Introduction
‘The Harmonious Blacksmith’ wasn’t the name given to this piece by Handel; so how did it get it?
‘THE Harmonious Blacksmith’ is the popular name for the last movement of Handel’s Suite No. 5 in E major (HWV 430) for harpsichord.
Handel did not give this name to his composition himself, though it is not clear exactly how it came about.
In his Reminiscences of Handel (1836), Richard Clark spread the tale that Handel had overheard the tune during a visit to a local smithy, in Whitchurch, but Handel had already written the piece by then.
After reading that, a music publisher in Bath, named William Lintern, claimed that he had christened the movement so himself, as he had been a blacksmith’s apprentice before turning to music.
Whatever the origins of the name, it stuck; and in Great Expectations (1861) by Charles Dickens, Herbert Pocket gives Pip the nickname ‘Handel’, because “We are so harmonious - and you have been a blacksmith”.
Related Video
Media not showing? Let me know!
Archive
Word Games
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Claim. Local. Visit.
2 Smithy. Then. Write.
3 Before. No. Pocket.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Subject and Object Find in Think and Speak
Use each word below in two sentences, first as the subject of a verb, and then as the object of a verb. It doesn’t have to be the same verb: some verbs can’t be paired with an object (e.g. arrive, happen), so watch out for these.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1. Piece. 2. Reading. 3. Visit. 4. Tune. 5. Tale. 6. Name. 7. Claim. 8. Local. 9. Turn.
Variations: 1.use your noun in the plural (e.g. cat → cats), if possible. 2.give one of your sentences a future aspect (e.g. will, going to). 3.write sentences using negatives such as not, neither, nobody and never.
Opposites Find in Think and Speak
Suggest words or phrases that seem opposite in meaning to each of the words below. We have suggested some possible answers; see if you can find any others.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
Variations: 1.instead of opposites, suggest words of similar meaning (synonyms). 2.use a word and its opposite in the same sentence. 3.suggest any 5 opposites formed by adding im-.
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
mtr (7+4)
amateur. mature. meteor. meter. metre. metro. motor.
mater. meatier. metier. mitre.
If you like what I’m doing here on Clay Lane, from time to time you could buy me a coffee.
Buy Me a Coffee is a crowdfunding website, used by over a million people. It is designed to help content creators like me make a living from their work. ‘Buy Me a Coffee’ prides itself on its security, and there is no need to register.
Related Posts
Joseph Joachim was regarded by most people in Europe as the greatest violinist ever, but in the home of Sterndale Bennett there was a dissenting voice.
Picture: By Adolph von Menzel (1815–1905), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted December 27 2020
In 1837 William Sterndale Bennett, then regarded as England’s most exciting young composer, made history in quite another... field.
Picture: Unknown Artist, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted July 11 2017
Acclaimed in Germany as a composer on a par with Mendelssohn himself, Bennett sacrificed his life and talents for music in Britain.
Picture: From an engraving by DJ Pound, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domaon. Source.
Posted July 8 2017
