A Third Set Of Six Concertos For Harpsicord Or Organ. Op. 7. [Hwv 306-311] Handel, George Frideric 1685-1759 New Arrivals

Folio. Modern dark blue calf-backed blue cloth boards. 1f. (recto title, verso dedication), [i] (blank), 2-51, [i] (blank) pp. Ownership inscription "W. A. Hepler" and "June 1930" to front free endpaper. Binding slightly worn, rubbed, and bumped. Title slightly soiled; minor loss to lower outer corners of first two leaves; paper repairs to blank recto of first paginated leaf, pp. 6, 48, 49, and 50; tear to p. 51 and loss to margin repaired. First Edition, first issue. Smith pp. 230-31, no. 1. BUC p. 441. RISM H1236 and HH1236. Handel composed his organ concertos for his own performance as interludes within oratorio concerts; those who heard Handel himself perform these pieces experienced an intimate connection to the composer's musical delivery and improvisational style. Op. 7, composed primarily in the 1740s, was published by Walsh two years after the composer's death, at a time when the memory of Handel as performer was still fresh in the collective consciousness of the London musical public. "The organ concerto was effectively Handel's own invention, allowing him to display his abilities in both performance and composition simultaneously, and most of his oratorio concerts included one or more from 1735 onwards. Six (one originally a harp concerto, delicately scored for muted strings and recorders) were collected and published by Walsh in 1738 as Handel's op.4. No.2 in B♠and no.3 in G minor, the earliest to be composed, draw on the op.2 trio sonatas for their material, and no.5 is simply an arrangement of a recorder sonata, but nos.1 in G minor and 4 in F are more expansive and original pieces." Anthony Hicks in Grove Music Online.