Handel: Sarabande (Keyboard Suite in Dm) - sheet music, midi and mp3 files

This Sarabande by George Frideric Handel is one of the most famous. Baroque Suites consisted of a number of dance movements (often including a Allemande, Courante, Sarabande and Gigue in that order, but with many variations). Some Suites were written for small groups of players but Keyboard Suites were common. A Sarabande is a slow stately dance in triple time, with the rhythmic emphasis on the first 2 of the 3 beats. Handel wrote several keyboard suites in D minor, with this one catalogued as HWV 437 and the Sarabande consists of a theme with 2 variations. Handel's Sarabande is based on a variant of a musical pattern called "later Folia", a popular chord sequence during the baroque period (the 16-bar blues of its day). Handel's Sarabande would have been played on a harpsichord, and the player would probably improvise some ornamentation, e.g. arpeggios and mordents. Our version of the music is played on a piano with no ornamentation or repeats.

This Sarabande is one of the most famous and it has been used in a number of film soundtracks (sometimes arranged for strings), such as "Tom Jones" and "Barry Lyndon". I heard it recently on a TV trailer for Judge Rinder. You can download sheet music, midi and mp3 files using the links on the left-hand menu. Or below you can play a graphic video of the music, play the mp3 file or see the sheet music before downloading.