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Suite in F-sharp Minor, HWV 431

George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) · sheet music

  • Key F-sharp minor
  • Time 12/8
  • Levels 8
  • Passages 1

Your turn · both hands

 

 

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George Frideric Handel, German-British baroque (1685–1759). The reading release has 1 passage from this piece at level 8; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 37–40 for both hands together.

Practice the hard bars →

The hardest stretch is bars 37–40 at level 8.

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 Suite in F-sharp Minor, HWV 431.

  1. Hands together · bars 37–40 level 8

How to play Suite in F-sharp Minor, HWV 431

  1. Tempo:The gigue is marked Presto, but learn it at a relaxed speed first. Count four big beats in each measure, each of them divided into three.
  2. Rhythm:Feel 12/8 as four groups of three eighth notes. Say 'one-and-a, two-and-a' to place the long-short skip that gives a gigue its lilt.
  3. Right hand:Keep the finger action quick and close to the keys. Play the running notes evenly, and shape them in groups of three.
  4. Left hand:The left hand has its own tune as well as the harmony, so let it speak. Practice it alone until you can sing along.
  5. Hands together:Put the hands together at a slow pace, then check that both hands align at the start of every group of three. If one hand is early, loop that spot until the alignment is automatic.
  6. Reading:F-sharp minor has three sharps, and the music uses extra accidentals. Name the three sharps aloud before you start so your hand leaves F, C, and G sharp on autopilot.
  7. Practice:Practice in short chunks with a metronome set to the dotted beat, raising it a few clicks at a time. Finish each session with one slow, perfect run.

Common mistakes

  • Playing the 12/8 as 4/4 triplets with uneven accents. Fix: Tap the four main beats with your foot and fit the groups of three around them.
  • Forgetting a sharp when the key has three of them. Fix: Name F, C, and G sharp aloud for the first dozen runs, then fade out.
  • Pressing the keys down heavily in fast passages. Fix: Keep the touch light and the wrist loose, as a harpsichordist would.
  • Treating the left hand as just accompaniment. Fix: Practice it alone at piano until its line sounds like a tune.

Structure: Baroque suite in four movements

This is a suite rather than one single dance: a prelude, a slow Largo, a fugal Allegro, and a closing gigue marked Presto. The contrast between movements is the point, from an opening prelude through a strict fugue to a quick dance. The passage on this page comes from the gigue, in 12/8.

Prelude · Prelude
The opening movement, which Handel newly wrote for the 1720 edition. It settles the ear into the key of three sharps.
Largo · Largo
A slow, expressive movement that offers contrast before the faster ones. Focus on long lines and sustained sound.
Allegro · Allegro (fugue)
A fast fugue in which the voices enter one after another. Handel liked it enough to reuse it in a Chandos anthem and a concerto grosso.
Gigue · Gigue (Presto)
The finale, a quick dance in compound time. New for reading: a lilting 12/8 pulse, felt as four beats each split into three eighth notes.

About Suite in F-sharp Minor, HWV 431

Handel's Suite in F-sharp minor is the sixth of eight in his first book of keyboard suites, printed in London in 1720 'for the Author' as Suites de pièces pour le clavecin. In his preface Handel said he had been obliged to publish because unauthorized and incorrect copies were circulating. Scholars have usually linked that complaint to an Amsterdam edition published by Jeanne Roger, though its plate number suggests it appeared only in 1721.

The suite has four movements: a prelude, a slow Largo, a fugal Allegro, and a Presto gigue to finish. Handel recycled the fugue in other works, including the Chandos anthem In the Lord put I my trust and the Concerto grosso in D minor, Op. 3 No. 5.

Most of the 1720 collection already existed before Handel prepared it for print, and he added only a few new movements, including the prelude of this suite. Its four-movement plan, closing with a gigue, follows the usual Baroque habit of ending a suite with that dance.

  • The prelude that opens the printed suite was new in 1720; an earlier version of the suite began instead with an arpeggio-style Prélude in F-sharp minor, HWV 570.
  • Handel reused the Allegro fugue in the symphony of the Chandos anthem In the Lord put I my trust (HWV 247) and in the D minor Concerto grosso, Op. 3 No. 5.
  • Handel's preface to the 1720 set complained about faulty copies of his keyboard pieces circulating without his consent.
  • A gigue grew out of the English jig and was imported to France in the mid-1600s, and it usually closes a suite.

Why the first passage is level 8

That passage is level 8 rather than 7 because it is in 12/8, not 4/4.

One graded passage here sits at level 8, in 12/8 with three sharps. The compound meter and the extra accidentals are what raise the level, so read in groups of three.

Questions about Suite in F-sharp Minor, HWV 431

How hard is Suite in F-sharp Minor, HWV 431 to play?
Its passages grade from level 8 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 37–40 at level 8.
Is there an easy part of Suite in F-sharp Minor, HWV 431 for beginners?
Its easiest passage is level 8, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 37–40 for both hands together, the level-8 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 8 because it is in 12/8, not 4/4.
What key and time signature is Suite in F-sharp Minor, HWV 431 in?
Suite in F-sharp Minor, HWV 431 is in F-sharp minor, 3 sharps. The engraving on this page is in 12/8 time.
Who composed Suite in F-sharp Minor, HWV 431?
George Frideric Handel, German-British baroque (1685–1759). Handel's Suite in F-sharp minor is the sixth of eight in his first book of keyboard suites, printed in London in 1720 'for the Author' as Suites de pièces pour le clavecin.
Can I practice Suite in F-sharp Minor, HWV 431 online for free?
Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the one graded passage from Suite in F-sharp Minor, HWV 431 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
What is a gigue?
A gigue is a lively Baroque dance that grew out of the English jig. It is usually in a compound meter such as 12/8 or 6/8 and typically ends a suite.
Is this suite part of a larger set?
Yes. It is No. 6 in the first volume of Handel's keyboard suites, published in 1720 as Suites de pièces pour le clavecin and later cataloged as HWV 426-433.
Why did Handel publish the suites himself?
His preface says unauthorized and faulty copies were already circulating, so he issued an authorized edition printed in London.

Every passage, easiest first

The reading release grades one passage of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:

Level 8
bars 37–40 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.

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