George Frideric Handel - Concerto grosso in A minor, Op. 6 No. 4: III. Largo, e piano - I Musici

George Frideric Handel
12 Concerti Grossi, Opus 6
Year: 1739
Concerto grosso in A minor, Op. 6 No. 4 HWV 322: III. Largo, e piano
Introduction: In this opus 6, George Frideric Handel shows great formal and emotional variety. The sources of inspiration are often traditional and polyphony serious or mixed with amusement, solemnity of certain slow movements, written in the manner of a hymn to the sometimes tragic gravity of certain introductions demonstrating a collected and quasi-religious atmosphere. On the opposite side are pages with a more pleasant appearance, reflecting either dance and entertainment (echo effects), or even more generally the new instrumental music of the time. And how can we not be struck by the truly experimental side, rare in Handel, in this collection composed only in a few weeks.
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
George Frideric Handel was a German-British composer well known for his operas, oratorios, hymns, concerti grossi and organ concertos during the Baroque period. Handel received his training in Halle and worked as a composer in Hamburg then spent a long stay in Italy before settling in London in 1712, where he spent most of his career, becoming a naturalized British subject in 1727. He was strongly influenced by both the polyphonic choral tradition of central Germany and the composers of the Italian Baroque. In turn, Handel's music constitutes one of the peaks of the « high baroque » style, bringing Italian opera to its highest development, creating the genres of oratorio and organ concerto and introducing a new style in English religious music. He is regularly recognized as one of the greatest composers of his time. Handel established three opera companies to provide the English nobility with Italian opera. In 1737 he changed his creative direction, aimed at the middle class and made a transition to English choral works. His apprenticeship began at around nine years old, George accompanied his father to Weissenfels, where he was noticed by the man whom Handel subsequently considered throughout his life as his benefactor, Duke Johann Adolf I. This nobleman advised Handel's father to hire the organist of the parish church of Halle, Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow, to instruct his son. This one gave him a complete musical education, teaching him to play several instruments such as the harpsichord, organ, violin, oboe and taught him the theoretical bases of musical composition.
Handel must rely on some of his very well-known works, notably his oratorio « Messiah », his organ concertos and concerti grossi, his harpsichord suites (with his famous sarabande), his outdoor music such as « Water Music » and « Music for the Royal Fireworks » to maintain an active notoriety during the 19th century, a period of oblivion for most of his contemporaries. However, for more than thirty-five years, he devoted himself mainly to opera in Italian, i.e. more than 40 opera seria scores, before inventing and promoting the English oratorio of which he is one of the undisputed masters. He tackled opera for the first time with « Almira » on a libretto by Friedrich Christian Feustking, in 1705. It is a hybrid work following the example of what is done in Hamburg: French overture, recitatives in German, arias in German or Italian. Reconnecting with the French tradition of « Teseo » and the magical vein which was so successful in « Rinaldo », he composed « Amadigi » in 1715 on a libretto adapted by Antoine Houdar de La Motte. At the height of his art, Handel composed three of his greatest masterpieces in quick succession between 1724 and 1725: « Giulio Cesare in Egitto », « Tamerlano », and « Rodelinda », all with librettos adapted by Nicola Francesco Haym. He continued to compose numerous pieces, in the field of oratorio as well as in that of instrumental music, notably « Music for the Royal Fireworks » in 1749, borrowing the tradition of the Versailles school, and constitutes its crowning achievement by its character grandiose and solemn. George Frideric Handel nevertheless continued to be interested in musical life, and died on April 14, 1759, day an Holy Saturday. Peace!
Lucien