Description
George Frideric Handel - Passacaglia (from Harpsichord Suite No. 7 in G Minor, HWV 432) Reimagined
While looking through my channel statistics, I noticed that various piano versions of Handel's Passacaglia seem to be surprisingly popular among my listeners.
Most of these recordings are usually presented as Handel / Halvorsen Passacaglia, implying some connection to the famous arrangement by Norwegian composer, conductor, and violinist Johan Halvorsen. Naturally, I became curious and listened to quite a few of them.
I have to admit: most versions I found struck me as rather cheesy, overly sentimental, and generally a bit questionable.
After a little research, I discovered that what many "relaxing piano music" performers enthusiastically play has only a very distant relationship to Handel's original Passacaglia from Harpsichord Suite No. 7 in G Minor, HWV 432. In fact, only four bars of Handel's original theme seem to have survived the journey - and even those have been heavily modified.
As for Halvorsen, he is innocent in all of this. His well-known arrangement was written for a duo of string instruments and bears little resemblance to the modern piano versions circulating online.
The sheet music I found - apparently the same version used by many contemporary pianists - credits the piece as:
Passacaglia composed by Handel
Arranged by Halvorsen
Rearranged by Pianistos
Edited by Basbuga
Quite an impressive creative team for a work ultimately derived from four bars of music.
Naturally, I recorded it as well.
That said, I treated the score more as a suggestion than a strict set of instructions, so perhaps I should add my own name to the growing list of arrangers, rearrangers, editors, and other contributors.
Passacaglia composed by Handel
Arranged by Halvorsen
Rearranged by Pianistos
Edited by Basbuga
Further rearranged by coversart
At this point, "reimagining" feels like a more accurate description.
Whatever this piece may be, however, it no longer has much to do with Harpsichord Suite No. 7 in G Minor, HWV 432.
*George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (1685 – 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti.
Born in Halle, Handel spent his early life in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712, where he spent the bulk of his career and became a naturalised British subject in 1727. He was strongly influenced both by the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition and by composers of the Italian Baroque. In turn, Handel's music forms one of the peaks of the "high baroque" style, bringing Italian opera to its highest development, creating the genres of English oratorio and organ concerto, and introducing a new style into English church music. He is consistently recognised as one of the greatest composers of his age.
Coversart streamings / socials:
https://linktr.ee/Coversart
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