Handel Suggestions

[bassio]

Regarding the recent discussion of Bach versus Handel

Rod's admiration for Handel made me notice how I overlooked the man.

Any suggestions about what any of you regard as his greatest masterpieces .. Messiah aside please. Favorite recordings will also be of value.

And of course, Rod's opinion will be appreciated. 

Thanks

[The new erato]

If you're not ready for the great, triple CD sets op the great operas, here are som suggenstions:

HANDEL German Arias TELEMANN: Tafelmusik Dorothea R'schmann, Akademie fr Alte Musik Berlin Harmonia Mundi

Beatiful and inventive songs.

A taste of his melodious Italian cantatas:



and his fine concerti; an interesting comparison to Bacns Brandenburgs:



If you find these to your liking you are ready for his wonderful operas (of which there already have been several fine recordings in 2008)

[Josquin des Prez]

HWV 007 - Rinaldo (1711) : Hogwood.

HWV 017 - Giulio Cesare (1724) : Rene Jacobs.

HWV 056 - Messiah (1742) : Hogwood.

HWV 319^330, Op.6 - Concerti Grossi (1739) : Pinnock.

HWV 426^433, 8 Great Suites (1720) : Scott Ross.

[71 dB]

Recently I have been listening to this CD a lot:



Dixit Dominus, HWV 232
Salve Regina, HWV 241
Nisi Dominus, HWV 238

The Scholars Baroque Ensemble.

Energetic, melodic and contrapuntal music!  0:)

[SonicMan46]

Bassio - not sure if you are interested in Handel's instrumental or vocal works more?  But, you've already received some 'vocal' recommendations, so I'll suggest instrumental pieces of various types:

Water Music & Music for Royal Fireworks - these can be obtained on a bargain 3-CD set w/ the Orpheus Chamber Orch, which also includes the entire Concerti Grossi, Op. 6; also, own the Op. 6 done by Manze & Acad Ancient Music, but there are innumerable options, including those by Pinnock & Hogwood.

Concerti Grossi, Op. 3 - if you like the CG, Op. 6, then give the other a try; Goodman on Helios is a good introduction.

There are also plenty of wind & chamber works that he composed, such as Trio Sonatas, Oboe Sonatas & Concerti, & other wind pieces - I've got at least a half dozen of these types of Handel CDs, if that may be of interest - just repost for some recommendations.

And, don't forget that he wrote a lot of keyboard music (esp. for organ & harpsichord), if you're into this Baroque genre.

Good luck in your selections - I'm sure that you get plenty of more & varied suggestions - 


   

[hornteacher]

Water Music & Music for Royal Fireworks - these can be obtained on a bargain 3-CD set w/ the Orpheus Chamber Orch, which also includes the entire Concerti Grossi, Op. 6; also, own the Op. 6 done by Manze & Acad Ancient Music, but there are innumerable options, including those by Pinnock & Hogwood.

I second this choice by Orpheus.  Its a fantastic recording of three of Handel's most well known instrumental works.

[knight66]

There are three sets of Organ Concertos, they are lovely works, full of melody and imagination. He uses the Organ to make onomatopoeic effects in one concerto called The Cuckoo and the Nightingale, which is part of the second set. Not all of the pieces are in the state Handel intended, some seem to be dispirate movements which were assembled by his editor. He also left space for improvisation, so the organ part is not fully in his hand.

Despite this; there is a great deal of pleasure to be had from them.

This is a great set....


Also a great bargain.

Mike

[Mozart]

Go for the vocal music, the instrumental stuff isn't very exciting.

Agrippina is an early Handel opera, but its full of glorious arias


Judas Maccabaeus is a much better oratorio than Messiah



Another great one

[springrite]

Of course, you can listen to plenty of Handel by listening to other Baroque composers whose music Handel freely uses and publishes as his own. 

[knight66]

It really does not have to be an either/or, vocal/instrumental and as can be seen; the idea that Handel's instrumental music is dull; is restricted to one person so far.

Mike

[Josquin des Prez]

Go for the vocal music, the instrumental stuff isn't very exciting.

His instrumental music is sometimes substandard, but there are notable exceptions, mainly the opus 6 concerti and the 8 keyboard suites.

[bassio]

His instrumental music is sometimes substandard, but there are notable exceptions, mainly the opus 6 concerti and the 8 keyboard suites.

Regarding these .. any deep stylistic differences with those of Bach?

[Rod Corkin]

His instrumental music is sometimes substandard..

Oh yes? Which music did you have in mind? And substandard in relation to what, or rather who!!??

[Rod Corkin]

Regarding these .. any deep stylistic differences with those of Bach?

They are vastly superior for one thing. I suppose this could be construed as a stylistic difference. 

I could add Handel's op3 concertos to the list, and what about the Water and Fire Music, and the trio sonatas and oboe sonatas and recorder sonatas and...!?

[Don]

They are vastly superior for one thing.

You could be a credible proponent for Handel's music if you didn't make extremist comments like the above.

[Josquin des Prez]

and the trio sonatas and oboe sonatas and recorder sonatas and...!?

What about them? They are sub-par works, good for a few listens but nothing more. They aren't anywhere near as good as his orchestral works.

[Josquin des Prez]

Regarding these .. any deep stylistic differences with those of Bach?

It depends. Bach's own concerti grossi (Brunderburgs) are much more colorful and bombastic than Handel's. This is due regional differences between the style of orchestral music then in favor in Germany compared to the more austere taste of British audiences who were still used to Corelli (who's own Opus 6 served as a basis for Handel's). This style is much more aphoristic, with minute and very subtle contrapuntal exchanges between the instruments and rather introspective melodies. Because of the heartfelt nature of this music i much prefer the Opus 6 over the Branderburg, though the latter leave the former in the dust in terms of expanding and bending the genre to new dimensions. Bach's orchestration alone is on another plane altogether. 

Granted, Bach also wrote four Orchestral suites (in French style) as well as the violin and harpsichord concertos, all of which are far superior to Handel's own examples in those forms (Water Music and Organ Concertos).

As far as the keyboard suites are concerned, if we compare them with what Bach wrote during this period (english suites), we find several fundamental differences which bring some light on the respective compositional methods of those composers. Bach's english suites are full blown virtuoso pieces which are an amalgamation of every single style (French, Italian and German) and technique in posses by Bach at the time. This type of synthesis (in which each style is then developed and filtered through Bach's own artistic sensibilities, thus creating something new altogether) is typical of Bach and it's one of reasons why he stands apart from all of his peers, all of which were strictly restricted to their own respective national styles. By comparison, Handel suites are more independent stylistically and they seem to be less ambitious in scope. Most of the devices and techniques used are relatively conservative, some even hark as far back as Froberger! In a sense, Handel's suites seem a bit less though out, almost improvisatory in nature, where as Bach went full force and introduced a plethora of formal extensions and thick contrapuntal devices (including a large toccata in the last suite) to the point one could almost consider those to be concert pieces, even by baroque standards. 

All in all they both stand among the best in the literature up to that point but i think Bach is the winner here. Of course, it's worth mentioning that Handel never topped his first efforts where as Bach just kept going forward and forward to such immense heights i don't think it's even fair to compare the two.

[bassio]

I just recently discovered a very well-known concerto I liked very much that it belonged to Handel. It was the Harp Concerto.

Because of the heartfelt nature of this music i much prefer the Opus 6 over the Branderburg

Although I cannot imagine your preference, but it makes me want to listen to see what you are referring to.
I heard the Corelli's long time ago and was not impressed.

[71 dB]

It's interesting how many classical music fans are Händel-ignorants. In fact, I was one too when I "found" classical music but very soon I heard Susanna-oratorio on radio and that 3 hour dosage of divine music made Händel one of my favorite composers. Hearing Messiah little later didn't make harm... 

[Josquin des Prez]

Although I cannot imagine your preference, but it makes me want to listen to see what you are referring to.
I heard the Corelli's long time ago and was not impressed.

I like the Corelli, and their historical significance is considerable, but they are obviously no match for Handel.