Chaconne in G major, HWV 442

A chaconne with twenty one variations built over a repeating bass pattern, published in 1733 in Handel's second collection of keyboard suites. The form was a Baroque staple: a short harmonic cycle repeated while the music above it grows steadily more elaborate. Handel moves from plain chordal statements through increasingly rapid figuration, briefly turning to the minor before returning to the major for a brilliant close, and the piece serves as a compact tour of Baroque keyboard technique.