London circa 1740: Handel’s musicians

For this new instalment of their series devoted to British music of the eighteenth century, the musicians of La Rêveuse take us to London in the 1740s. The leading Italian and German virtuosos Handel invited to play in his orchestra brought a powerful wind of change to English musical life, while the Scot James Oswald achieved the tour de force of making the music of his country fashionable in the drawing rooms of London.

Karl Friedrich Weidemann Flute Concerto op. 2 No. 6
George Frideric Handel Trio Sonata HWV 390; Hornpipe compos’d for the Concert at Vauxhall HWV 356
Giuseppe Sammartini Concerto a piu Istromenti per la Fluta GSM 1711
Pietro Castrucci Sonata for Viola da gamba
James Oswald The Caledonian Pocket Companion; A Sonata of Scots Tunes