Metric Reorganization as an Aspect of Handel's Compositional Process

Abstract

of essays entitled Handel: A Symposium, Gerald Abraham discusses in his article Some Points of Style certain aspects of Handel's compositional process that can best be understood in light of the composer's improvisational abilities and tendencies.l Drawing from contemporary sources, Abraham quotes Mattheson's comment that Handel was 477 .. clever on the organ: cleverer than Kuhnau, in fugues and counterpoints, particularly ex tempore .... 2 as evidence of Handel's talents as an improviser. In this context, Abraham then examines a number of Handel's adaptations and revisions of ideas taken from earlier works, and comes to the conclusion that . . sometimes, what appears to be revision is only improvisation.: Although Abraham's discussion focuses primarily on Handel's self-borrowings, it is valuable to our general understanding of his compositional process because it suggests a means of interpreting many of the revisions and alterations found in the autograph manuscripts. Clearly not all the instances of revision in Handel's composing scores can be explained in terms of alternative improvisation, but there are a number of examples that seem particularly well suited to this sort of interpretation. Specifically, the instances in which Handel changed his mind about the metric setting of a piece often reveal an