Handel in Darmstadt

The title Handel in Darmstadt may be puzzling for general listeners, for Handel never passed any extended period of time in that southwestern German city. The title refers not to the travels of the composer himself, but to those of some of his works, which were copied into a so-called Darmstadt Harpsichord Book along with those of other German composers. One of these other composers was Christoph Graupner, in whose music the performer, Quebec harpsichordist Geneviève Soly, has specialized; part of her aim is to show the ... Read More

The title Handel in Darmstadt may be puzzling for general listeners, for Handel never passed any extended period of time in that southwestern German city. The title refers not to the travels of the composer himself, but to those of some of his works, which were copied into a so-called Darmstadt Harpsichord Book along with those of other German composers. One of these other composers was Christoph Graupner, in whose music the performer, Quebec harpsichordist Geneviève Soly, has specialized; part of her aim is to show the existence of a stronger connection between Handel and Graupner than has generally been recognized. This is a specialist matter, but there's also a good deal to interest the general Handel lover here. These are all early works of Handel, and they've never been brought together in quite this combination. They show a young composer with total master of the flamboyant Italian instrumental sonatas (a young genre itself at the time), the formal French suite, and the intricacies of German... Read Less