Sarabande in D minor (Suite, HWV 437)
George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) · sheet music
- Key D minor
- Time 3/2
- Levels 9
- Passages 1
Your turn · both hands
Preparing your passage…
George Frideric Handel, German-British baroque (1685–1759). The reading release has 1 passage from this piece at level 9; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 1–4 for both hands together.
The hardest stretch is bars 1–4 at level 9.
Your practice path
Learn it the way teachers do: each hand on its own, then together, then the hard bars. Each step is a real graded passage of Sarabande in D minor (Suite, HWV 437).
- Hands together · bars 1–4 level 9
How to play Sarabande in D minor (Suite, HWV 437)
- Tempo:Think in three slow half-note beats rather than six quarters; the music should feel stately, never dragging, and each chord should have time to ring.
- Right hand:The right hand plays three-note chords in half notes, then after a quarter rest a two-note chord on the last quarter. Drop into each chord with a relaxed arm so all the notes sound together.
- Left hand:The left hand opens on D and leaps down an octave, then in the next bar holds A before stepping down through B flat, A, and G in quarter notes. Keep those steps smooth and a little lighter than the chords.
- Hands together:Let the quarter-note chord after the right-hand rest lead into the next bar, and release chords and bass together so the texture stays clean.
- Rhythm:Count the quarter rest in the right hand as part of the gesture; placing the short chord exactly on the last quarter keeps the dance from sagging.
- Reading:There is one flat in the key signature, and C sharps appear in the dominant chords; spot them before you play so the chord shapes are ready.
- Practice:Practice the right-hand chords alone, naming each one, then add the bass slowly with a quarter-note pulse until the changes feel automatic.
Common mistakes
- Clipping the half-note chords short. Fix: Hold each chord for its full value and connect it to the next as closely as the fingers allow.
- Letting the bass steps get louder than the chords. Fix: Play the left hand alone softly, then keep that level when the chords return.
- Rushing the short chord after the rest. Fix: Count the rest silently and place the chord exactly on the final quarter.
- Missing the C sharp in the A major chords. Fix: Circle the sharps on a first read and play those chords slowly as blocks.
Structure: theme and two variations
The theme is a slow two-part sarabande in D minor built from full chords over a bass that steps in half and quarter notes. Two variations follow on the same harmonies: the first thins the chords into a moving melody with inner voices, and the second keeps chords in the right hand while the left hand walks in steady quarter notes.
- Theme · Sarabande (D minor)
- Three- and four-note chords in long values, with the characteristic sarabande weight on the second beat. Reading here means taking in whole chords at a glance.
- Var. 1 · Variatio 1
- The chords open out into a single melodic line with dotted rhythms and a second voice, so the reading becomes two-voice counterpoint in each hand.
- Var. 2 · Variatio 2
- The right hand returns to held chords while the left hand moves in even quarter notes, turning the bass into a running line.
About Sarabande in D minor (Suite, HWV 437)
Handel wrote the Suite in D minor, HWV 437, for solo harpsichord, and Wikipedia, following Grove, dates it to 1703-1706. It was first printed in 1733 by John Walsh in London as the fourth suite of the second volume of Suites de pièces.
The sarabande is the suite's slow dance in triple time, and in the early print it is followed by two variations headed Variatio 1 and Variatio 2. The prelude that modern editions place first was not in Walsh's first edition; Wikipedia notes it was taken from another suite, HWV 428.
The Sarabande reached a far wider audience through Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon (1975), which uses an orchestral arrangement by Leonard Rosenman. It has since been arranged for many films, television programs, and commercials, usually without Handel's variations.
- John Altman's arrangement of the Sarabande scored Levi's Odyssey commercial, which won gold for film at the 2002 Cannes Lions.
- Most screen arrangements use only the sarabande theme and leave out Handel's two variations.
- Dave Gorman's television series Modern Life Is Goodish uses the Sarabande and both variations for its found-poem segment.
- The prelude printed at the head of the suite today was borrowed from Handel's keyboard suite HWV 428.
Why the first passage is level 9
That passage is level 9 rather than 8 because it is in 3/2, not 4/4.
One flat in 3/2, with chordal half notes in the right hand over a stepping bass. Watch for the C sharps in the A major chords.
Questions about Sarabande in D minor (Suite, HWV 437)
- How hard is Sarabande in D minor (Suite, HWV 437) to play?
- Its passages grade from level 9 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 1–4 at level 9.
- Is there an easy part of Sarabande in D minor (Suite, HWV 437) for beginners?
- Its easiest passage is level 9, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 1–4 for both hands together, the level-9 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 9 because it is in 3/2, not 4/4.
- What key and time signature is Sarabande in D minor (Suite, HWV 437) in?
- Sarabande in D minor (Suite, HWV 437) is in D minor, 1 flat. The engraving on this page is in 3/2 time.
- Who composed Sarabande in D minor (Suite, HWV 437)?
- George Frideric Handel, German-British baroque (1685–1759). Handel wrote the Suite in D minor, HWV 437, for solo harpsichord, and Wikipedia, following Grove, dates it to 1703-1706.
- Can I practice Sarabande in D minor (Suite, HWV 437) online for free?
- Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the one graded passage from Sarabande in D minor (Suite, HWV 437) in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
- What movie is the Handel Sarabande from?
- It is best known from Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon (1975), which uses Leonard Rosenman's orchestral arrangement.
- Did Handel write variations on the Sarabande?
- Yes. The early print follows the sarabande with two variations, one with a moving melody and one with a running bass.
- Which suite is the Sarabande from?
- Handel's Keyboard Suite in D minor, HWV 437, published as the fourth suite of the second volume of Suites de pièces (1733).
Every passage, easiest first
The reading release grades one passage of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:
- Level 9
- bars 1–4 both hands
More pieces to sight-read
Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (pdmx), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261023-identity-audit reading release.