The Sinfonia in B-flat Major, HWV 339 is music of the young George Frideric Handel. It was probably composed in Hamburg between 1704 and 1706, in the years before Handel’s move to London. No autograph manuscript exists, and it remained unpublished until 1979. The Sinfonia unfolds in three movements (fast-slow-fast).
As a composer, Handel was skillful at borrowing and adapting existing music. The Sinfonia’s opening movement (Allegro) was taken from the composer’s first opera, Almira, HWV 1. Later, in 1733, he returned to the theme for the second movement of his Harpsichord Suite HWV 434.
Filled with melancholy, longing, and a sense of operatic drama, the second movement (Adagio) unfolds over an ostinato bass line. The final movement (Allegro) sparkles with bright, sunny virtuosity. Throughout the Sinfonia, we are swept into a vibrant drama of conversing voices and imitative counterpoint, in which all of the instruments interact as equals. In the final moments, a whirlwind of scales surge upwards.
This exhilarating performance, recorded in 2021, features European Baroque chamber group Ensemble Diderot:
Almira, HWV 1, Act III Scene 6: “Blinder Schütz”
The first movement of Handel’s Sinfonia, HWV 339 was based on the aria, Blinder Schütz, from the third act of Almira. Handel was 19 when he composed this initial opera, which tells the story of a love affair between Queen Almira and her private security, Fernando.
Teresa Wakim is accompanied by Paul O’Dette and the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra. In the final moments, the music truly “swings” with an infectious sense of rhythm.
Recordings
- Handel: Almira, HWV 1, Teresa Wakim, Christian Immler, Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, Paul O’Dette, Stephen Stubbs Boston Early Music Festival