Valparaiso, Indiana

Concerto No. 8 in Bb by George Frederick Handel

Movement III (Siciliano)

This piece is found in a collection published by G. Schirmer, Inc. and titled, SOLOS FOR THE OBOE PLAYER, edited by Whitney Tustin

# 1

The time signature of this piece is 6/8 time.  A Siciliano is a beautiful dance with a tempo that is approximately one beat per second for the dotted quarter note.  Start the piece in measure two to avoid the tie across the first and second measure and play measures two through five.  Try this pattern with three different rhythms within one beat-long, short, beat-dotted eighth, sixteenth, and eighth.

Now add measure one to the pattern.  You will be holding the first note for three counts before moving to the Siciliano pattern.  Play regular “F” for the first note and follow with forked “F” for the remainder of the melodic line.  Play from the first note until two measures be fore letter “A”.  At this point “E” natural becomes the accidental for two measures.  Be prepared to play “E” natural instead of “Eb”.  Play regular “F” during these two measures before  letter”A”.

# 2

From letter “A” to letter “B’ there are no “Eb” fingerings-only “E” natural fingerings with the regular “F” fingering.  From letter “B” to letter “C” we have repeated patterns of “Ab” to “Bb”.  it is important to connect these notes by keeping your fingers close to the keys.  You are moving two fingers at once to successfully play between these two notes.  Keep your fingers rounded, relaxed, and close to the keys.  Look in a mirror at your hand position and the movement of your fingers.  This will help.

# 3

At letter “C” you are connecting the notes that have a slur marking with dots as you tongue each note with a long legato style-not short staccato notes.  Observe the crescendo  and diminuendo over the final four measures of the piece as the piece slows down (rit.) during the final two measures.  The final note will be the longest note of the piece and should diminuendo into silence.

# 4

If you have played the fourth movement of this piece previously you can add this movement with movement IV played at a faster tempo (one beat per  measure) for a most sophisticated presentation as an intermediate student.  Performing two movements of a concerto demonstrating contrasting styles is always a very impressive performance for your audience to enjoy.

There is a video via YouTube that demonstrates all the above techniques indicated and a performance of the entire movement.  This will be very helpful, set the right performance tempo, and allow you to play along with the demonstrations and final performance.