Georg Friedrich Handel:
Oboe concerto in G minor, HWV 287
Harpsichord suite in D minor, HWV 428
Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, HWV 46a
Organ concerto “The Cuckoo and the Nightingale” in F major, HWV 295

Arcangelo Corelli:
Trio sonata in F minor, Op. 3/9
La Follia, Op. 5/12 - La Follia
Sonata con Aboé et violini in C major, WoO 4
Trio sonata in D minor, Op. 1/11

Santiago de Murcia:
Folias Italianas, Saldivar Codex n4 - Despacio (excerpt)

Around the turn of the year 1706-7, at the age of 21, Georg Friedrich Händel (1685-1759) arrived in Rome. According to the memoires of Händel written by John Mainwaring (1760) “The fame of his musical achievements at Florence and at Venice had reached that metropolis long before him”. At that time in Rome, Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) was a musical star: by then in his fifties, he was already long established as the most important violinist and composer of instrumental music of the city, working for the most illustrious patrons such as Pietro Ottoboni, Benedetto Pamphili and Francesco Maria Ruspoli. As Händel soon worked for the same patrons, the two must often have shared the stage during Händel’s time in Rome in 1707 and 1708, certainly for the premieres of Händel oratorio’s Il trionfo del Tempo and La Resurrezione. At those occasions Corelli was concertmaster and Händel led from the harpsichord. During a rehearsal for the premiere of La Resurrezione, there was reportedly a dispute between Corelli and Händel regarding the performance of the French overture, a movement Corelli could not appreciate. Händel then played the ‘problematic passage’ himself, to which Corelli replied: ‘But, beloved Saxon, that music is in the French style, of which I understand nothing’, whereupon Händel composed an Italian overture. Apart from this clash, there is no other friction known between the two brilliant musicians. Händel and was clearly influenced by Corelli’s style, for example in his trio sonatas provided Corelli magnificent solo parts in which he could shine. The (musical) encounters of these two masters are the inspiration for this programme.

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Recording: Church of Hollands College, Leuven (Belgium), 8-11 March 2022. Instruments: Claviorganum, Markus Harder-Völlkmann (2002); Oboe, M&F Ponseele (2010) after Stanesby Jr. (c. 1720).