As with most of Handel's solo sonatas, this work adheres to the sonata da chiesa or church sonata format, four abstract movements alternating slow and fast tempos, with nary a dance pattern to be heard. It has been speculated that Handel wrote this sonata by 1704, when he was still in Halle (hence its designation as a Halle sonata), but no evidence supports this theory. More likely, it's an only slightly later composition, dating from Handel's stays in Hamburg or Italy. The opening Adagio is a wistful piece whose dotted rhythms and other patterns suggest a morose, stretched-out gigue. The second movement, Allegro, is considerably brighter, though remaining in the minor mode, and builds tension at several points by repeating a brief phrase at ever-higher pitches or simply giving the flute a precarious little climb up the scale. The second Adagio, the sonata's most extended movement, is a meditation tinged with melancholy that, unlike the first movement, could function quite well without the continuo line. The concluding Allegro looks ahead to Handel's habit of writing very short, declamatory phrases separated by brief pauses, but once Handel establishes this pattern he maintains it only in the continuo, setting the flute free to follow its own ornate melodic line.

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