Did Handel compose the Sonata in G minor, HWV 393? Scholars disagree. The only source is the “Dresden” manuscript dated sometime after 1750, which contains six other trio sonatas by “Hendel” that had originally been published c. 1733 by John Walsh in London as Opus 2. The G minor Sonata plus two additional trio sonatas found in the Dresden manuscript were included by Friedrich Chrysander in the Handel collected works edition where they were inexplicably listed as part of Opus 2. Of these, HWV 392 is generally considered authentic, since it contains movements related to other Handel works, and HWV 394 spurious. The case is more complicated with the present work.

Chrysander clearly thought this G minor Sonata—originally for two violins and continuo—was by Handel when he published it in the complete works edition, but Anthony Hicks lists it as “authenticity uncertain” in the Handel work list in Grove Music Online, as has Bernd Baselt in the Handel complete works catalog (HWV). Others such as Terence Best and Peter Holman have instead pointed out similarities with other Handel works in suggesting its authenticity. Best even suggests a likely date of c. 1719 since Handel was in Dresden recrutiing singers from July to September that year, and the work shows consistency with his style at the time. Holman, in the preface to the 2007 Günthersberg edition for two violas da gamba (or other strings) and continuo, goes so far as to say:

Musicologists have repeatedly praised it, and performers, editors, publishers, and recording companies have made it one of Handel’s most popular trio sonatas. It is a large-scale, ambitious work, with eloquent and beautifully planned slow movements and fast movements full of energetic and sophisticated free contrapuntal writing; it is difficult to see who else might have composed it.

In any case, a tradition arose in the twentieth century of performing the G minor Sonata an octave lower on two violas or cellos, which contributed greatly to its widespread appeal. Of the many arrangements that appeared in print, we hear Heinz Beyer’s version for two cellos and piano, published in 1935.

Like Handel’s other trio sonatas and solo sonatas, the G minor, HWV 393, takes the Italianate sonata da chiesa (church sonata) form of four movements, slow-fast-slow-fast. All four movements revel in counterpoint—the first three presenting a subject with a long time interval before the second cello enters, after which the entries become more telescoped and the dialog more varied. It is the character, however, that changes—the slow first movement unfolds in a singing almost galant style, closing on a half cadence that sets up the fast second movement. Here the lively, dancelike character creates great contrast, but the contrapuntal techniques are similar.

In the slow third movement the singing quality of the cellos is paramount, with plenty of opportunity for ornamental embellishments but also the same gradually shortening time intervals between contrapuntal entries. The final movement takes off running in triple metter, much like its Italian counterparts labeled “Corrente.” Counterpoint and interplay again reign supreme, but is a more rapid-fire interplay without as many fugal attributes. As a whole, this Sonata in its myriad arrangements presents the scope and artistry of Handel.

—©Jane Vial Jaffe