NEW-UP. Handel - Organ Concertos Vol. 4: Daniel Chorzempa, Jaap Schroder, Concerto Amsterdam. SACD-ISO + CD

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EAC-RIP | FLAC-IMAGE, CUE, LOG | 288MB
Classical | Label: PentaTone | Catalog Number: PTC 5186 110
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No organ concertos without oratorios! 
To exaggerate somewhat, Handel‘s organ concertos owe their existence to this simple formula. What can justify this statement? Subsequent to his physical and mental breakdown in 1737, Handel turned almost exclusively to the composition of oratorios. In order to offer his audiences something new, the composer thought up some extra musical attractions for his oratorio performances. And he finally came up with additional improvisations on the organ. Thus a new genre saw the light of day in the musical world both during the première of his oratorio Deborah, on March 17, 1733 and during the repeat of Esther: the organ concerto was born. Charles Burney‘s remarks with regard to these events, in which he describes the birth of the genre of the organ concerto, are nothing less than euphoric. Not only does he praise the prolificness of the pieces and the ease with which they can be followed, but also Handel‘s precise performance of “improvised fugues“ and “chromatic pieces“. The great success of these innovative interludes, which at first were of a mostly improvisatory character, induced Handel to regularly include organ concertos in his oratorio performances from 1735 onwards.
A total of 16 organ concertos have been left to us, collected in three editions published by John Walsh. The year 1738 saw the publication of his Opus 4 (HWV 289-294), which consists of six concertos and was written in 1735/36; followed two years later by another collection of six works (this time without opus number); and only in 1761 was his Opus 7 published, which dated from 1740-51 and consisted of a further six concertos. In general, the orchestral parts are written for oboes, strings and basso continuo.
The form of the organ concertos mainly follows the four-movement model of the Italian church sonata (slow – fast – slow – fast) in the style of Arcangelo Corelli. Numerous movements were composed after the ritornel form as shaped by Vivaldi. The organ style inherent to the works is discreet, elegant and lacking in pomposity, and avoids almost all serious development of dynamics. Polyphonic structures are scarce. Improvised solo cadenzas are early harbingers of the Classical-Romantic piano concerto. This rather more general musical characterisation is mainly derived from the instrument itself, which Handel used for the performances: a small, single-manual organ without pedals, following the Italian example.
The Concerto No. 14 in A can be classified among the collection of concertos without opus number dating from 1740. The general consensus is that Handel composed the work for a repeat performance of his oratorio Alexander’s Feast: after all, an announcement of the concert indicated that the programme included „in particular, a new organ concerto by Handel“. Despite the musical originality of the work, it includes quotes from his own works and those of others. 
The Concerto in D minor, which was composed in London around 1746, and the Concerto in F, written in the same city some two years later, are nicknamed the “Arnold Edition“, as they were published by Samuel Arnold after Handel‘s death. In the D-minor work, only two movements have been fully composed – the Andante and the Allegro: the remainder provides the soloist with much freedom of expression in the improvisation of passages not written out in notes. The solo dominates the tutti. In Handel‘s last Organ Concerto, the basis for the text is very difficult, as only four of the seven movements indicated in the “Arnold Edition“ are actually written out in notes. The first three are derived from his Concerto HWV 334 for two horns, the final movement was taken from his Oratorio Judas Maccabaeus. It is not clear, in fact, whether Handel ever performed the concerto in the form presented on this recording.

01. Orgelkonzert Nr. 14 A-dur op. 7 Nr. 8 - 1. Largo e staccato 04:54
02. Orgelkonzert Nr. 14 A-dur op. 7 Nr. 8 - 2. Allegro (nach Violinsonate op. 1,3) 01:49
03. Orgelkonzert Nr. 14 A-dur op. 7 Nr. 8 - 3. Andante 00:53
04. Orgelkonzert Nr. 14 A-dur op. 7 Nr. 8 - 4. Grave 04:25
05. Orgelkonzert Nr. 14 A-dur op. 7 Nr. 8 - 5. Allegro 06:04
06. Orgelkonzert Nr. 15 d-moll op. 7 Nr. 9 - 1. Andante 04:40
07. Orgelkonzert Nr. 15 d-moll op. 7 Nr. 9 - 2. Adagio (nach Cembalosuite Nr. 2) 02:22
08. Orgelkonzert Nr. 15 d-moll op. 7 Nr. 9 - 3. Allegro (nach Cembalosuite Nr. 2) 02:59
09. Orgelkonzert Nr. 15 d-moll op. 7 Nr. 9 - 4. Allegro 04:43
10. Orgelkonzert Nr. 16 F-dur op. 7 Nr. 10 - 1. Overture - Allegro 04:13
11. Orgelkonzert Nr. 16 F-dur op. 7 Nr. 10 - 2. Allegro (nach Violinsonate op. 1,12) 03:50
12. Orgelkonzert Nr. 16 F-dur op. 7 Nr. 10 - 3. Allegro ma non troppo 03:13
13. Orgelkonzert Nr. 16 F-dur op. 7 Nr. 10 - 4. Adagio 02:00
14. Orgelkonzert Nr. 16 F-dur op. 7 Nr. 10 - 5. Andante 03:29
15. Orgelkonzert Nr. 16 F-dur op. 7 Nr. 10 - 6. Allegro 03:59
16. Orgelkonzert Nr. 16 F-dur op. 7 Nr. 10 - 7. Marsch. Allegro 01:32

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