Suite No.2 in F major HWV 427 (before 1720)

The peculiarity of the Suite No.2 in F is that is not, by the conventions of Handel’s day, a suite. Unlike the other works in the collection of “Great Suites” published in London in 1720, it includes not one dance and, in its slow-quick-slow-quick sequence of movements, it is closer to the Italian sonata than the French suite. It is true that, of the other seven, only Suite No.1 in A, with its Prelude and three dances, confirms strictly to the baroque suite form, while No.6 in F sharp minor offers no dance movement until the closing Gigue. The Suite in F is unique, however, in opening with an Adagio – remarkable for the ornate melodic decorations written out by Handel himself – that could be the slow movement of a concerto in the Italian style. It is true that the following Allegro has something of the allemande about it and the short Adagio in D minor something of the sarabande. The Fuga on the other hand – in four parts and furnished with a counter-subject strong enough almost to qualify the piece as a double fugue – is as brilliant as any baroque sonata movement.