Chaconne For The Princess - Georg Friedrich Handel, Jean-Marie Leclair / Jana Semeradova - flute, Erich Traxler - harpsichord / Supraphon Audio CD 2020 / SU 4277-2

UPC 099925427726

George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (/ˈhændəl/; baptised Georg Friederich Händel, German: [ˈɡeːɔʁk ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈhɛndl̩]; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer becoming well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training in Halle and worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712, where he spent the bulk of his career and became a naturalised British subject in 1727. He was strongly influenced both by the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition and by composers of the Italian Baroque.

Handel started three commercial opera companies to supply the English nobility with Italian opera. In 1737 he had a physical breakdown, changed direction creatively, and addressed the middle class and made a transition to English choral works. After his success with Messiah (1742), he never composed an Italian opera again. His orchestral Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks remain steadfastly popular. One of his four coronation anthems, Zadok the Priest, has been performed at every British coronation since 1727. Almost blind, he died in 1759, a respected and rich man, and was given a state funeral at Westminster Abbey.

Handel composed more than forty opera serias over a period of more than thirty years. Since the late 1960s, interest in Handel's music has grown. The musicologist Winton Dean wrote that "Handel was not only a great composer; he was a dramatic genius of the first order." His music exerted a strong influence on Classical-era composers, including Mozart and Beethoven.

Tracklist:

1 - 4.  Jean-Marie Leclair (1697-1764) - Sonata in G major, Quatrieme livre de sonates, Op. 9 No. 7 (1743)   14:07

5 -10. Georg Friedrich Handel (1685-1759) - Suite in D minor, HWV 428, Suites de Pieces pour le clavecin (1720)   23:10

11.     Georg Friedrich Handel / Michel Blavet (1700-1768) - Gavotte 'The Harmonious Blacksmith''   3:30

12.     Georg Friedrich Handel - Passacaglia, from Suite in G minor, HWV 432 (1720)    2:20

13.     Anonym - Princess Royal, from The Compleat Country Dancing-Master (1740)   1:43

14-17. Jean-Marie Leclair - Sonata in E minor, Quatrieme livre de sonates, Op. 9 No. 2 (1743)   15:50

18.    Georg Friedrich Handel - Chaconne in A major, orig. from Parnasso in festa (1734)   4:48

• Baroque flute - Jana Semeradova
• Harpsichord - Erich Traxler