HANDEL (1685-1759)

CONCERTO GROSSO OP. 6, NO. 8

Kathryn Orth
MUHI 203
March 27th, 2019
Table of Contents

Output
Handel Concerto Summary
And Grosso and
(1685-1759)
Musical Conclusion
biography op. 6, no. 8
Style
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) Halle, Germany
Education:
Born in Germany, 1685
• organ
Move to Italy, 1706-1710 • harpsichord
• Composition

London, 1710 Under Friedrich

Zachow
1710-1759: Wrote operas for
Royal Academy of Music

Contemporary of…
1730: Starts writing instrumental
music
Johann Sebastian Bach
1685-1750

Develops the oratorio

Output and Musical Style
Handel’s output:
Vocal Music Instrumental Music
(Chamber music, Concertos for
(42 Operas, 29 Oratorios) Strings, Organ)

Known to Borrow other musical ideas from other composers; Arrangements of other operas
Handel’s musical style:
Similar to… Influenced by… Successor of…

Johann Arcangelo Henry

Sebastian Bach Corelli Purcell
1685-1750 1653-1713 1659-1695
 Concerto Grosso, op. 6, no. 8 (1739)
Movement I: Allemande
Ritornello Form

Concerto Grosso; 4-part

ripieno

Mostly imitative
sequences

Tonal, functional, many

imitative sequences

Varied dynamics, dictated by

phrases

Allemande, Grave, Andante Allegro, Adagio, Siciliana, Allegro

Summary and Conclusion
Important Points to remember:

Concerto Grosso
Best known for Impact of
influenced by
Vocal Music “Borrowing”
Corelli
• Conclusion:
Should Handel and Concerto Grosso op. 6, no. 8 be studied in MUHI 203?

No because…
“The 12 concerti grossi or ‘Grand Concertos’ written in a burst of creative energy in
September and October 1739 were consciously conceived as an integral set, clearly in
emulation (though not imitation) of Corelli’s famous set [Concerti Grossi op.6] with
the same opus number and the same scoring for a concertino of two violins and cello
with four-part ripieno strings and continuo.”
Anthony Hicks, 2001
Bibliographic Sources used
1. Hicks, Anthony. 2001 "Handel [Händel, Hendel], George Frideric." Grove Music Online.
22 Mar. 2019. Oxford University Press. Date of access 22 March 2019,
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.libproxy.uregina.ca/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gm
o/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000040060.
2. Burrows, and Burrows, Donald. The Cambridge Companion to Handel. Cambridge
Companions to Music. Cambridge, Edited by Donald Burrows; New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1997.
3. Drummond, Pippa. The German Concerto : Five Eighteenth-century Studies. Oxford
Monographs on Music. Oxford : New York: Clarendon Press ; Oxford University Press,
1980.
4. Kevin Anderson, Liner notes for Concerti Grosso, op. 6, by George Frideric Handel.
Aradia Ensemble, 2013. 3 compact discs.
5. Paul van Reijen, Liner notes for Concerti Grossi, op. 6, Nos. 1-12 (Combattimento
Consort Amsterdam, Vriend), by George Frideric Handel. 2012. 3 compact discs.