Composer: Georg Friedrich Händel
Performer: Danny Driver
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Hyperion
Catalogue: CDA68041-2
Release: 2014
Size: 1.94 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
CD 01
Keyboard Suite, HWV 426 in A major
01. I. Prelude
02. II. Allemande
03. III. Courante
04. IV. Gigue
Keyboard Suite, HWV 427 in F major
05. I. Adagio
06. II. Allegro
07. III. Adagio
08. IV. Allegro: Fugue
Keyboard Suite, HWV 428 in D minor
09. I. Prelude
10. II. Allegro: Fugue
11. III. Allemande
12. IV. Courante
13. V. Air, with five variations
14. VI. Presto
Keyboard Suite, HWV 429 in E minor
15. I. Allegro: Fugue
16. II. Allemande
17. III. Courante
18. IV. Sarabande
19. V. Gigue
Keyboard Suite, HWV 430 in E major ‘The Harmonious Blacksmith’
20. I. Prelude
21. II. Allemande
22. III. Courante
23. IV. Air, with five variations ‘The harmonious blacksmith’
CD 02
Keyboard Suite, HWV 431 in F sharp minor
01. I. Prelude
02. II. Largo
03. III. Allegro: Fugue
04. IV. Gigue
Keyboard Suite, HWV 432 in G minor
05. I. Ouverture
06. II. Andante
07. III. Allegro
08. IV. Sarabande
09. V. Gigue
10. VI. Passacaille: Chaconne
Keyboard Suite, HWV 433 in F minor
11. I. Prelude
12. II. Allegro: Fugue
13. III. Allemande
14. IV. Courante
15. V. Gigue
Suite in C minor, HWV 444
16. I. Prelude
17. II. Allemande (HWV445 version)
18. III. Courante
19. IV. Gavotte
20. V. Menuet
Keyboard Suite, HWV 438 in E minor
21. I. Allemande
22. II. Sarabande
23. III. Gigue
24. Keyboard Suite, HWV 435 (Chaconne) in G major
Danny Driver’s recordings of CPE Bach’s keyboard works have been much admired: praised by critics as deeply stylish and revelatory accounts of eighteenth-century works on a modern piano, with Driver’s impeccable pianism constantly present. Now he turns to Handel’s ‘Eight Great Suites’, largely written when the composer was resident in Cannons, near London.
The ‘Great Suites’ are an inspired, idiosyncratic amalgam of Gallic courtly dances, Italian vocal lyricism, Teutonic counterpoint and robust English tunefulness. Whereas Bach’s keyboard suites follow broadly similar patterns, centred on the traditional French dance sequence of Allemande, Courante, Sarabande and Gigue, Handel’s are unpredictable, with no two suites alike in the number and ordering of their movements. There are fugues, arias with variations, Italian-style sonata movements, even (in No 7) a Passacaglia. Compared with the elaborate finish of Bach’s suites, Handel’s often give the impression of written-down improvisations. In the fantasia-like Preludes, especially, Handel hints at his own genius as extemporiser, while leaving plenty to the performer’s own imagination.