Roger Elmiger & Micheline Mitrani - Handel: Violin Sonatas - Andante in A Minor, HWV 412 (2024) [Hi-Res]

Until a short time ago, six violin sonatas by Handel were known. Serious research conducted during recent years (Stanley Sadie, Anthony Hicks, Terence Best) reveals that, of these six sonatas, only two are authentic (in A major and D major). Two other sonatas are unquestionably by Handel but were attributed, ever since the first editions, to the oboe (in G minor) and to the flute (in D minor), and a third (in G major), ignored by editors, has the characteristics of a violin sonata.

Thus, there are five genuine violin sonatas. They all exist in autograph manuscripts found in the Fitzwilliam Museum and the British Library. The confusion relating to Handel’s sonatas has its origin in the first editions. Around 1730, a first pirated edition was published by John Walsh under the name of Jeanne Roger of Amsterdam, comprising 12 sonatas for flute, recorder, oboe, and violin (subsequently known as Opus I). Two years later, Walsh, now Handel’s official publisher, issued a revised edition in which, however, many errors persisted. For commercial reasons, two spurious sonatas were added in each set to the ten original ones, as twelve was the usual number for a published set. Furthermore, in order to satisfy the growing popularity of the transverse flute, the editor transposed certain sonatas and printed them for that instrument (thus, the violin sonata in D minor appears in E minor for the flute). The erroneous attribution of the violin sonata in G minor to the oboe also dates from these editions. Only the A major sonata — on account of its double-stopping in the 2nd and 4th movements — adheres faithfully to the violin. The edition of the sonatas that F. Chrysander prepared for the Handel-Gesellschaft in 1879 further complicated the situation. Although he published the D major violin sonata for the first time, his edition is based largely on the early editions. It is this version that all publishers have copied, thus perpetuating the same errors until the present day. Modern techniques for examining handwriting and paper, as well as a deeper knowledge of Handel’s music, have succeeded in re-establishing the truth.

The sonata in G major, first published in 1983 (Terence Best, G.F. Handel, The Complete Sonatas for Violin and Basso Continuo), is an early sonata, probably dating from the beginning of Handel’s Italian period (around 1707). There is no specific instrument attributed; however, at the end of the finale, there is a curious passage written in extremely high notes, clearly notated by the composer, which can only be played on a violin.

The sonata in A major dates from around 1724-1726. It makes full use of the violin’s wide expressive possibilities.

The sonatas in G minor and D minor, dating from around 1720-1724, are rich in melodic invention. They seem to have been conceived as a pair: the autograph of the first is headed “Violino Solo”; it is followed, on the same page, by the sonata in D minor designated as “Sonata 2.” The beginning of the G minor sonata recalls the Andante from the Water Music (F major suite).

The majestic sonata in D major is a late work, composed between 1749 and 1751. It is the last solo sonata written by Handel, and it was never published during his lifetime. Handel borrowed the finale of this sonata to use as the “sinfonia” introducing the appearance of the angel in the third act of Jephtha. To adapt the piece for orchestral performance, he cut three short passages (marked in pencil in the autograph). This shortened version was copied into the conducting score of the oratorio by Handel’s assistant, J.C. Smith, and a viola part was added by the composer. When Chrysander published the sonata in 1879, he followed the cuts, and this version remained in use until recent editions. We do not know Handel’s preference regarding the finale of his sonata… However, our choice is the shortened version — because of its coherence and momentum — as it appears in Jephtha.

“The unpublished fragment in A minor (autograph at the Fitzwilliam Museum), now named Andante in A Minor, HWV 412, may be the adagio inspired by a sonata. The first phrase resembles the theme of The Musical Offering.”