The ''Flute sonata in E minor'' (
HWV 375) is thought to have been composed by
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...
, for flute and
basso continuo
Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...
. The date of composition of the work is unknown, but it was first published in 1730. Other catalogues of Handel's music have referred to the work as
HG xlviii, 134; and
HHA iv/3,63.
The authenticity of the sonata as such is uncertain, though three of the movements were certainly composed by Handel, but for other instruments. It is referred to as "Halle Sonata No. 2" (in German "Hallenser Sonate Nr. 2"), following
Chrysander's assumption that it was an early work, composed during Handel's boyhood in Halle, before 1703. This cannot be true for this particular sonata, however, because the first two movements are a transposition into E minor of the corresponding movements of the final version of the much-revised Sonata for oboe in C minor, HWV 366, which dates from 1711–12. The fourth movement, also, was originally a minuet in G minor for harpsichord, later printed in 1733, while the third movement is a ''Grave'' whose attribution to Handel is very doubtful.
[Terence Best, "Handel's Chamber Music: Sources, Chronology and Authenticity", ''Early Music'' 13, no. 4 (November 1985): 476–99. The relevant material is on 484.] The
Chrysander edition indicates that the work is for flute ("Traversa"), and published it as ''Sonata XVII''.
A typical performance of the work takes almost seven minutes.
Movements
The work consists of four
movements:
(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.)
See also
*
Handel flute sonatas
It is impossible to say how many flute sonatas were composed by George Frideric Handel, but the correct number is somewhere between none and eight. There are many reasons for the confusion: some of the sonatas were originally written for other ins ...
*
List of solo sonatas by George Frideric Handel
*
XV Handel solo sonatas (publication by Chrysander)
References
Flute sonatas by George Frideric Handel
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