More on Handel and the Hemiola

To the three categories of hemiolas I identified in an earlier study I add a fourth, overlapping hemiolas. Particularly in the Baroque repertoire, and especially in the works of Handel, there are frequent instances of two successive two-bar hemiolas that overlap because they are collapsed onto three bars. I examine the larger context in which their preparation, elaboration, and peroration may represent central compositional issues, especially in light of the brevity of most Baroque compositions.