Six Sonatas for Oboe, Violin (Oboe) & Basso contunuo (HWV 380-385) Volume 1

Handel, George Frideric

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Handel Six Sonatas for Oboe, Violin (Oboe) & Basso contunuo (HWV 380-385) Volume 1

The six Trio Sonatas HWV 380-385 have come down to us only in a copy made in Germany during the 1730s consisting of three part-books bearing the inscription 6 Sonata Compose par Mr: Hendel. In addition the first part-book has the following observation in the hand of Carl Friedrich Weidemann who had joined Handel's opera orchestra as a flutist around 1725: "The first Compositions Mr Handel made in 3 Parts, when a School Boy, about Ten Years of Age before he had any Instructions and then playd on the Hautboye besides the Harpsicord." 

Friedrich Chrysander published the sonatas observing that the “mature and masterful writing, the flawless proportions, the refined treatment of sound and the distinctive character of these sonatas” lent weight to the supposition that the extant copy “represents a later revision of the early work."

However serious doubts on their authenticity arose and today the works can no longer be attributed to Handel with any certainty.  The style of these sonatas differs from that of other authenticated works by Handel from this period.  The fact that there are no borrowings from these sonatas is another reason to be cautious about ascribing them to Handel.  Whether or not they are indeed by the teenage Handel they are well worthwhile exploring.

Flesch, Siegfried
BA4251
9790006506118
Baerenreiter Germany

Contents

  1. Sonata in B-flat major HWV 380 [Handel, George Frideric]
  2. Sonata in D minor HWV 381 [Handel, George Frideric]

Additional Information

Baroque Period
Oboe, Violin