Halle Handel Edition
The Halle Handel Edition (HHA) is a historical and critical complete edition of the works of the composer Georg Friedrich Händel (1685–1759), which is based on all available sources and the latest research results, for both research and practice. It is run by the Georg-Friedrich-Handel-Gesellschaft e. V. in Halle (Saale) and has been published by Bärenreiter-Verlag since 1955 .
history
A collaboration between the city of Halle and Bärenreiter-Verlag, which had already been contractually agreed in 1943, gave concrete shape to the idea of a complete edition of Handel's works. In 1955 the Georg Friedrich Händel Society was founded in Halle and it was able to report a success in the first year. The first volume of the HHA was published with the volume “Piano Works I: The Eight Large Suites” (edited by Rudolf Steglich ). The work done for this was then transferred to the newly founded company.
The edition began as a co-production of the German publishing house for music , Leipzig , and the Kassel Bärenreiter publishing house. After the reunification and privatization of the DVfM, Bärenreiter is the sole publisher. The financing, which until 1990 was guaranteed from state funds of the GDR, comes today mainly from funds from the Academy of Sciences. The Halle Handel Edition, which soon after its inception was considered the undisputed authority in matters of Handel, is due to be completed in 2023.
Scope and content
The complete edition, divided into five series, whose editors after Klaus Hortschansky are today Terence Best and Wolfgang Hirschmann , will comprise 116 volumes with their critical reports. Of these, 64 volumes and five supplement volumes have been published to date.
If possible, the works are arranged chronologically within the volumes. The numbering of the works follows the Handel Works Directory (HWV). In addition to the complete compositions, alternative versions, discarded work, drafts and fragments are included. Since 1991, the volumes of Series I and II have contained a facsimile of the libretto printed for the first performance.
The editions of vocal works contain German and possibly also English versions of the song texts. Instructive examples from the source material and the critical report are part of the volumes.
The HHA appears in five series and supplement volumes:
- Series I: oratorios and great cantatas
- Series II: Operas
- Series III: Church Music
- Series IV: Instrumental music (piano, chamber and orchestral music)
- Series V: Smaller vocal works