Description:
The Air and Variations, from Handel's Suite No. 5, now popularly know as The Harmonious Blacksmith, was published in the first volume of Suites de Pieces pour le Clavecin in 1720, in an edition printed for the composer. The name "harmonious blacksmith" is said to have been given to a young man named Willaim Lintern, the son of a bookseller of Bath. Lintern was an apprentice of a blacksmith and was also an amateur musician. His favorite piece, it is said, was Handel's Air and Variations, which he was always humming, whistling, or playing. For this reason, his friends gave him the nickname, "the harmonious blacksmith." Accoring to the story, this young man later became the owner of a publishing company, J. & W. Lintern. This company is said to have first published the piece under the title The Harmonious Blacksmith shortly after 1820, more than 60 years after Handel's death. Several other publishers followed suit, and the piece became well known by that title.

Published by Alfred. Edited by Willard Palmer.