01	Concerto Grosso 'Alexander's Feast' : Allegro						03:39
	02	Concerto Grosso 'Alexander's Feast' : Largo						01:53
	03	Concerto Grosso 'Alexander's Feast' : Allegro						03:29
	04	Concerto Grosso 'Alexander's Feast' : Andante ma non presto						03:54
	05	Concerto Op.6 No.1 : A Tempo giusto						01:54
	06	Concerto Op.6 No.1 : Allegro						01:55
	07	Concerto Op.6 No.1 : Adagio						02:29
	08	Concerto Op.6 No.1 : Allegro						02:38
	09	Concerto Op.6 No.1 : Allegro						02:52
	10	Concerto Op.6 No.2 : Andante Larghetto						04:07
	11	Concerto Op.6 No.2 : Allegro						02:26
	12	Concerto Op.6 No.2 : Largo						02:36
	13	Concerto Op.6 No.2 : Allegro, ma non troppo						02:22
	14	Concerto Op.6 No.3 : Larghetto						01:28
	15	Concerto Op.6 No.3 : Andante						01:38
	16	Concerto Op.6 No.3 : Allegro						02:36
	17	Concerto Op.6 No.3 : Polonaise. Andante						04:48
	18	Concerto Op.6 No.3 : Allegro, ma non troppo						01:28
	19	Concerto Op.6 No.4 : Larghetto affetuoso						03:07
	20	Concerto Op.6 No.4 : Allegro						02:41
	21	Concerto Op.6 No.4 : Largo e piano						02:13
	22	Concerto Op.6 No.4 : Allegro						02:30

Concerto Grosso in C major "Alexander's Feast" HWV 318
Composer George Frideric Handel
Genre Concerto Grosso
Composition Date 1736

Description
Handel composed nineteen works in the concerto grosso form established at the 1680s by Corelli. The combination of a concertino trio of solo strings (two violins and cello) with the body of orchestral strings (the ripieno) became highly popular in England, where the rapid expansion of orchestral groups of mixed ability, including professionals and amateurs, made them an ideal vehicle for this type of music. The present concerto is something of an odd-man out, being the only one not included in one of the two sets of Handel's concerti grossi printed by the London publisher John Walsh. Like the twelve concertos issued as Opus 6 in 1740, HWV 318 was composed with the specific purpose of providing interval or interlude music at performances of Handel's choral works. However, unlike the concertos of Op. 6, the Concerto Grosso in C is associated with a specific work, the Cecilian ode Alexander's Feast, composed to a text based on John Dryden's celebration of the patron saint of music. The ode was first given at Covent Garden on 19 February 1736, on which occasion the concerto served as an introduction to the second part during an evening that also included a performance of the Organ Concerto, Op. 4, No. 1. In addition to the standard complement of strings expected in a concerto grosso, this particularly grandiose example of the genre also includes parts for pairs of oboes and bassoons. The work is in four movements, an Allegro that is unusual in replacing the expected contrast of concertino and ripieno with an emphasis on thematic development, a cantabile, pastoral Largo, another Allegro with a fugal subject and an Andante finale in stylized dance rhythm. The "concerto in Alexander's Feast" quickly became a great favorite among Handel's audiences, encouraging Walsh to publish the work in 1740 after signing a new copyright contract with the composer. -- Brian Robins



Concerti Grossi (12), Op 6, HWV 319-330
Composer George Frideric Handel
Genre Concerto Grosso
Composition Date 1739

Description
The six concerti grossi of George Frideric Handel's Opus 3 (1734), however enjoyably variety-laden they may be, however charming their bizarre and motley construction may seem, will always pale in comparison with the superb volume of twelve pieces in the genre that first appeared under the title Twelve Grand Concertos for strings, Opus 6 some six years after the Opus 3 volume first emerged from publisher John Walsh's printing press. Walsh was also the publisher of the Opus 6 group, but on this occasion--quite unlike the occasion of Opus 3--Walsh and the composer were working hand in hand. Opus 3 is really an assortment of already-composed Handel pieces that Walsh threw together into shapes that more or less approximate the concerto grosso norm of the day, some more successfully than others. The twelve concerti grossi of Opus 6, however, were all composed during October of 1739 (except the very first piece in the volume, which is dated September 29), the date of completion of each piece being noted very clearly by the composer; there is no question of the Opus 6 works being of the composer, by the composer, and, considering that he seems to have put the volume together solely for the purpose of making some much-needed money, for the composer.
The traditional concerto grosso-style division of performing forces into a tutti group and a concertino group (or, in this case, a concertino pair--two violins) is made much more regularly in Opus 6 than in Opus 3, but the variety of architecture displayed throughout the volume is, if anything, even greater. Handel seems to take great pleasure in taking the "accepted" formal blueprint of the concerto grosso and turning it on its head: elements of the four-movement "da chiesa" form and of the dance-filled "da camera" variety are mixed together with little regard for tradition. Four movement-structure is decidedly not the norm in Opus 6. Handel originally scored Op. 6 for an ensemble of just strings; later, however, he added a pair of oboes to four of the concertos (Nos. 1, 2, 5, 6).

The earliest of the twelve to be composed, Op. 6, No. 1 in G major, is built in five movements, the jubilant 6/8 meter Allegro finale coming across as something like frosting on top of the fugal fourth movement. Only Op. 6, No. 2 in F major and Op. 6, No. 4 in A minor follow the sonata da chiesa four movement, slow-fast-slow-fast pattern without variation. Op. 3, No. 3 in E minor interpolates a polonaise (surely a stunning thing to a mid-eighteenth century English audience!) into its five movement plan, while the virtuosic Op. 6, No. 5 in D is in six movements, opening with a joyous fanfare for solo violin and ending with a sparkling little diamond of a minuet.

The Musette movement of Op. 6, No. 6 in G minor is a high spot in the volume. Op. 6, No. 7 in B flat major is in five movements, ending with an earthy Hornpipe that the classic da chiesa church sonata pattern would have no room for. The six movements of Op. 6, No. 8 in C minor include an Allemande and a Siciliana, while the similarly proportioned Op. 6, No. 9 in F major is a true concerto da chiesa to which a minuet and gigue have been appended at the end. The sixth and final movement of Op. 6, No. 10 in D minor, is actually in D major. Op. 6, No. 11 in A major again incorporates music from an organ concerto, while the spectacular Op. 6, No. 12 in B minor is highlighted by a glistening Larghetto in E major. -- Blair Johnston