 days of receiving them (via email or telephone) quoting your order reference. We cannot be held responsible for goods that do not arrive with the customer due to errors made by the customer when entering their address details. Please ensure that you check all your details before confirming your order. For more information on deliveries, please click here.