George Frideric Handel’s powerful musical personality reveals itself not only in the large forms of opera, oratorio, and orchestral suite, but also in his compositions for keyboard. The focus here is on the eight Suites of his first printed collection from 1720, which by no means comprise standardised sequences of dance movements.

On the contrary – free-form movements of great artistic weight predominate, inserting themselves between lighter dance pieces. Handel’s suites always display a dist...