(Music Sales America). These six flute sonatas of J.S. Bach fall into two groups of three. In this Book One (Nos. 1-3), the composer provided a concertante keyboard part, where the right hand is as musically important as the flute and bass lines, apart from the occasional passage when he reverts to a figured bass. This volume, edited by William Bennett, includes the solo flute part as a separate insert.
George Frideric Handel is one of the most important composers of the Baroque era and his flute sonatas are central to the flute literature. In the Baroque era, in addition to the solo melodic line, composers usually composed only an unrealized figured bass line. Performers, and later editors, would then add embellishments to the solo melody and would also realize the right hand part of the keyboard. Publishers issued editions with different interpretations and realizations of the same pieces; thus, performers face a challenge in choosing from these many editions. In view of the more than ten editions of published Handel flute sonatas, this study limits the comparison of editions to three selected editions of the Handel flute sonata in b minor, HWV 367b for the flute and keyboard. The three selected editions are: 1. Bärenreiter (publisher), edited by Hans-Peter Schmitz and realized by Max Schneider (1995); 2. Emerson (publisher), edited and realized by Lionel Salter (1981); and 3. International Music Company (publisher), edited by Jean-Pierre Rampal and realized by Robert Veyron-Lacroix (1968). The description of the flute part focuses on articulation, ornamentation, and dynamics. For the keyboard part, it focuses on texture, range and dynamics. The discussion provides a summary of the features of each edition; this provides useful information to help flutists in their selection of a suitable edition to enhance their performance.
