A Catholic Organist’s Book of Handel’s Music for Organ

Editor Noel Jones

The name Handel means Messiah to most people. Sadly, aside from the D minor Sarabande, little is known of his keyboard works.

They are quite different from his predominantly melody and bass style of writing in Messiah and the operas.

They sound more like Bach with an added degree of drama, in addition, the fugues are easier to play than Bach’s making them ideal to learn and play before tackling the intricate weaving of voices found throughout Bach’s works. Many of his keyboard pieces were be written to be played on harpsichord or organ. Many of the organs were quite small and few had pedalboards.

Organs were found in churches but also homes and theaters. From that specific repertoire, we have drawn pieces that are best suited for playing at Mass on the organ. The Fugues and Fantasias give you music to play after Mass, the Keyboard Suites music for playing during Mass.

Coming from Germany and residing in England, his name appears in a variety of spellings.