HANDEL: Cello Sonatas - Theo Tatty, Carolyn Gilbey

Handel Cello Sonatas? As Handel didn’t write any, that may raise a few eyebrows. Then again, period-instrument ensemble The Brook Street Band have been doing just that since their debut recording of Handel’s “Oxford” Water Music (AV 0028), a chamber version of the orchestral evergreen, which earned the all-girl baroque band a Gramophone Editor’s Choice. Tapping into the ubiquitous 18th-century technique of recycling tunes by transposing or arranging for different instruments, The Brook Street Band – named after Handel’s London address – here take the set of recorder sonatas variously known as Op. 1, assigning the solo line to the cello, an instrument which with Handel had obvious affinity. The Brook Street Band’s second disc, Handel’s Op. 5 Trio Sonatas, became a favourite on Classic fM. This, their third release, is acclaimed and popular in equal measure.

George Frideric HANDEL (1685 – 1759)
Sonatas for Cello (trans. from the Recorder Sonatas by Carolyn Gibley)

Sonata in G Major (orig. C Major), HWV 365, Op. 1, No. 7
1. Larghetto (2:17)
2. Allegro (2:07)
3. Larghetto (1:54)
4. A tempo di Gavotti (1:23)
5. Allegro (2:34)

Sonata in a minor (orig. d minor), HWV 367a, Op. 1, No. 9, “Fitzwilliam”
6. Largo (1:56)
7. Vivace (2:52)
8. Presto (2:27)
9. Adagio (1:13)
10. Alla Breve (1:44)
11. Andante (2:10)
12. A tempo di Minuet (1:38)

Sonata in C Major (orig. F Major), HWV 369, Op. 1, No. 11
13. Larghetto (1:50)
14. Allegro (2:20)
15. Siciliana (1:17)
16. Allegro (2:00)

Sonata in d minor (orig. a minor), HWV 362, Op. 1, No. 4
17. Larghetto (2:35)
18. Allegro (2:42)
19. Adagio (1:58)
20. Allegro (3:22)

Sonata in F Major (orig. B flat Major), HWV 377, “Fitzwilliam”
21. Allegro (2:23)
22. Adagio (1:15)
23. Allegro (2:25)

Sonata in d minor (orig. g minor), HWV 360, Op. 1, No. 2
24. Larghetto (1:50)
25. Andante (2:58)
26. Adagio (0:49)
27. Presto (1:56)
Total time: 55:58