Flute sonata in E minor (HWV 359b) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Flute sonata in E minor (HWV 359b) was composed (circa 1724) by George Frideric Handel

George Frideric Handel

George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...

for flute and keyboard (harpsichord

Harpsichord

A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...

). The work is also referred to as Opus 1 No. 1b, and was first published in 1732 by Walsh

John Walsh (printer)

John Walsh was an English music publisher of Irish descent, established off the Strand, London, by c. 1690. He was appointed musical instrument-maker-in-ordinary to the king in 1692....

. Other catalogues of Handel's music have referred to the work as HG

Händel-Gesellschaft

Between 1858 and 1902, the Händel-Gesellschaft, or "German Handel Society," produced a collected 105-volume edition of the works of Georg Frideric Handel. Even though the collection was initiated by the society, many of the volumes were published by Friedrich Chrysander working alone...

xxvii,6; and HHA

Hallische Händel-Ausgabe

The Hallische Händel-Ausgabe is a multi-volume collection of the works of George Frideric Handel. It was first published in the 1950s: initially as an adjunct to the HG edition, but by 1958 as a collected edition in its own right...

iv/3,10.

The sonata was originally composed as a violin sonata in D minor (HWV 359a)

Violin sonata in D minor (HWV 359a)

The Violin sonata in D minor was composed by George Frideric Handel, for violin and keyboard . The work is also referred to as HHA iv/18,10....

. The flute sonata version is a compound work—compiled by Handel himself. It is the only flute sonata for which an autographed manuscript survives (which is currently held in the British Library

British Library

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...

).

Of the two sonatas in the Chrysander edition

XV Handel solo sonatas (Chrysander)

XV Solos for a German Flute, Hoboy, or Violin with a Thorough Bass for the Harpsichord or Bass Violin was published by Friedrich Chrysander in 1879. The 72 page volume contains sonatas, for various instruments, composed by George Frideric Handel. The words on the cover of the publication are:...

as Opus 1 Sonata I, this one (Sonata I^b) is the one in the Walsh edition

Handel solo sonatas (Walsh)

Solos for a German Flute a Hoboy or Violin with a Thorough Bass for the Harpsichord or Bass Violin Compos'd by Mr. Handel was published by John Walsh in 1732. It contains a set of twelve sonatas, for various instruments, composed by George Frideric Handel...

(where it is called Sonata I). Chrysander's Sonata I^a
Flute sonata in E minor (HWV 379)
The Flute sonata in E minor was composed by George Frideric Handel for flute and keyboard . The work is also referred to as Opus 1 No. 1a, and was first published in 1879 by Chrysander...

was compiled from manuscript sources. Chrysander's Sonata I^a and Sonata I^b have their first and fourth movements in common.

A typical performance of the work takes about seven minutes.

Movements

The work consists of four movements

Movement (music)

A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...

Movement	Type	Key signature	Time signature	Bars	Notes
1	Grave	E minor	4/4	20	In common with the first movement of the flute sonata in E minor (HWV 379) Flute sonata in E minor (HWV 379) The Flute sonata in E minor was composed by George Frideric Handel for flute and keyboard . The work is also referred to as Opus 1 No. 1a, and was first published in 1879 by Chrysander... .
2	Allegro	E minor	4/4	43
3	Adagio	G major	3/4	12	Concludes on a B major chord.
4	Allegro	E minor	3/8	80	Two sections (31 and 49 bars)—each with repeat markings. In common with the fourth movement of the flute sonata in E minor (HWV 379).

(Movements do not contain repeat markings unless indicated. The number of bars is taken from the Chrysander edition, and is the raw number in the manuscript—not including repeat markings.)

Movements

See also