Organ Concerto in F major, Op.4, No.4

Handel’s organ concertos - the first works of their kind, incidentally, and an essentially English phenomenon - were intended primarily for performance between the acts of his oratorios. As Handel himself was the soloist on these occasions and since he would often indulge himself in a little improvisation, which was always an exciting experience, the concertos became more of an attraction than the oratorios themselves. The London Daily Post advertisement for Esther at Covent Garden in 1735 drew particular attention to “several New Additional Songs; likewise two new Concertos on the organ.”

When the first six concertos were published in 1738, as Op.4, they were described as being “for harpsichord or organ” - which gives an idea of the kind of organ Handel had in mind. The instrument in use in English theatres at the time was single-manual chamber organ without a pedal-board and with a sound which, being no more aggressive than that of the harpsichord, wouldn’t be too dominant to balance a small orchestra of strings, oboes, and bassoon.

As it happens, in the Concerto in F major, Op.4, No.4 - which was first performed between the acts of Athalia at Covent Garden in 1835 and which originally led into a Hallelujah chorus as a finale - balance doesn’t become a crucial issue until the last movement. The opening Allegro is a conventional concerto grosso construction, the robust orchestral ritornello alternating with more fanciful developments on the organ alone. In the Andante too, although the final statement of the main theme is made by organ and orchestra in unison, the main interest is in the decorative, increasingly elaborate and largely unaccompanied solo episodes. The final Allegro (approached by way of a short Adagio ) is different in that it is based on a fugal texture which closely integrates organ and orchestra. There are solo episodes, as in the earlier movements, but nothing as impressive as the last entry of the main theme in four-part counterpoint in the orchestra with two or three of the voices doubled on the organ.

Gerald Larner