116 Volumes of Handel: Halle Handel Edition Celebrates Its 50th Birthday

Fifty years ago the George Frideric Handel Society was founded in the German city of Halle. Before the year was out, it could already report a success: the first volume of keyboard works, The Eight Great Suites edited by Rudolf Steglich, thereby launching what would become known as the "Halle Handel Edition" (HHE). The idea of publishing a complete edition of Handel's music arose in 1943 when a contract was signed between the City of Halle and the publishing house of Bärenreiter. From the very outset, the HHE's goal was to provide a solid basis for musical performances by issuing scholarly-critical editions of every surviving work by this Halle-born composer.

The Halle Handel Edition falls into five series under the supervision of its present editors-in-chief, Terence Best and Wolfgang Ruf. When finished, it will encompass 116 volumes, together with their critical reports. Of these, 64 volumes and five supplementary volumes have already appeared. Considered the ultimate authority on matters related to Handel, the HHE is scheduled for completion in 2023.