MICROCOSM CONCERTO

Harp music by G. F. Haendel

Georg Friedrich Haendel (1685-1759)
1-6 Suite in D minor, HWV 448

William Babell (1690-1723)
7 Lascia ch’io pianga...

Georg Friedrich Haendel
8-10 Concerto per la Harpa, HWV 294

Anonymous (c.1800)
11 Thême avex Variations pour Harpe composé par G. F. Haendel

Edward Jones (1752-1824)
12-17 The Microcosm Concerto composed by G. F. Handel

Nicolas Charles Bochsa (1789-1856)
18 O let eternal honours & From Mighty Kings
19 For unto us a Child is born

—

About this CD

The story of Handel’s associations with the harp and also those of harpists with his music stretches out across more than a century, from before the composer’s arrival in London in 1712 until well into the 19th century, when arrangements of his works were continuing still to be published. In an original and novel CD - in which the harpist Mara Galassi performs on two contrasting period instruments, a Welsh triple harp and an Érard pedal harp - there appear both compositions written by Handel for the instrument, such as the Harp Concerto HWV 294 and the Suite in D minor HWV 448, as well as later arrangements by composers such as Edward Jones and Nicolas Charles Bochsa, in new works partially attributed (in a somewhat doubtful manner) to Handel.

This is Galassi’s third disc for Glossa (following Il Viaggio di Lucrezia in 1998 and Les Harpes du Ciel in 2003, two CDs which have been quietly acquiring cult status), and on it she shares centre stage with the keyboard player Giovanni Togini, who acts as the ideal musical companion on any of the three instruments which he makes use of for this Microcosm Concerto: the organ, the harpsichord and the fortepiano. This recording is complemented by a detailed essay from Chiara Granata.