Fitzwilliam Sonatas - Discussion

Discussion

Handel re-used the first movement of Sonata 1, a courante, in the opera, Scipione (HWV 20, 1704). The second movement was re-used in his Organ Concerto in F major, Op. 4, No. 4 (HWV 292). The third movement was used in the Violin Sonata, Op. 1, No. 3 (HWV 361).

Modern scholars agree that the B♭ major sonata must have been written for the recorder, despite there being no mention of this on the autograph. One of the reasons for this is that, "when Handel used the third movement again in his A major violin sonata, he changed the key to A major, which would seem to eliminate the possibility that the B♭ major version is for the violin." In addition, the key and range were unsuitable for the oboe, according to one source, though another writer claims that, although "the key would be suitable for the oboe, but less so for the flute," nevertheless "The range is too high for the oboe, and all of Handel's genuine flute and oboe sonatas go significantly below f' (flute sonatas to d', oboe sonatas to c' or d')".

The second and third of Dart's sonatas were originally a single sonata (HWV 367a), and was broken into two parts by Thurston Dart in his edition of 1948. The sonata designated by Dart as No. 2 consists of movement 7 of this D minor sonata followed by an earlier version of movement 6 of the same work, concluding with an unrelated minuet by Handel, together with a double (variation) composed by Dart. It has since been published in its original form. This D-minor Sonata was later arranged by an unknown hand as a flute Sonata in B minor (HWV 367b), published by Walsh in about 1730 as op. 1, no. 9.