I Allemande II Allegro III Air IV Gigue V Minuet
This suite forms part of the second volume of Handel’s Suites de Pieces pour Le Clavecin published by John Walsh in London in 1733. Whilst not as showy perhaps as Bach or Scarlatti, Handel was an exceptional organist and harpsichordist and his keyboard works beautifully balance counterpoint and melody. The theme of the Allemande also appears in his opera Ezio (HWV 29) and his Trio Sonata in E minor (HWV 398, Opus 5, No. 3) so was clearly one he was rather attached to. The harp is ideally suited to this work as the forebear to the plucked keyboard instruments of the Baroque period.