Read complete books and articles on: George Frideric Handel

Handel, George Frideric - hănˈdəl, 1685–1759, English composer, b. Halle, Germany. Handel was one of the greatest masters of baroque music, most widely celebrated for his majestic oratorio Messiah. Of German descent, he was originally named Georg Friedrich Handel.

Son of a barber-surgeon, he early displayed musical talent and was sent to Friedrich Zachow, an organist and

Son of a barber-surgeon, he early displayed musical talent and was sent to Friedrich Zachow, an organist and composer at Halle, for three years of training. After studying law at the Univ. of Halle (1703), he joined the opera orchestra at Hamburg. There his first two operas, Almira and Nero, were produced in 1705. The following four years were spent in Italy, where his operas Rodrigo (1707?) and Agrippina (1709) were staged, the latter very successfully. In Italy he met Alessandro Scarlatti and other masters and absorbed the Italian style and forms.

In 1710 Handel became musical director to the elector of Hanover but obtained leave to visit England in 1711, when his Rinaldo was produced in London. He returned to England in 1712 and took up permanent residence there. His employer, the elector, became George I of England in 1714. It was for the king that Handel composed his celebrated orchestral Water Music (1717).

In 1719 an opera company, the Royal Academy of Music, was formed under the musical direction of Handel, Attilio Ariosti, and Giovanni Battista Bononcini, all of whom composed operas for it. The company was dissolved in 1728, but Handel continued trying to present Italian opera in London until 1741, when his last opera, Deidamia, failed. Handel's 46 operas include much of his finest music; among them are Julius Caesar (1724), Atalanta (1736), Berenice (1737), and Serse (1738), which contains the tenor aria now known as Largo.

Handel's Messiah was presented in Dublin in 1742. An essentially contemplative work, it stands apart from the rest of his 32 oratorios, which are dramatically conceived, and its immense popularity has resulted in the erroneous conception of Handel as primarily a church composer. Other outstanding oratorios are Acis and Galatea (1720), Esther (1732), Israel in Egypt (1736–37), Saul (1739), and Judas Maccabeus (1747).

He also composed about 100 Italian solo cantatas; numerous orchestral works, including the Twelve Grand Concertos, Op. 6 (1739); two books of harpsichord suites (1720, 1733); three sets of six organ concertos (1738, 1743, 1760, the last published posthumously); and the anthem "Zadok, the Priest" (1727) for the coronation of George II, which has been used for all subsequent coronations. While composer to the duke of Chandos (1715–19), he wrote the 11 Chandos Anthems.

Handel's sight became impaired in 1751, and by 1753 he was totally blind, but he continued to conduct performances of his works on occasion. He is buried in Westminster Abbey. Handel's musical style exemplifies the vigor and grandeur of the late German baroque and at the same time has English and Italian qualities of directness, clarity, and charm. He strongly influenced English composers for a century after his death, and, following a period of relative neglect, he has again come to be recognized as one of music's great figures.

Bibliography

See his letters and writings, ed. by E. H. Müller (1937); J. Mainwaring, Memoirs of the Life of the Late George Frideric Handel (1760); biographies by H. Weinstock (2d ed. 1959), P. H. Lang (1966), P. H. Young (rev. ed. 1963, repr. 1975), and D. Burrows (1995); W. Dean, Handel and the Opera Seria (1970), Handel's Dramatic Oratorios and Masques (1959, repr. 1989) and, with J. M. Knapp, Handel's Operas, 1704–1726 (1987).

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11 of the Best Books and Articles on: George Frideric Handel

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Handel: A Symposium » Read Now
by Gerald Abraham. 328 pgs.

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...of Walton, Rousseau, Tom Moore, and George Eliot, he was within half an hour by...hear Kelway at the organ, and to St. Georges in Hanover Square. This church, by...
2.

Handel's Messiah: A Touchstone of Taste » Read Now
by Robert Manson Myers. 338 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

...Throughout England the name of George Frideric Handel has been held in absolute...Theatre in the Haymarket to hear George Frideric Handels first Italian opera in...that...
3.

Handel and His Singers: The Creation of the Royal Academy Operas, 1720-1728 » Read Now
by C. Steven LaRue. 213 pgs.

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From the early eighteenth-century until the present day, opera seria as practiced by Handel and his contemporaries has been the subject of satire and even derision for its dramatic artifice and virtuosic vocal displays. Close examination of Handel's autograph manuscripts, the librettos upon which...
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From the early eighteenth-century until the present day, opera seria as practiced by Handel and his contemporaries has been the subject of satire and even derision for its dramatic artifice and virtuosic vocal displays. Close examination of Handel's autograph manuscripts, the librettos upon which they were based, and other contemporary documents reveal the extent to which Handel was influenced by his singers and their abilities in creating his commercially successful and dramatically effective operas. Drawing on ideas and evidence from these sources, this study demonstrates the fact that Handel's singers were the single most important influence in his opera composition during his tenure as composer and music director of the Royal Academy of Music from 1719-28.
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4.

The Choral Tradition: An Historical and Analytical Survey from the Sixteenth Century to the Present Day (Chap. 3 "The Period of Bach and Handel") » Read Now
by Percy M. Young. 376 pgs.

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...matters, for Handel George Frideric, that is adapted it for his Funeral...Norcombe, a minor canon of St. Georges Chapel, Windsor; John Mundy...Eton College and later of St...
5.

Symphonic Music, Its Evolution since the Renaissance (Chap. II "Bach and Handel") » Read Now
by Homer Ulrich. 354 pgs.

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This book attempts to survey this large field afresh, and to do so in connected, chronological fashion. It takes notice of the fact that concertos, overtures, ballets, and suits- often overlooked or minimized in other books on symphonic music- are also parts of the literature.
6.

Eighteenth-Century Music in Theory and Practice: Essays in Honor of Alfred Mann ("Performing Problems in Handel's Operas" begins on p. 49) » Read Now
by Mary Parker Ann. 344 pgs.

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7.

Festa Musicologica: Essays in Honor of George J. Buelow ("Handel Studies" begins on p. 5) » Read Now
by Thomas J. Mathiesen, Benito V. Rivera. 536 pgs.

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...references and index. ISBN 0-945193-70-X 1. Handel George Frideric, 1685-1759. 2. Music--Theory--History. I. Mathiesen, Thomas J. II. Buelow, George J. III. Series...
8.

A History of the Oratorio, Vol. 1 (Discussion of George Frideric Handel begins on p. 342) » Read Now
by Howard E. Smither. 480 pgs.

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9.

A History of Western Music (Discussion of George Frideric Handel begins on p. 405) » Read Now
by Donald Jay Grout, Claude V. Palisca. 843 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Recognized as one of the finest surveys of Western music in the English language, this distinguished book has enlightened a multitude of music lovers since it first appeared in 1960. Includes the latest advances in music scholarship.
10.

The World of Great Composers (Discussion of George Frideric Handel begins on p. 54) » Read Now
by David Ewen. 578 pgs.

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...the 19th century than the myths sprung from Hel lenic culture and sources which Rameau had...and my eldest daughter joins in quite well. GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL 1685-1759...
11.

The Rise of Musical Classics in Eighteenth-Century England: A Study in Canon, Ritual, and Ideology (Chap. 8 "The 1784 Handel Commemoration as Political Ritual") » Read Now
by William Weber. 274 pgs.

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The English invented the idea of musical "classics". Eighteenth-century England was the first country where old musical works were performed regularly and reverentially, and where a collective notion of such works--"ancient music"--first appeared. This is the first book to explore the formation of...
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The English invented the idea of musical "classics". Eighteenth-century England was the first country where old musical works were performed regularly and reverentially, and where a collective notion of such works--"ancient music"--first appeared. This is the first book to explore the formation of musical classics in regard to repertory and social context. It examines the performance of old music in eighteenth-century England, from the interest in music of the Elizabethan period through the performance of works by Henry Purcell, Arcangelo Corelli, and other English and Italian composers, to the development of festivals that featured choral-orchestral works of Purcell and Handel. The book examines closely the political and social reasons for these developments. In addition, it shows how they laid the groundwork for the classical music tradition of the nineteenth century.
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