nearly always an intimate and picturesque expression. For Handel, as
with his friend Geminiani, "the aim of instrumental music is not only to
please the ear, but to express the sentiments, the emotions, to paint
the feelings."[349] It reflects not only the interior world, but it also
turns to the actual spectacle of things.[350] It is a precise poetry,
and if one cannot define the sources of his inspiration, one can often
find in certain of his instrumental works the souvenir of days and
journeys, and of scenes visited and experienced by Handel. It was here
that he was visibly inspired by Nature.[351]
Others have a relationship with vocal and dramatic works. Certain of the
heroic fugues in the fourth book of the Clavier pieces published in 1735
were taken up again by Handel in his _Israel in Egypt_ and clothed with
words which agreed precisely with their hidden feeling. The first
_Allegro_ from the Fourth Organ Concerto (the first book appeared in
1738) soon became shortly afterwards one of the prettiest of the
choruses in _Alcina_. The second and monumental concerto for two horns
in F Major[352] is a reincarnation of some of the finest pages from
_Esther_. It was quite evident to the public of his time that the
instrumental works had an expressive meaning, or that as Geminiani
wrote, "all good music ought to be an imitation of a fine discourse."
Thus the publisher Walsh was justified in issuing his six volumes of
Favourite Airs from Handel's operas and oratorios, arranged as _Sonatas
for the flute, violin, and harpsichord_, and Handel himself, or his
pupil, W. Babell, arranged excellently for the clavier, some suites of
airs from the operas, binding them together with preludes, interludes,
and variations.--It is necessary always to keep in view this intimate
relation of the instrumental works of Handel with the rest of his music.
It ought to draw our attention more and more to the expressive contents
of these works.
* * * * *
The instrumental music of Handel divides itself into three classes:
firstly--music for the clavier (the clavecin and organ);
secondly--chamber music (sonatas and trios); thirdly--orchestral music.
The compositions for clavier are the most popular works of any that
Handel wrote, and these have achieved the greatest number of European
editions. Although they comprise three volumes, yet there is only one,
the first, which represents him properly, for it is the only one which
he prepared himself, and supervised. The others, more or less
fraudulently published, misrepresent him.
This First Volume, published in November, 1720, under the French title
_Suites_, etc., affords us the means of appreciating the two most
striking of Handel's traits: his precocious maturity, which hardly
developed at all in the course of time; and the European universality of
character which distinguished his art even at an epoch when the great
artists were less national than they are to-day. For the first trait one
would remark in fine that these Clavier Pieces published in 1720 had
already been written some time, certainly before 1700. One discovers a
part of them in the _Jugendbuch_ of the Lennard Collection.[353] Others
come from _Almira_, 1705. Naturally Handel enlarged and revised, and
carefully grouped all these pieces in his edition of 1720. The interest
of the _Jugendbuch_ is chiefly that it shows us the first sketches of
the pieces, and how Handel perfected them. Side by side with the oldest
pieces there are others more recent, composed, it may be, in Italy or in
England.[354] One can trace in these pages the course of the different
influences. Seiffert and Fleischer have noted some of them,[355] German
influences, French, and Italian.[356] In England even, sometimes
Italian elements, sometimes German, predominated with him.[357] The
order of the dances varies in each Suite, and also the central point,
the kernel of the work. The introductory pieces are sometimes preludes,
sometimes fugues, overtures, etc. The dances and the airs are sometimes
related to one another, and sometimes independent, and nevertheless the
prevailing impression of the work, so varied in its texture, is its
complete unity. The personality of Handel holds it all together and
welds the most diverse elements--polyphony and richness of German
harmony, Italian homophony, and Scarlattian technique, the French rhythm
and ornamentation[358] with English directness and practicability. Thus
the work made its impression on the times. Before this time, there had
perhaps been more original volumes of pieces for the clavier, but their
inspiration was nearly always very much circumscribed by the limits of
their national art. Handel was the first of the great German classics of
the eighteenth century. He did for music what the French writers and
philosophers of the eighteenth century did for literature. He wrote for
all and sundry, and his volume took the place on the day of its
publication which it has held since, that of a European classic.
The following volumes are less interesting for the reasons I have given.
The Second Volume published in 1733 by Walsh, _unknown_ to Handel, and
in a very faulty manner, gives us little pieces which we find in the
_Jugendbuch_, and which date from the time of Hamburg and Halle.[359]
They lack the setting which Handel had certainly planned for them:
preludes and fugues.
This arrangement was ready; and Handel, frustrated by this publisher,
resigned himself to publishing them later on, as an Appendix to the
preceding work: _Six Fugues or Voluntaries for the Organ or Harpsichord,
1735, Opus 3._ These fugues date from the time when Handel was at Canons
before 1720, the second in G Major was from the period of his first
sojourn in England. They became celebrated at once, and were much
circulated in manuscript even in Germany.[360] Handel had trained
himself in fugue in the school of Kuhnau, and specially with Johann
Krieger.[361] Like them he gave his Fugues an essentially melodic
character. They are so suited for singing that two of them, as we have
said, afterwards served for two choruses in the first part of
_Israel_,[362] but Handel's compositions possess a far different
vitality from that of his German forerunners. They have a charming
intrepidity, a fury, a passion, a fire which belongs only to him. In
other words they live. "All the notes talk," says Mattheson. These
fugues have the character of happy improvisations, and in truth they
were improvised. Handel calls them Voluntaries, that is fanciful and
learned caprices. He made frequent use of double fugues with a masterly
development. "Such an art rejoices the hearer and warms the heart
towards the composer and towards the executant," says Mattheson again,
who, after having heard J. S. Bach, found Handel the greater in the
composition of the double fugue and in improvisation. This habit of
Handel--one might say almost a craving--for improvising, was the origin
of the grand Organ Concertos. After the fashion of his time, Handel
conducted his operas and oratorios from the clavier. He accompanied the
singers with a marvellous art, blending himself to their fancy, and when
the singer had done, he delivered his version.[363] From the interludes
on the clavier in his operas, he passed to the fantasies or caprices on
the organ in the _entr'actes_ of his oratorios, and his success was so
great that he never again abandoned this custom. One might say that the
public were drawn to his oratorios more by his improvisations on the
organ than by the oratorios themselves. Two volumes of the Organ
Concertos were published during the lifetime of Handel, in 1738 and in
1740; the third a little after his death, in 1760.[364] To judge them
properly it is necessary to bear in mind that they were destined for
the theatre. It would be absurd to expect works in the strict, vigorous,
and involved style of J. S. Bach. They were brilliant _divertissements_,
of which the style, somewhat commonplace yet luminous and pompous,
preserves the character of oratorio improvisations, finding their
immediate effect on the great audience. "_When he gave a concerto_,"
says Hawkins, "_his method in general was to introduce it with a
voluntary movement on the diapasons, which stole on the ear in a slow
and solemn progression; the harmony close wrought, and as full as could
possibly be expressed; the passages concatenated with stupendous art,
the whole at the same time being perfectly intelligible, and carrying
the appearance of great simplicity. This kind of prelude was succeeded
by the concerto itself, which he executed with a degree of spirit and
firmness that no one can ever pretend to equal_." Even at the height of
the cabal which was organised against Handel, the Grub Street Journal
published an enthusiastic poem on Handel's Organ Concertos.[365]
"_Oh winds, softly, softly raise your golden wings among the branches!_
_That all may be silent, make even the whisperings of Zephyrs to cease._
_Sources of life, suspend your course...._
_Listen, listen, Handel the incomparable plays!..._
_Oh look, when he, the powerful man, makes the forces of the
organ resound,_
_Joy assembles its cohorts, malice is appeased, ..._
_His hand, like that of the Creator, conducts his noble work with
order, with grandeur and reason...._
_Silence, bunglers in art! It is nothing here to have the favour of
great lords. Here, Handel is king._"
It is necessary then to view these Organ Concertos in the proper sense
of magnificent concerts for a huge public.[366] Great shadows, great
lights, strong and joyous contrasts, all are conceived in view of a
colossal effect. The orchestra usually consists of two oboes, two
violins, viola, and basses (violoncellos, bassoons, and cembalo),
occasionally two flutes, some contrabassos and a harp.[367] The
concertos are in three or four movements, which are generally connected
in pairs. Usually they open with a _pomposo_, or a _staccato_, in the
style of the French overture,[368] often an _allegro_ in the same style
follows. For the conclusion, an _allegro moderato_, or an _andante_,
somewhat animated, sometimes some dances. The _adagio_ in the middle is
often missing, and is left to be improvised on the organ. The form has a
certain relation with that of the sonata in three movements,
_allegro-adagio-allegro_, preceded by an introduction. The first pieces
of these two first concertos published in Volume XLVIII of the Complete
Edition (second volume) are in a picturesque and descriptive style. The
long Concerto in F Major in the same volume has the swing of festival
music, very closely allied to the open-air style. Finally, one must
notice the beautiful experiment, unfortunately not continued, of the
Concerto for two organs,[369] and that, more astonishing still, of a
Concerto for Organ terminated by a Chorus,[370] thus opening the way for
Beethoven's fine Symphony, and to his successors, Berlioz, Liszt, and
Mahler.[371]
* * * * *
The chamber music of Handel proves to be of the same precocious maturity
as his clavier music.
Six Sonatas in Trio for two oboes and harpsichord[372] appear to date
from about 1696, when he was eleven years old, and while he was still at
Halle, where he wrote as he said, "like the devil," above all for the
oboe, his favourite instrument. They are in four movements: _adagio_,
_allegro_, _adagio_, _allegro_. The slow movements are often very short,
and the second between them is sometimes a mere transition. The Sonata
for _Viola da Gamba_, and _Cembalo Concertato_ in C Major[373] probably
belongs to 1705, when Handel was at Hamburg. It is the only one of its
kind in the works of Handel, which shows him as a forerunner of Bach.
The sonata is in trio form. The clavier plays a second _obbligato_
besides the bass part, as Seiffert notes: "Ten years before Bach worked
at his Sonatas with accompaniment for _cembalo obbligato_, Handel had
already a clear perception of their value."
Three Sonatas for Flute and Bass,[374] of an elegiac grace, also perhaps
date from the Halle period, and according to Chrysander seem to have
been continued up to 1710 at Hanover.
But the chief instrumental chamber works written by Handel were
published in London between 1732 and 1740, and they comprise three
volumes:[375]
(1) Fifteen sonatas or solos for a German flute, oboe or violin,
with a thorough bass for the harpsichord, or bass violin, Op. 1.
(2) Nine sonatas or trios for two violins, flutes, or oboes, with a
thorough bass for the harpsichord, or violoncello, Op. 2.
(3) Seven sonatas or trios for two violins, or German flutes, with
a thorough bass for the harpsichord, or violoncello, Op. 5.
The first volume contains very old pieces, of which some date from the
time when Handel was at Burlington and Chandos. Others might have been
intended for the Prince of Wales, whose violin teacher, John Dubourg,
was a friend of Handel, as they date from about 1730. The second volume
appeared at first in Amsterdam, afterwards in London with Walsh, under a
French title[376] in 1733.
The third volume was composed in 1738, and published about the beginning
of 1739.[377]
The first feature to notice in general is the want of definition in the
choice of instruments for which this music was written. Following the
same abstract aesthetic of his time, the composer left it to the players
to choose the instruments. However, there was no doubt that in the first
conception of Handel certain of these pieces were made for the flute,
others for the violin, and others for the oboe.
In the volume Op. 1 of the solo sonatas (for the flute or oboe, or
violin) with bass (harpsichord or violoncello), the usual form is
generally in four movements:[378] _adagio_, _allegro_, _adagio_,
_allegro_. The slow pieces are very short. Several are inspired by the
airs of Italian cantatas and operas. Some of the pieces are joined
together.[379] The harmony is often thin, and requires to be filled in.
The second and third volumes have a much greater value, containing trios
or sonatas in two parts (for two violins, or two oboes, or two
_flauti-traversi_) with Bass (harpsichord or violoncello). All the
sonatas in the second volume, with only one exception,[380] have four
movements, two slow and two fast alternatively, as in the Opus 1.
Sometimes they are inspired by the airs of the operas, or of the
oratorios; at other times they have furnished a brief sketch for them.
The elegiac _Largo_ which opens the First Sonata is found again in
_Alessandro_, the _allegro_ which finishes the Third Sonata forms one of
the movements in the overture of _Athaliah_, the larghetto of the Fourth
serves for the second movement of the _Esther_ overture. Other pieces
have been transferred to the clavier or other instrumental works, where
they are joined to other movements. The finest of these Trios are the
First and the Ninth, both of enchanting poetry. In the second movement
of the Ninth Trio, Handel has utilised very happily a popular English
theme.
The Seven Trios from the third volume afford a much greater variety in
the style and in the number[381] of the pieces. Dances occupy a great
part.[382] They are indeed veritable Suites. They were composed in the
years when Handel was attracted by the form of ballet-opera. The
Musette and the _Allegro_ of the Second Sonata come from _Ariodante_.
Some of the other slow and pompous movements are borrowed from his
oratorios. The two _Allegri_ which open the Fourth Sonata are taken from
the Overture of _Athaliah_. On the other hand, Handel inserts in the
final movement of _Belshazzar_ the beautiful _Andante_ which opens his
First Sonata.
Whoever wishes to judge these works historically or from the
intellectual point of view, will find, like Chrysander, that Handel has
not invented here any new forms, and, as he advanced, he returned to the
form of the Suite, which already belonged to the past, instead of
continuing on his way towards the future Sonata. But those who will
judge them artistically, for their own personal charm, will find in them
some of the purest creations of Handel, and those which best retain
their freshness. Their beautiful Italian lines, their delicate
expression, their aristocratic simplicity, are refreshing alike to the
mind and to the heart. Our own epoch, tired of the post-Beethoven and
post-Wagnerian art, can find here, as in the chamber music of Mozart, a
safe haven, where it can escape the sterile agitation of the present and
find again quiet peace and sanity.
* * * * *
The orchestral music of Handel comprises twelve _Concerti Grossi_
(1740), the six Oboe Concertos (1734), the Symphonies from his operas,
oratorios, and his open-air music--Water-Music (1715 or 1717), Firework
Music (1749),--and _Concerti_ for two horns.
Although Handel was in art a visualist, and though his music had a
highly descriptive and evocatory power, he only made a very restrained
use of instrumental tone-colour.[383] However, he showed on occasion a
refined intelligence in its use. The two oratorios written at Rome when
he found himself in the society of the Cardinal Ottoboni, and his great
_virtuoso_ works, _The Triumph of Time_ and _The Resurrection_ of 1708,
have a fine and well-varied orchestration.[384] In London he was one of
the first to introduce the use of the horn into the orchestra of the
opera.[385] "He was the first," says Volbach, "to assert the expressive
personality of the violoncello."[386] From the viola he knew how to
secure many curious effects of indefinite and disquieting
half-tones,[387] he gave to the bassoons a lugubrious and fantastic
character,[388] he experimented with new instruments, small[389] and
great,[390] he used the drum (_tambour_) solo in a dramatic fashion for
Jupiter's oath in _Semele_. For special situations, by instrumental
tone-colours, he secures effects not only of dramatic expression, but
also of exotism and local colour. It is so in the two scenes from the
two Cleopatras, _Giulio Cesare_ (1724)[391] and _Alexander Balus_
(1748).
But great painter as Handel was he did not work so much through the
brilliancy, variety, and novelty of his tone-colours as by the beauty of
his designs, and his effects of light and shade. With a voluntarily
restrained palette, and by satisfying himself with the sober colours of
the strings, he yet was able to produce surprising and thrilling
effects. Volbach has shown[392] that he had less recourse to the
contrast and mixing of instruments than to the division of the same
family of instruments into different groups. In the introductory piece
movement to his second _Esther_ (1732) the violins are divided into five
groups;[393] in _The Resurrection_ (1708), into four divisions;[394] the
violas are sometimes divided into two, the second being reinforced by
the third violin, or by the violoncellos.[395] On the other hand,
Handel, when he considered it advisable, reduced his instrumental forces
by suppressing the viola and the second violin, whose places were taken
by the clavecin. All his orchestral art is in the true instinct of
balance and economy, which, with the most restricted means in managing a
few colours, yet knows how to obtain as powerful impressions as our
musicians of to-day, with their crowded palette.[396] Nothing, then, is
more important, if we wish to render this music truly, than the
avoidance of upsetting the equilibrium of the various sections of the
orchestra under the pretext of enriching it and bringing it up to date.
The worse fault is to deprive it, by a useless surplus of tone-colours,
of that suppleness and subtlety of nuance which is its principal charm.
One is prone to accept too readily the idea, that expressive nuance is a
privilege of the modern musical art, and that Handel's orchestra knew
only the great theatrical contrasts between force and sweetness, or
loudness and softness. It is nothing of the kind. The range of Handel's
nuances is extremely varied. One finds with him the _pianissimo_, the
piano, the _mezzo piano_, the _mezzo forte_, _un poco piu F_, _un poco
F_, _forte_, _fortissimo_. We never find the orchestral _crescendo_ and
_decrescendo_, which hardly appears marked expressly until the time of
Jommelli,[397] and the school of Mannheim; but there is no doubt that it
was practised long before it was marked in the music.[398] The President
of Brosses wrote in 1739 from Rome: "The voices, like the violins, used
with light and shade, with unconscious swelling of sound, which augments
the force from note to note, even to a very high degree, since its use
as a nuance is extremely sweet and touching." And endless examples occur
in Handel of long _crescendi_ and _diminuendi_ without its expression
being marked in the scores.[399] Another kind of _crescendo_ and
_diminuendo_ on the same note was very common in the time of Handel, and
his friend, Geminiani, helped to set the fashion. Volbach, and with him
Hugo Riemann,[400] has shown that Geminiani used in the later editions
of his first Violin Sonatas in 1739, and in his Violin School in 1751,
the two following signs:
Swelling the sound [=\=]
Diminishing (falling) the sound [=/=]
[Illustration]
As Geminiani explains it, "The sound ought to commence softly, and
should swell out in a gradual fashion to about half its value, then it
should diminish to the end. The movement of the bow should continue
without interruption."
It happens thus, that by a refinement of expression, which became a
mannerism of the Mannheim school, but which also became a source of
powerful contrast with the Beethovenians, the swelling stopped short of
its aim, and was followed instead by a sudden piano, as in the following
example from the Trio Sonatas of Geminiani.
[Illustration]
It is more than probable that the virtuoso players of Handel's orchestra
also used this means of expression,[401] though we need not assume that
Handel used them as abundantly as Geminiani or as the Mannheim players,
whose taste had become doubtless a little affected and exaggerated. But
what is certain is that with him, as with Geminiani, and indeed with all
the great artists of his time, especially with the Italians and their
followers, music was a real discourse, and ought to be rendered with
inflections as free and as varied as natural speech.[402]
[Illustration: HANDEL DIRECTING AN ORATORIO.
Handel is seen (on the left) seated at a cembalo with two keyboards in
the midst of his musicians. At his right hand he has the "concertino"
group (consisting of the 'cellist, two violinists and two flautists). On
his near left (quite close to the cembalo) are the vocal soloists. The
rest of the instrumentalists are out of his sight.]
How was it possible to realise all the suppleness and subtleties of
elocution on the orchestra? To understand this it is necessary to
examine the disposition and placing of the orchestra of that time. It
was not, as with us, centralised under the control of a single
conductor. Thus, as Seiffert tells us,[403] in Handel's time it was the
principle of decentralisation which ruled. The choruses had their
leaders, who listened to the organ, from which they took their cue, and
so sustained the voices. The orchestra was divided into three sections,
after the Italian method. Firstly, the _Concertino_, comprising a first
and a second violin, and a solo violoncello; secondly, the _Concerto
Grosso_, comprising the instrumental choir; thirdly, the _Ripienists_
strengthening the _Grosso_.[404]