Handel: Complete Sonatas for Flute and Continuo

COMPOSERS: Handel
LABELS: Kevin Mayhew
ALBUM TITLE: Handel
WORKS: Complete Sonatas for Flute and Continuo
PERFORMER: Paul Edmund-Davies (flute), John Alley

(harpsichord), Tim Hugh (cello)
CATALOGUE NO: 1490170

The word ‘complete’ always strikes



a cautionary note with me. Here is



a two-CD release of the ‘Complete



Flute Sonatas’ of Handel. At first



glance, it does indeed look complete



with its roster of 11 works; but here



Paul Edmund-Davies omits one in



D major (HWV 378) unequivocally



for transverse flute. If it has been



omitted on grounds of doubtful



authenticity then three others here,



HWV 374-6, sometimes called



Hallenser Sonatas on the grounds



that they were compositions of



Handel’s youth, should have been



as well. Happily for us, they have



survived the axe, for each and every



one of the Sonatas in this recital is



nothing other than a pure delight.



Edmund-Davies’s Baroque



performing style, somewhat



disregarding of punctuation,



harks back to a mid-20th century



performing style but is, perhaps,



none the worse for that. Slow



movements are declaimed in lengthy



legato phrases which give the music



a serene nobility. Faster movements,



for the most part, are delivered in



a spirit of lively caprice, though



the Andante of the E minor Sonata



(HWV 379) feels earthbound owing



to extended legato phrase contours



in both flute and cello lines. Apart



from such differences of opinion, I



found much to enjoy in Edmund-



Davies’s recital. Heaven forfend



that this repertoire should become



the exclusive preserve of period



instrumentalists. Recorded sound



is excellent, though the omission of



any movement headings both in the



booklet and on the outer covers is



disgraceful. Nicholas Anderson.