HANDEL Organ Concertos: No. 1 in g; No. 2 in B♭; No. 3 in g; No. 4 in F; No. 5 in F; No. 6 in B♭; No. 13 in F, “The Cuckoo and the Nightingale”; No. 14 in A. Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno: Sonata in D • Peter Hurford (org); Joshua Rifkin,cond; Royal Concertgebouw CO • DECCA 414 604 (2 CDs: 171:43)

HANDEL Organ Concertos: No. 7 in B♭; No. 8 in A; No. 9 in B♭; No. 10 in d; No. 11 in g; No. 12 in B♭; No. 15 in d; No. 16 in F • Peter Hurford (org); Joshua Rifkin,cond; Royal Concertgebouw CO • DECCA 417 560 (2 CDs: 121:07)

“In one of the great Towns of Flanders, where he (Handel) has asked Permission to Play, the Organist attended him, not knowing who he was; and seem’d struck with Mr. Handell’s Playing when he began. But when He heard Mr. Handell lead off a Feuge, in Astonishment he ran up to him, & embracing him, said ‘You can be no other than the great Handell!’” The preceding is found in the writings of the Earl of Shaftesbury and bears witness to the executory prowess of George Frideric Handel on the organ.

While still a young man, Handel crossed swords­—in the musical sense—with no less a performer than Domenico Scarlatti. Their “duel” resulted in Scarlatti being named the better harpsichordist and Handel the better organist, the latter being a distinction that the Italian wholeheartedly supported. Handel’s unchallenged reputation as an organist and his unashamed desire to display his skills on the instrument led him in the direction of the organ concerto. Handel was neither the first nor the only composer to compose organ concertos. Vivaldi includes an organ part in several of his 400-plus concertos, and my collection holds concertos by Sammartini, Corrette, and others. But Handel was to the organ concerto what Corelli and Geminiani were to the concerto grosso . And just as the string concertos of those two gentlemen were responsible for the composition of many similar works by Englishmen like Stanley, Boyce, Bond, and others, so did Handel’s organ concertos fire the imagination of his English colleagues, including William Felton and Thomas Chilcott.

Initially, Handel offered his concertos during the intervals of his oratorio performances, and their popularity resulted in their being published in London by Johan Walsh. But the organ concerto was an important part of the spring-to-fall season of the London pleasure gardens, including Vauxhall, Ranelagh, and Marylebone. Each of these sported elevated platforms known as “orchestras” and “a fine [two manual] organ of English manufacture” so there was a strong incentive for English talent to follow in the footsteps of the composer from Halle, and follow they did.

Handel’s authentic organ concertos fall into two groups: a set of six published in London by John Walsh in 1738 as op. 4 and A Second Set of Six Concertos for the Harpsichord or Organ that appeared in 1740 as op. 7. Of these dozen concertos, only one—­the initial concerto in the op. 7 set—has a pedal part. Just the first collection seems to have been composed for the keyboard as the second volume contains movements that were pinched from the 12 concerti grossi published a year or so earlier. It is believed that John Christopher Smith the Younger­ (the son of Handel’s amanuensis and business manager) was responsible for the second set, but even after Smith’s efforts, Walsh had to seek out additional material to round out the publication. There are also four additional concertos, pieced together from a variety of original Handel sources, but by someone other than Smith or Walsh.

Like the period-instrument recordings by Paul Nicholson and The Parley of Instruments that I reviewed for Classical Hall of Fame in Fanfare 27: 2, these two double-disc sets of modern-instrument recordings were originally issued stateside by London in 1986 and 1987, and contain all of the concertos included in Walsh’s 1738 and 1740 editions. However, they do not include the choral “Alleluia” that concludes op. 4/4 in the Nicholson recording and Hurford and Rifkin also replace the harp, used as a solo instrument in Nicholson’s op. 4/6, with the organ in the last concerto in their op. 4 set. But where Nicholson and company turn their back on the last four concertos, Hurford and Rifkin include them, along with a brief sonata from Handel’s early Italian-language oratorio Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno . For their period instruments, which necessitated an organ with an overall lower pitch, Hyperion used the organ at St. Lawrence, Whitchurch (built by the venerated London maker Gerard “Father” Smith), but the modern-instrument version recorded here employed the two-manual organ built in 1976 located in the Bethlehemkerk, Papendrecht, Holland.

The choice of solo instruments and the versions employed are not indispensable when it comes to a satisfying performance or the enjoyment of these works, but they do make interesting reading for those like me who are interested in the history of the music. Handel has given himself every opportunity to win over the listener, and he does so in grand style with music that is tailored to his legendary prowess as an organist. The unaccompanied movements marked organo ad libitum are filled out by Hurford with additional music from other Handeliana, as well as movements from works by Telemann and Stanley.

Overall, as far as modern-instrument recordings are concerned, these are the most musical performances I have heard, far outdistancing the old Biggs/Boult readings with which they once competed. The Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra is consistently alert and stylish, and it possesses all of the energy one could desire, not to mention robust and rock-solid ensemble. Peter Hurford’s playing is always on the mark and wholly unassailable; it is characterized by insightful comprehension of both the idiom and the music, not to mention pleasing registrations. The overall presentation lacks any stylistic idiosyncrasies that could have been employed for the sake of effect.

These recordings were transferred from vinyl in the early days of the CD era, but they have been unavailable for a number of years. They have been missed by many, including this writer, but thanks to the ongoing and comprehensive on-demand reissue program of arkivmusic.com—it has now reached over 7,000 titles—we have been given a second chance to enjoy and appreciate these once critically acclaimed recordings. Michael Carter