Concerto Grosso Op. 6/5 HWV 323

Concerto Grosso Op. 6/5 HWV 323 [1739]

1. Largo – Allegro

It was customary at the time for composers to borrow material from their colleagues, or more often from their own earlier works. Handel’s Concerto Grossi Op.6, published by John Walsh in 1740, consists of twelve perfectly crafted works that sometimes transform material derived from other compositions (his own or those of others). The influence of Corelli, whom Handel had met in Rome, is quite apparent, not only the title and opus number (which matched Corelli’s own Op.6 Concerti Grossi publication), but also the scoring of instruments and layout of the concerti.

The fifth of the set, the Concerto Grosso in D major, Op 6, No 5, is an energetic concerto in 6 movements. It opens in the style of a French Ouverture, with dotted rhythms, prefaced by a two bar passage for the first concertino violin. This leads to a vigorous and high spirited fugal Allegro, a reworking by Handel of the overture for his Ode for St Cecilia’s Day, written about the same time. The Allegro differs very little from the Ode except for three additional bars at the close.