GEORG FRIEDRICH HÄNDEL To all lovers of Musick Sonatas op. 5 Al Ayre Español Eduardo López Banzo

1 GEORG FRIEDRICH HÄNDEL To all lovers of Musick Sonatas op. 5 Al Ayre Español Eduardo López Banzo Conductor and harpsichord GEORG FRIEDRICH HÄNDEL

Sonata op. 5 no. 1, in A major HWV 396 Sonata op. 5 no. 4, in G major HWV 399 [1] Andante 1:39 [17] Allegro 1:58 [2] Allegro 1:44 [18] A tempo ordinario / Allegro non presto 4:02 [3] Larghetto 1:09 [19] Passacaille 4:41 [4] Allegro 1:46 [20] Gigue 0:53 [5] Gavotte 0:46 [21] Menuet 2:00

Sonata op. 5 no. 2, in D major HWV 397 Sonata op. 5 no. 5, in G minor HWV 400 [6] Adagio 1:07 [22] Largo 4:07 [7] Allegro 1:40 [23] Come alla breve 2:48 [8] Musette 3:39 [24] Larghetto 0:53 [9] Marche 1:29 [25] A tempo giusto 2:28 [10] Gavotte 0:31 [26] Air 1:50 [27] Bourrée 0:42 Sonata op. 5 no. 3, in E minor HWV 398 [11] Andante larghetto 2:49 Sonata op. 5 no. 6, in F Major HWV 401 [12] Allegro 1:29 [28] Largo 2:24 [13] Sarabande 3:29 [29] Allegro 2:28 [14] Allemande 1:26 [30] Adagio 3:07 [15] Rondeau 1:24 [31] Allegro 2:15 [16] Gavotte 0:57 [32] Menuet 2:00

4 5 Sonata op. 5 no. 7, in B flat Major HWV 402 Alexis Aguado Violin 1 [33] Larghetto 2:35 Kepa Arteche de la Fuente Violin 2 [34] Allegro, ma non presto 2:07 James Bush Violoncello [35] Adagio 1:07 Francisco Aguiló Matas Violone [36] Allegro 1:30 Juan Carlos De Mulder Archlute [37] Gavotte 0:55 [38] Menuet 2:20 Eduardo López Banzo Harpsichord

total time 76:34

6 7 To all Lovers of Musick: G. F. Händel’s Sonatas op. 5, an instrumental pasticcio

On February 28th, 1739, Händel’s London publisher, John Walsh, addressed all Ruspoli, where he would have met Arcangelo Corelli, who had established the lovers of music in the London Daily Post to inform them of a new collection defining features of theSonata da chiesa. It is not surprising, then, that Händel’s of works about to be issued: “Seven Sonata’s, or Trio’s, for two violins or Six Trio Sonatas op. 2 (published in 1733, but composed in the early ’20’s) German flutes, and a Bass. Opera Quinta. Composed by Mr. Händel”. strictly follow the four-movement structure of Corelli’s Sonatas (slow-quick- Potential customers could purchase a copy of the music by subscription, slow-quick). Op. 5 (HWV 396-402), on the other hand, shows a more mature, as advertised in the same newspaper some days before, on 12th February. flexible and personal approach to this formal pattern, adding a fifth movement This was not Walsh’s first Händelian publication, yet it is the one that in all the Sonatas and a sixth movement in two of them (Nos. 3 and 5). As a represented a new step towards a closer collaboration with the Halle master, result, these Sonatas are, in reality, suites in five or six movements, whose last as up to that moment many publications had been issued without his section is always a dance-piece in the French style (Gavotte, Minuet or bourrée). involvement. In fact, there is even speculation that Händel meant his op. It would seem that Händel originally conceived some of his Sonatas in four 5 to be a series of concertos (a natural sequel to his Six Concertos for Chamber movements (the only surviving autographs, those of Sonatas Nos. 5 and 6, Organ and Orchestra op. 4) and that, for commercial reasons, his publisher end with the fourth movement), and that his publisher may have convinced urged him to change the genre, as trio Sonatas would have garnered a better him to add extra sections. The amount of published compositions was another reception from his numerous London aficionados. peculiarity of this publishing project: seven Sonatas instead of the canonical three or six pieces. In fact, Walsh’s ledger records “six new Sonatas”, so that Händel’s relationship with trio Sonatas goes all the way back to his youth. the seventh might even have been added by him directly. All of this shows the According to a note by his friend Charles Jennens, Händel composed one of active role played by music publishers such as Walsh, who took liberties that the Six Sonatas of op. 2 at the age of 14, a fact that demonstrates his early consistently influenced the final result of the publications. engagement with the genre. During his stay in Rome, Händel participated in the musical evenings hosted by Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni and Prince Francesco

8 9 The sequence of contrasting movements that characterize op. 5 demonstrates used for his Concerti grossi op. 3. Four of the Sonatas start with the anthems’ a curious mix of styles and techniques (from the energetic counterpoint of such instrumental introduction I will magnify thee (Sonata No. 1), O be joyful in the movements as the second and the fourth of Sonata No. 5, Como alla breve and Lord (No. 2), As pants the hart (nr 3), Let God arise and O sing unto the Lord A tempo giusto, to the plainly homophonic ones), as well as the juxtaposition (No. 7), adapted to the trio Sonata’s format and texture, all the while preserving of distinctive dramatic characteristics, so that these seven Sonatas appear to the fundamental melodic and harmonic material (and the anthems’ manuscript resemble seven scenes of a wordless opera, combining a variety of feelings: carries inscriptions that clearly show its relevance in the preparatory work for the transparent and ingenuous simplicity of Musette (third movement of Sonata op. 5). Other works that he borrowed from are the ballets of Arianna in Creta No. 2), and its pastoral sonorities, or of the first part of the second movement (1734; Sonata No. 1), Ariodante (1734; Nos. 2 and 3), Terpsicore (Il pastor fido of Sonata No. 4 (A tempo ordinario); the ecstatic lyricism of the first movement 1734 version’s prologue; Nos. 3, 4 and 7), Ezio (1731; No. 3), Alcina (1735; of Sonata No. 6 (Largo); the dark dramatic quality alongside the psychological No. 4), Oreste (1734; No. 7), and the overtures of Athalia (1733; Nos. 4 and 5), depth of the first movements of Sonatas Nos. 3 and 5 (Andante Larghetto Il Parnasso in festa (1734; Nos. 4 and 5), Radamisto (1720; No. 4), Il pastor fido and Largo-Adagio); or the exuberant luminosity of the fourth movement of (1734 version; No. 4) and Tamerlano (1724; No. 5), as well as two fugues for No. 4 (Gigue) and the second movement of No. 6 (Allegro), whose finale calls keyboard (1717), an early trio Sonata (c. 1706-7) and a few minuets. Most of the for a very dramatic silence. In many of these instrumental melodies, with their French dances are derived from his works of the mid-’30’s and were originally cantabile qualities, the operatic vein of the Halle master has clearly rushed to conceived for French dancer Marie Sallé, a favourite of Covent Garden at the surface. that time. However, not all of the music derives from previous works. Two movements in Sonata No. 1 and at least two more in Nos. 2 and 3 seem to Besides its innovative structure, the most remarkable characteristic of this have been freshly composed. The new and the old coexist without the slightest body of work lies in the fact that it barely contains original music at all: friction in this highly compelling music which was conceived to be played at most of it is composed from pre-existing material taken from Händel’s own home and meant to be enjoyed more than intellectually analysed. compositions, which makes it a typical example of a habit so popular among opera composers, the pasticcio. In this instance, Händel took considerably from The re-use of previous material in op. 5, taken from eleven operas, five his eleven Chandos Anthems, composed in Cannons in 1717-18, and already anthems, two fugues, one Sonata and several minuets, has to be understood

10 11 in the context of its time and, in Händel’s particular case, is not just a defining AL AYRE ESPAÑOL trait of specific works (as already shown by contemporary theorists such as J. Mattheson or J. Scheibe), as much as an inherent characteristic of his Al Ayre Español was founded in 1988 by Eduardo López Banzo, in an effort compositional method. To copy one’s own as well as other composers’ music to challenge the pervading clichés that often surrounded the performance of has always been a form of apprenticeship and a very common practice for Spanish baroque music at that time. The spirit of the ensemble has always been Händel, who used to notate fragments and large extracts of his own and of to refute these clichés with musicological rigour, performance excellence and his contemporaries’ work. A quotation of previous materials in a “new” piece, by striving to insufflate new life to music from the past, thus opening them up as it occurs in op. 5, must not be seen as a sign of creative sterility but as an to contemporary audiences. The name of the ensemble was inspired by the intelligent way of refreshing his musical thinking with subtle transformations, title of a guitar fugue by the Aragonese composer Gaspar Sanz. driven by the process of adaptation to a new context, to a new ensemble and to the conventions of a distinct genre such as the Sonata. Unlike the 16th-century With the years, Al Ayre Español has become not only a prestigious ensemble, habit of composing parody masses on motets or fashionable songs as a form of but also a performance philosophy that Eduardo López Banzo has progressively homage, Händel does not seem to care in the slightest that his audience might established with his musicians and which is now recognizable, in demand, and recognise his borrowed material, even if some of his friends or scholars may widely acclaimed the world over, as bears witness the 2004 Spanish National have done so. For him this was a way to offer a renewed vision of his music, that Music Award, bestowed upon the group by the Spanish Ministry of Culture. at the same time shows an unrivalled capacity to reinvent himself. The fact that Al Ayre Español has not settled for becoming a specialised Javier Marín-López, Jaen University early music ensemble, but chosen instead to create a musical philosophy javiermarinlopez.com “al ayre español” (à la espagnole), has allowed the project to be flexible enough to adapt itself to different formats; as a baroque orchestra – Translation: Vanni Bianconi internationally acclaimed by its performances of Händel and Bach- and lately, as a classical-romantic orchestra -with opera and concert performances of Haydn and Mozart.

12 13 Al Ayre Español has performed at the most prestigious concert halls: Diapason d’Or, 10 Répertoire and Telerama (France); Editor’s Choice Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Vienna’s Musikverein and Konzerthaus, (Gramophone, London), CD Compact (Barcelona) and Fono Forum (Germany). Düsseldorf’s Tonhalle, Berlin’s Konzerthaus, the Théatre des Champs Elysées and the Cité de la Musique in Paris, Madrid’s Teatro Real and Auditorio Al Ayre Español is sponsored by the Gobierno de Aragón (Aragonese Nacional, Barcelona’s Palau de la Musica Catalana and Gran Teatre del Liceu, government), Axial Wines, Ibercaja Bank, Industrias Químicas del Ebro and Valencia’s Palau de la Música, Hamburg’s Leiszhalle, Washington’s Library the Ministry of Culture of Spain, and maintains a residence agreement with of Congress, the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, Metz’s Arsenal, Lisbon’s the Auditorio de Zaragoza. The ensemble has been Zaragoza’s ambassador Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Bilbao’s Palacio Euskalduna, Rome’s Teatro since 2011. Olimpico, etc.

The Aragonese ensemble has also been invited to some of the most important EDUARDO LÓPEZ BANZO festivals: Baden Baden Easter Festival, Bachstpiele Leipzig, Oude Muziek Utrecht, Internationale Festtage Alter Musik Stuttgart, Schleswig-Holstein Eduardo López Banzo, born in Zaragoza in 1961, is one of the European Musik Festival, Dresdner Musikfestpiele, Toulouse les Orgues, Festival de conductors who has made Historicism his own musical philosophy with the Música Religiosa de Cuenca, Festival de Música Antigua de Aranjuez, Festival most conviction, in order to bring his musicians closer to the sources and spirit d’Ambronay, Händel Festspiele Halle, Festival International d’Opéra Baroque of each composition, which results in the music sounding fresh and innovative de Beaune, Festival de Saintes, Festival Internacional Cervantino (México), to contemporary audiences after so many centuries. Festival Monteverdi de Cremona, Israel’s Authentica, Festival Via Stellae de Santiago de Compostela, Moscow’s Antiquarium Festival, etc. A harpsichordist by training, he studied in Amsterdam with Gustav Leonhardt, who encouraged him to champion the cause of Spanish baroque music. In 2002 Their recordings have been produced by labels such as Almaviva, Fidelio, he received the Medal of Honour of the Conservatory of Music of the Balearic Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Harmonia Mundi, Naïve-Ambroisie and Challenge Islands for his work in favour of Antonio de Literes, but it was in 2004 that he Records, and have received awards like the Choc du Monde de la Musique, achieved major success, when Al Ayre Español, the group he had founded

14 15 in 1988, was awarded the Spanish National Music Prize, granted by the In the operatic field, Eduardo López Banzo is currently one of the most Spanish Ministry of Culture, in recognition to their more than twenty years of important specialists in Händel’s operas. He has also participated in stage musicological rigour and performance excellence. This acknowledgement leads productions by Bilbao’s Friends of Opera Association with Al Ayre Español, in to Al Ayre Español becoming a point of reference for historicist interpretation Valencia’s Palau de les Arts with the Orquestra de la Comunitat de Valencia, all across Europe. and in Kiel Opera with the Philarmonisches Orchester Kiel.

He has been invited to conduct for the symphonic orchestras of Tenerife, He has also lectured and conducted specialized courses at the Universities Galicia, Madrid and Comunitat de Valencia, and period instruments ensembles of Salamanca, Alcalá de Henares and Zaragoza. Eduardo López Banzo was such as New York Collegium, San Francisco’s Philarmonia Baroque Orchestra, honoured with the Key to the City of Zaragoza award in October 2010. the Belgian B’Rock, and the Polish Arte dei Suonatori, Orquesta Sinfónica de Gran Canaria, Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias, Orquesta Sinfónica Ciudad de Granada.

Eduardo López Banzo has conducted at Bachfest Leipzig, Baden Baden Festspielhaus, Vienna’s Musikverein and Konzerthaus, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Berlin Konzerthaus, Düsseldorf’s Tonhalle, Paris’ Opéra Comique, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Cité de la Musique, Hamburg’s Leiszhalle, Madrid’s Teatro Real and Auditorio Nacional, Barcelona’s Palau de la Música Catalana and Gran Teatre del Liceu, Valencia’s Palau de les Arts and Palau de la Música, Bilbao’s Palau Euskalduna, Brussels’ Palais des Beaux Arts, Lisbon’s Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Rome’s Teatro Olimpico, amongst others. In 2012 he made his debut with the Berlin Philarmonic, as well as conducting at the Schwetzingen Festival, and returning to the Bruges Early Music Festival.

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