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Georg Friedrich Händel (1685-1759) was a baroque cosmopolitan. He was born in the small German town of Halle an der Saale, where his father was a barber and field surgeon. The young Georg Friedrich received his first musical education from the city's most influential church musician, Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow, who introduced him to Protestant church music. During a long tour of Italy in the early 18th century, he was introduced to Corelli's concerti grossi as Carissimi's cantatas and oratorios. After returning to Germany, Händel took a position at the court in Hanover. In 1714, when the Elector of Hanover became King George I of England and Ireland, Händel followed as his court conductor. It was in England where he wrote most of his compositions, including a large number of operas and the famous oratorios. By the time he died in 1759, he was widely renowned and was buried in Westminster Abbey alongside monarchs and some of the most prominent figures of British history. Since his death, the tradition of annual Händel festivals was established. Handel's concerto grosso opus 6, 7 in B major is a relatively late work. It was written together with eleven other concerts between 1739-40 in London. At the same time, he began composing his large oratorios belonging to the last group of his works. Some of these concerts were played as entertainment during the breaks when the significant oratorios were given. This orchestral concerto in B major is written as a sonata da Chiesa with the movement sequence slow - fast - slow - fast. Still, it is extended with a boisterous dancing movement called bagpipe or sackpipe as the last. The second movement, Allegro, is a fugue, which has an easy to follow theme thanks to it's characteristic beginning. It consists of a repeated note that is rhythmized with two half notes, four quarter notes and eight eighths; a thematic treatment we hear agai
