Recorder sonata in D minor (HWV 367a)

The Recorder sonata in D minor (HWV 367a) was composed (circa 1725–26) 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 recorder 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. 9a. Another catalogue of Handel's music refers to the work as 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/18,19,45 (there is no 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...

designation for the work).

The sonata was published 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....

in about 1730, in an "incredibly botched" edition purporting to be from the Amsterdam publisher Jean Roger, arranged by an unknown hand as a flute sonata in B minor (HWV 367b)

Flute sonata in B minor (HWV 367b)

The Flute sonata in B minor is a work for flute and keyboard , however the sonata was originally composed by George Frideric Handel as a Recorder sonata in D minor . Other catalogues of Handel's music have referred to the work as HG xxvii,32; and HHA iv/3,42.The work was first published as "Opus...

, shorn of its third and fourth movements and designated "op. 1, no. 9". The Walsh firm reissued it in the same form and under their own imprint in 1731 or 1732. The Handel autograph manuscript is clearly for the recorder.

Both 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...

and 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:...

indicate that the work is for flute (Traversa), and published it as Sonata IX (in B minor).

Movements 1 to 5 of the work constitute the "Fitzwilliam Sonata

Fitzwilliam Sonatas

Fitzwilliam Sonatas is the name first given by Thurston Dart to an arrangement he made, based on two recorder sonatas by George Frideric Handel, which he recast as a group of three sonatas...

No. III".

A typical performance of the work takes about fourteen and a half minutes.

Movements

The work consists of seven 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	Largo	D minor	4/4	19	Begins with a characteristically poised and noble melody. Concludes with an A major chord.
2	Vivace	D minor	3/2	63	Two sections (23 and 40 bars)—each with repeat markings. In the rhythm of a hornpipe.
3	Presto	D minor	4/4	34	Two sections (12 and 22 bars)—each with repeat markings. A virtuosic piece with rushing scales for both flute and continuo
4	Adagio	D minor	3/4	21	Concludes with an A major chord.
5	Alla breve	D minor	4/4	97	In cut-common time. In the 'Aylesford' collection the movement appears with the title, FUGE. A two-voice orthodoxly-argued fugue—with both voices receiving equal treatment
6	Andante	D minor	4/4	20	Two sections (8 and 12 bars)—each with repeat markings.
7	A tempo di minuet	D minor	6/8	19	Two sections (8 and 11 bars)—each with repeat markings.

(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