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The Double Reed Archaeologist
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Chamber Music and Concertos for
Oboists and Bassoonists
Charles-David Lehrer, General
Editor
No. 69. George Frideric Handel: Sonata
in C Minor:
Oboe, Bassoon & Harpsichord
Around the year 1726, John Walsh, a London music publisher, created a wonderful
forgery in order to run around the copyright laws of the day: he pretended
to pirate an edition supposedly published by the House of Roger in Amsterdam.
This forgery included 12 Sonatas for solo instrument and continuo which had
been composed by one George Frideric Handel
(1685-1759). Around 1793 the House of Arnold published the same set, omitting
two of the original 12 and replacing them with two others by Handel. So at
this point there were a total of 14 solo sonatas available to the public.
In the year 1879 Friedrich Chrysander issued these 14 works and several
others in volume 27 of the German Handel Society’s Gesamtausgabe of
Handel’s works. Since then they have been edited from this scholarly
work many times, and afflicted by all sorts of permutations which reflect
the various styles of performance in vogue over the years. One finds editions
stripped of ornamentation but loaded with articulation and dynamic markings
at one end of the spectrum, and editions with modest stenographic and florid
ornamentation at the other.
The Sonata in C Minor (London: 1712) is a pure example of the middle phase
of the solo sonata da chiesa [church sonata]. The first three movements are
indicative of the style found in sonatas derived from the disruptive canzona
of the early 17th century. An initial slow movement with walking bass is followed
by an imitative movement (in this case, a fugue with a chromatic subject),
which in turn leads to an Adagio. This latter movement in the relative major
is a ricercare containing several imitative entrances. The finale is a spirited
binary-form Bourrée angloise, an item taken over from the French ordre
or dance suite. The extraordinarily short length of this movement seems to
indicate that a trio is missing here; therefore, I have added the bourrée
from the Royal Fireworks Music of 1749 to act as a trio, but players are
certainly free to omit it. Adding a series of variations based on the chord
changes of the Bourrée angloise would be an alternative way to lend
weight to this final movement.
For the performer who is interested in further exploring the oboe sonatas
of Handel, I recommend the excellent edition made by David Lasocki: G. F.
Handel - The Three Authentic Sonatas for Oboe and Basso Continuo; London:
Nova Music, 1979.
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