Music for Sunday October 19, 2008
Laity Sunday
Sonata VI in E Major
for Violin and Piano
by George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel (Friday, 23 February 1685 – Saturday, 14 April 1759) was a German-born Baroque composer who is famous for his operas, oratorios and concerti grossi. Born as Georg Friedrich Händel in Halle, he spent most of his adult life in England, becoming a subject of the British crown on 22 January 1727. His most famous works are Messiah, an oratorio set to texts from the King James Bible; Water Music; and Music for the Royal Fireworks. for the rest of this Wikipedia article, click here
Handel's name is pronounced "hendle," because the ä in the original German name is pronounced like the English short e in "men."
This sonata was written for violin and harpsichord and was first published about 1724. It consists of four sections or "movements," each one in a contrasting style and tempo:
1. slow (Adagio)
2. fast (Allegro)
3. very slow (Largo)
4. fast (Allegro) but this time in a dance-like triple rhythmMr. Ryder will be playing only the first two movements for this Sunday.
The first movement is slow (Adagio) and ends on a chord that feels unstable, inviting the performer to jump directly into the energetic second movement (Allegro).
The fast-paced second movement has two parts, each of which is repeated. The first part starts in E major (the main key of this sonata) but eventually begins to add an extra sharp, which allows it to wind up in a new but closely related key (B major). The second part starts in B major but it eventually gets rid of the extra sharp so that the movement can end in a satisfying way back in the original key of E major.
Nash Ryder studies violin with Anait Arutunian at the New England Conservatory of Music and is a member of NEC's Youth Symphony.
