George Frideric Handel (1685–1759)
Fitzwilliam Sonata G major (HWV 358)
Original version and transposition variant in F major
for alto recorder and basso continuo
Edited by Klaus Hofmann (Herbipol.)Girolamo G 12.055, score and 2 parts, € 18,00
ISMN 979-0-50084-091-6
PrefaceThe present edition is based on my first edition of the sonata in the original key of G major, which was published in 1974 by Hänssler as the third of what are called the “Fitzwilliam Sonatas” for alto recorder and basso continuo.1 The old and the new edition are both based on Handel’s composition autograph. This comprises pages 61–64 of a manuscript volume held in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge with the shelf number Mus. 30. H. 11., MS. 261.2 According to the paper, script and style, the sonata was composed during Handel’s first stay in Italy around 1707–1709.3 The notation shows signs of great haste; some parts are extremely cursory and the manuscript also contains errors and ambiguities. The work has no title and contains no tempo information and no indications of scoring.
It is obvious that the sonata is intended for a melody instrument with basso continuo, but the instrument intended by Handel is not clear.4 The most valuable indication is the range of the melody part. The lowest note is g1; but the highest note is not easy to determine. Throughout practically the whole sonata, the highest note is e3; but there is one striking exception in the penultimate bar (bar 33) of the 3rd movement. In the second half of the bar, Handel switches from the normal treble clef to the French treble clef and writes four extremely high notes on numerous ledger lines.
The notes written in the French treble clef (with g1 on the bottom line) are b3 c4 d4 e4. However, these notes do not conform in any way to the consistent bass line, and it is hard to imagine that they were intended by Handel. At first glance, it seems reasonable to assume that Handel made a mistake when scoring the four highest notes on their many ledger lines. In the 1974 edition, I assumed that the notes intended were e3 f sharp3 g3 a3. Seeing that this solution posed several problems, I expressed reservations when I assigned the melody part to a recorder.
In the meantime, however, I have come to the conclusion that there is a very different explanation for this mysterious sequence. It now seems very probable that Handel was playing a joke on his soloist here5by writing notes that were seemingly unplayable.6 The puzzle is solved when the four extremely high notes are read in the alto clef (with c1 on the middle line) and not in the French treble clef. The sequence then reads a2 b2 c3 d3. Hence, the range of the melody part is in fact g1–e3.
This shines a new light on the question of the designated melody instrument. While previous Handel research has assumed that the melody part has a total range of g1 to e4, and is thereby suitable for the violin,7 it now seems that the part was written explicitly for the recorder.
When the upper range is limited to e3, the solo part can easily be played on an alto recorder in f1. However, when we take into consideration that the key is G major, that the lowest note is g1 and that the distinctive chords underlying the themes in both fast movements are also in G, we may consider a recorder in g1. Recorders in g1 were in fact being played in Italy during the period in which the sonata was composed. The most important witness to this is Bartolomeo Bismantova, who describes an instrument in g1 called “Flauto italiano” in his Compendio musicale written in 1677. However – from today’s perspective – the solo part on such an instrument would have been in F major in terms of fingering. Thus, a transposition to F major for an alto recorder in f1 produces the same result in terms of fingering as when the non-transposed part is played on a Flauto italiano in g1. At the same time, the part with its fingered range of f1–d3 is now within a total range that is far more favourable from the point of view of sound and playability – similar to the four familiar recorder sonatas Opus 1 printed during Handel’s lifetime and the “Fitzwilliam Sonatas” in B flat major and D minor. – Our edition, with its additional transposition to F major takes account of the fact that baroque recorders in g1 are not widely used in modern practice, and we therefore provide a compromise version for the alto recorder in f1, simulating in terms of fingering the use of a recorder in g1. Players of the alto recorder in f1 have the choice between the G major and the F major versions, whereas owners of an instrument in g1 will play the original version in G major and can choose between the transposed and the non-transposed recorder part.
As implied above, Handel’s composition manuscript is not free of careless mistakes and inattentiveness. Most of these shortcomings could be satisfactorily rectified on the basis of the respective context.
Particular attention must be paid to the performance of the short middle movement. It is written in the manner of a recitative, ending with an arioso. The recitative part (to mid-bar 4) should therefore be played with a relatively free rhythm; the basso continuo accompaniment should allow the soloist full “declamatory freedom”. In accordance with traditional recitative practice, we recommend that the chords should be struck briefly and not held to the indicated length. It is advisable that the recorder player should conform to traditional vocal practice by playing the first part in the manner of speech rather than cantabile and practically without ornament, whereas the second part is to be played as an arioso with ornaments as desired.
Translation: Catherine Taylor
Göttingen, autumn 2024, Klaus Hofmann (Herbipol.)
1 G. F. Händel, Fitzwilliam-Sonaten für Altblockflöte und General-baß, ed. K. Hofmann, vol. 3: Sonate G-dur, Neuhausen-Stuttgart (Hänssler) 1974. The edition was taken over in 1992 by Carus-Verlag Stuttgart.
2 Facsimile in: (1) G. F. Händel, Sonate per uno strumento e basso continuo, Parte prima: Manoscritti autografi (Monumenta musicae revocata, a cura di L. Alvini, M. Castellani e P. Paolini, vol. 3/I), Florence (Studio per edizioni scelte) 1985, p. 55–60. (2) G. F. Händel, Die Sonaten für Altblockflöte und B.c., ed. Winfried Michel, Münster (Mieroprint) 1989, 21992, p. 50–53.
3 On the basis of script and style features, Terence Best dates the manuscript to “approx. 1707”; c.f. his edition Neun Sonaten für ein Soloinstrument und Basso Continuo, Hallische Händel-Ausgabe (HHA) IV/18, Leipzig 1982, p. IX and p. 50, as well as his article entitled “Handel’s chamber music. Sources, chronology and authenticity” in: Early Music, November 1985, p. 476–499, here p. 479.
4 My article in: Tibia, year 6 (1981), vol. 3, p. 391–396, “Zu Händels Fitzwilliam-Sonate in G-Dur. Eine Replik” provides a detailed discussion based on findings up to 1981. My previous findings are supplemented, revised and updated in my article entitled “Händels Fitzwilliam-Sonate in G-Dur. Alte und neue Überlegungen” in: Tibia. Portal für Holzbläser (in preparation)
5 This interpretation was first expressed in 1982 by T. Best, HHA IV/18, p. IX.
6 More details in the second of my articles referred to in footnote 4.
7 See T. Best in HHA IV/18, p. VI; Bernd Baselt in: Händel-Handbuch, vol. 3: Thematisch-systematisches Verzeichnis: Instrumentalmusik, Pasticci und Fragmente, Leipzig 1986, p. 131.
