Concerto Grosso in G major

At a glance

• What it isa movement from Concerto Grosso Op. 6 No. 1. The marking is A tempo giusto, meaning at a fitting tempo.
• Who, when, whyHandel, then fifty-four, wrote all twelve in London in the autumn of 1739 and published them as a set the following year.
• What to listen forthe full band's proud rhythm, and the solo group of two violins and cello answering softly in between.

Listen for

• The stridethe full band begins proudly with dotted rhythms pairing short and long notes.
• The answera small solo group of two violins and a cello steps forward and lightly takes up the same idea.
• The closethe short movement ends open, leading toward the quick movement that follows.

When it was written

In the autumn of 1739, in little more than a month, Handel wrote twelve concerti grossi in a burst. The following year he published them by subscription, and this set of twelve is today his Op. 6. In a concerto grosso a small group of solo instruments trades with a large string band; Handel took as his model the set of the same name by the Italian composer Corelli.

At the time Italian opera was losing favor in London, and Handel was turning to oratorios and odes with English words. These concertos were played between the acts of such performances to entertain the audience. No. 1, the first of the set, begins with this short movement and goes on through five movements in all.