The David Watkins Collection VOLUME XVIII
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

Aria Con Variazioni
Edited by David Watkins

The success of ‘Messiah’ ensured Handel his position as one of the greatest composers and a worthy contemporary of J.S. Bach. However, it is only quite recently that his creativity in operas and oratorios has revealed his exceptional genius in these genres. Throughout his life he was a brilliant keyboard player and published many harpsichord pieces. This Aria and Variations appear in a suite of pieces published by Walsh in 1732. The similarity of figurations and the key of Bb seem to link it to the Concerto in Bb that he wrote for the harpist William Powell to perform in 1734. This is entirely in the key of Bb without any accidentals, a rare occurrence in his keyboard works. Brahms used this theme for his own ‘Handel Variations’. This edition has been made from Walsh’s original 1732 volume bought in 1960 from a bookseller in Paris.

Professor David Watkins

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