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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. 72. George Frideric Handel:
Concerto Grosso Op. 3, No 2 in Bb Major
Unlike the Vivaldi orientation of Concerto No. 1, the second concerto
in the Op. 3 combines the organ toccata with the dance suite. In the initial
movement, it would appear that Handel has orchestrated the first part of
a pre-existent organ toccata. Solo voices appear for both concertante violins
and oboes. The cadenza section at the end lacks an improvised part for oboe
or violin. Therefore, it has been supplied by the present editor and assigned
to solo oboe; likewise, for the following movement.
The second movement, set in the relative minor, is an operatic aria for
oboe soloist. An extensive ritornello sets up the affect of the movement
via an especially well thought-out method of harmonic motivation: 16th notes
in the two concertante celli are played against 8th notes in the remainder
of the orchestra. The overall feel, with the oboe playing in augmented values,
is the sense of uneasiness one feels in a small boat lightly rocked by the
waves, a well-worn style for certain arias of the late Baroque Era.
In what one expects to be the finale, the tonic returns for a 4-voice
fugue in stile antico. Here we have the second part of the organ toccata
begun in the first movement. The episodes here are extremely short; that
is to say, the concerto style of Vivaldi has little influence. On the other
hand, the harmonic motion is quite lively for most of the movement, and is
spiced up with chains suspensions and many other kinds on non-harmonic tones
making for difficulties in the realization of the partially-figured bass.
The fugue is followed by two dances: a menuetto in rounded binary form,
and a binary-form gavotte with two variations. Both make sparing use of
the continuo at times, resulting in much more varied textures than usual,
made all the more telling by the dense fugue which preceded the pair. In
the first of the gavotte’s variations, the quarter-note is divided into
two, while in the second, the quarter is divided into three resulting in
a fast-paced gigue, a most appropriate ending to a most unusual concerto.
Manuscripts of Handel’s Brockes Passion (Hanover: 1716) include parts
of this concerto as the opening music.
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