Handel: Concerto Grosso in G Major, Op. 6 No. 1 HWV 319

George Frideric Handel was born a German and died a naturalized British subject. Accordingly, his long and varied career as a baroque composer took him throughout Europe, and his music shows influences from English as well as German and Italian traditions. This concerto grosso is one of twelve which constitute Handel's Op. 6. It was first published in 1739, at the beginning of the final phase of Handel's career. Prior to
this, he had found great success as an opera composer; however, the market became strained and Handel, who by this time had become a household name, began composing what we remember him most for today: his English-language oratorios.
The concerti grossi, few of which exceed fifteen minutes in length, were intended as interludes for concerts which mainly featured Handel's oratorios. Stylistically, they follow in the vein of Corelli's multi-movement concerti, scored for a concertino of two violins and one cello, along with ripieno strings and continuo - winds would have been included depending on availability, during this era.
The first movement has a stately tone of solemn majesty, featuring descending sighing lines which alternate with more sustained passages from the solo concertino. The second movement is a brisker Allegro, consisting mostly of variations and transformations upon the material introduced in the first two bars. The third movement, the only segment not focused on the G Major tonality, is set in the relative E minor. The fourth movement is largely fugal, but has a playful humor, including a surprise quiet ending. The concerto concludes with a spirited, vivacious gigue.

The chamber orchestra at my school performed this last october, and it was one of my favorite things that they did all semester. We also performed it with the addition of two oboes, which very well might have been done back in the day. The piece is not too long and has just the right amount of vivacity and stateliness.

Handel: Concerto Grosso in D Minor HWV316 (Op. 3 No. 5)

for today's triple post: a trio of great baroque composers from different corners of europe. fair warning, the posts for the next week will not be great, owing to the audition next weekend... i mean, of course the music will be great, but i will want to avoid doing anything truly dear to me for lack of the time to do a proper entry.

handel wrote a number of concerti grossi for strings and continuo. this is Op. 3/5, the fifth in his first set. (the second set is Op. 6, another set of twelve which is slightly more popular and forms a bit more coherent whole.) this opus was published in 1734, though this particular work dates to 1717-8.
since it's so short i'll just do it in its entirety.
five movements: the largo; a fugue (allegro); adagio; allegro, ma non troppo; and allegro.
when it was published, originally only the first two movements were released, and this might remind some of you of a sort of french overture style. there is quite a lot of content in the fugue movement, which is a three part fugue for oboe and strings.

enjoy