Lesson 61: Handel Sonata in G minor, HWV 360 — First Movement

Learn the Larghetto (first movement) of Handel's G minor sonata end-to-end.
Apply Baroque ornamentation that fits the Handelian style.

Lessons 41–52 — the upper-intermediate arc (especially 41, 45, 48).

Handel HWV 360 Larghetto.
High-Baroque rhetorical style.
Cadence trills with ornament cluster.

Handel wrote four recorder sonatas. The G minor is the one most students meet first.

The Larghetto is the first movement of Handel's most-played recorder sonata — G minor, two flats, with brief excursions to B-flat. The opening dotted-quarter / eighth descending from D to G is the motive the whole movement grows out of.

The Larghetto is the first movement of Handel's most-played recorder sonata. Handel wrote it for alto, so what you see on your alto staff is closer to the original score: C minor (three flats), with brief excursions to E-flat major. The opening dotted-quarter / eighth descending from G to C on your staff is the motive the whole movement grows out of.

The opening motive

Six notes — a falling tetrachord with a dotted figure — that the whole movement grows out of.

Get the IMSLP or Barenreiter score, trace the motive's appearances, mark breath points conservatively, and follow the slow-down procedure — Handel's lines reward it.

Drill — cadence with trill

The Larghetto's cadences are decorated; the trill on the leading tone (raised F#) is the signature gesture. Practise the cadence as an isolated unit before adding it to the full movement.

The Larghetto's cadences are decorated; the trill on the leading tone (raised B on your alto staff) is the signature gesture. Practise the cadence as an isolated unit before adding it to the full movement.

Now play this

The full first movement. This is the work of the lesson.

Handel: Sonata in G minor, HWV 360 (Andante): The second movement is in the library; the first must come from your score. The pieces are companion movements.
Handel: Sonata in B-flat major, HWV 377 (Allegro): A companion piece in the relative major. Contrast its energy with the G minor's gravity.

When the first movement of HWV 360 is in your hands end-to-end at tempo, with shaped cadence trills and audible phrasing, move on to Lesson 62 for the Andante.