In the year 1740, the London publisher John Walsh [the younger] issued this Oboe Concerto in Bb Major by George Frederic Handel (1685-1759) who was England’s most important composer at the time. Dating from Handel’s Hamberg period (c. 1703-06) it is quite different from the famous Concerto in G Minor which Handel composed in London around 1713.

The four movements are indicative of the sonata da chiesa. Therefore, this work is to be classed with the concerti which descended from Arcangelo Corelli who learned his procedures from masters of the Bolognese School, whose center was the Basilica of San Petronio in the Papal States. This Bolognese manner is very different from the more popular three-movement Venetian concerto type made famous by Antonio Vivaldi.

The first and second movements of Handel’s work actually sound very much like they are part of a trumpet sonata from the Bologna School. On the other hand, the Siciliana and Menuetto finale find their roots in French ensemble music. It might be remembered that at a later time, Handel was to compose two substantial works for ensemble involving dance movements: the Water Music (1717) and the Music for the Royal Fireworks (1749).

This work is to be recommended as a good first concerto for a young player. The finale could be treated to florid ornamentation by an expert soloist. The parts have been extracted from Friedrich Chrysander’s 19th-century edition of the complete works of Handel.