Handel and the Politics of The Messiah

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Handel and the Politics of The Messiah

Handel, George Frideric

b. Feb. 23, 1685, Halle, Saxony [Germany]

d. April 14, 1759, London, Eng.

German (UNTIL 1715) GEORG FRIEDRICH HÄNDEL, OR HAENDEL

German-born English composer of the late Baroque era, noted

particularly for his operas, oratorios, and instrumental compositions.

He wrote the most famous of all oratorios, the Messiah (1741), and is

also known for such occasional pieces as Water Music (1717) and

Music for the Royal Fireworks (1749).

Life.

The son of a barber-surgeon, Handel showed a marked gift for music

and became a pupil in Halle of the composer Friedrich W. Zachow,

learning the principles of keyboard performance and composition

from him. His father died when Handel was 11, but his education had

been provided for, and in 1702 he enrolled as a law student at the University of Halle.

He also became organist of the Reformed (Calvinist) Cathedral in Halle, but he served

for only one year before going north to Hamburg, where greater opportunities awaited

him. In Hamburg, Handel joined the violin section of the opera orchestra. He also took

over some of the duties of harpsichordist, and early in 1705 he presided over the

premiere in Hamburg of his first opera, Almira.

Handel spent the years 1706-10 traveling in Italy, where he met many of the greatest

Italian musicians of the day, including Arcangelo Corelli and Alessandro Scarlatti and

his son Domenico. He composed many works in Italy, including two operas, numerous

Italian solo...

... middle of paper ...

...eaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. Handel now began to

experience trouble with his sight. He managed with great difficulty to finish the last of

his oratorios, Jephtha, which was performed at Covent Garden Theatre, London, in

1752. He kept his interest in musical activities alive until the end. After his death on

April 14, 1759, he was buried in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey.

Bibliography:

Comprehensive popular biographies are Percy M. Young, Handel, rev. ed. (1965,

reissued 1979); and Jonathan Keates, Handel: The Man and His Music (1985). Paul

Henry Lang, George Frideric Handel (1966, reprinted 1977), is a monumental study.

Documentary biographies include Otto Erich Deutsch, Handel (1954, reprinted 1974);

and H.C. Robbins Landon, Handel and His World (1984). Christopher Hogwood, Handel

(1985), includes a detailed chronological table.

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