Handel, Georg Friedrich: Suites de Pieces pour le Clavecin, 1720.(Sound Recording Review)

Handel, Georg Friedrich: Suites de Pieces pour le Clavecin, 1720. Ludger Remy, Harpsichord. Recorded in 2001 and 2002, in Germany. Engineer: Gisela Kniemeyer. 124+ minutes (2-disc set). CPO 999 940.

The 1720 publication of these harpsichord compositions involved a situation that today seems odd and almost funny. Apparently, a number of Handel's solo-harpsichord manuscripts had been copied for use as teaching aids (the composer gave harpsichord lessons to a number of people) and some of them ended up in the possession of a rather unscrupulous publisher in Amsterdam. It was announced that the publisher intended to publish them without the composer's permission, and apparently without paying him.

Handel learned of this and executed a preemptive strike by immediately self-publishing them. He made a formal announcement of his intention by having a special ad (complete with accusations of unscrupulous behavior on the part of certain criminal elements "abroad") printed in the Daily Courant, London's largest newspaper at that time.

The counterattack worked, with Handel getting his own version into print a year before the pilfered versions could appear. Ironically, the popularity of the composer's harpsichord works was such that assorted manuscript versions had circulated throughout Europe for decades. From a reading of Handel's Courant ad it is pretty clear that he did what he did for reasons of principle more than for the rather small amount of money earned by the publication of solo-instrument music. Just as ironically, Handel's first foray into the harpsichord manuscript publishing business occurred just as he was losing interest in composing solo music for the instrument.

Historical tidbits notwithstanding, what we have here with this two-disc set are eight little masterpieces for harpsichord that will satisfy both musical and sound-quality interests. Whether one listens in straight stereo or runs the material through a good ambiance extractor or synthesizer, the results should be superb.

This is the first recording I have reviewed that involved the newly built, Dunlavy Cantata-anchored system in my smaller listening room. (This room is being expanded to a considerably larger size, but for music of this scale the ...