The Harmonious Blacksmith

"The Harmonious Blacksmith" is the popular name of the final movement, "Air and variations", of George Frideric Handel's Suite no.5 in E major, HWV 430, for harpsichord. An air is followed by five doubles (variations in the English division style): semiquavers in the right hand; semiquavers in the left hand; semiquaver triplets in the right and left hands; and finally demisemiquavers in both hands.

The eight suites of 1720

Handel published his first eight harpsichord suites in 1720 with the following explanation:

The name

There have been a number of explanations proffered as to why this movement was called "The Harmonious Blacksmith", and by whom. The name was not given by Handel and was not recorded until early in the 19th century, when the movement became popular on its own (it should be noted that while Handel's music remained popular in England continuously after his death, it was only very selectively known.)

An unproven history

The story is that Handel, when working for the Duke of Chandos at Cannons between 1717 and 1718, once took shelter from the rain in a smithy, and was inspired to write his tune upon hearing the hammer on the anvil; the regularly repeated pedal note (b in the right hand) in the first variation, can give the impression of a blacksmith hammering. A variation on the story is that he heard the blacksmith singing the tune which would later become the "Air"; this explanation fits in nicely with Handel's general technique of borrowing tunes. Neither story is true. The legend began three-quarters of a century after Handel's death with Richard Clark in his "Reminiscences of Handel" (1836). Henry Wylde and Richard Clark then found an old anvil in a smithy near Whitchurch, Edgware and fabricated a story to identify William Powell as the fictitious "blacksmith", when, in fact, he had been the parish clerk. They raised a subscription for a wooden memorial to him, and in 1868, the people of Whitchurch subscribed again for a grandiloquent gravestone, still standing. It reads: "In memory of William Powell, the Harmonious Blacksmith, who was buried 27. February 1780, aged 78 years. He was Parish Clerk during the time the immortal Handel was organist of this church. Erected by subscription, May 1868."

Handel had written his harpsichord suites of the 1720 publication before he lived at Cannons, when he was at Adlington Hall in Cheshire, or even earlier still.

Another possible history for the Harmonious Blacksmith

William Lintern was a blacksmith's apprentice from Bath who later took up music and so "was" The Harmonious Blacksmith. The piece came to be called after him, probably because he published it under that name for reasons outlined in the following extract:

Chappell was a respected musical historian and the story is probably true, but there is no copy of Lintern's edition of the piece in the British Museum and Mr W. C. Smith, who worked at the museum and was a Handelian specialist of high standing, said that the earliest copy of the piece that he had yet (as of 1940) been able to find under the name "The Harmonious Blacksmith" was that published by the British Harmonic Institution, arranged as a piano-forte duet, the paper of which bears the watermark '1819'.

Origins of the music

As to the origins of the music, a bourrée by Richard Jones (1680-1740) features almost the same air in a minor key, though it is not known whether Jones preceded Handel or vice versa. A passage in Handel's opera Almira, written in 1704, is very like the "Harmonious Blacksmith" tune, so it is likely that it was his own. Beethoven used a similar theme for the subject of a two-part organ fugue.

Literary mention

Pip, the main character in Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, is fondly given the nickname of Handel by the character Herbert Pocket, in honor of Pip's upbringing as a blacksmith, and in honor of this music.

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6870791 The grave of William Powell]
* [http://www.barnet.gov.uk/archives-edgwarehistories Edgware History] - mentions the Harmonious Blacksmith story
* [http://www.raemesa.com/history/slowmarch.html Origins of the Harmonious Blacksmith]