George Frideric Handel Research Paper

944 Words2 Pages

Kyler Ribbing
Dr. Labarre
Music History
4/27/18
The Life of George Frideric Handel
There are many known great composers on the timeline of music, one of them being George Frideric Handel. Handel is known for being one of few extremely successful composers from the past. He is recognised as the pioneer for the modern oratorio, one of his being The Messiah, one of the most popular works of music still performed in abundance to this day.
George Frideric Handel was born on February 23rd, 1685 to Georg and Dorothea Handel in Halle, Saxony, Germany. From early on in Handel's life he desired to study music, however his father disapproved because he believed it was not a realistic job, especially in terms of income. His father wouldn’t even let him …show more content…

While he was there, he taught private lessons, passing on the knowledge he gained from Zachow. Handels main skill was on the organ and harpsichord so even though he was working as a violinist it was his other two main instruments that were gaining him more attention. In the end this landed him more opportunities in operas. Handel also started composing operas while in Hamburg. His first opera, Almira, opened in early 1705. After writing several more successful operas, Handel traveled to Italy, where he composed the operas Rodrigo and Agrippina. While touring Italy Handel met some of the most famed musicians across all Italian cities. He met as few who were interested in exploring london and experimenting with a freelance music career. So in 1710 Handel left Venice for London with them. While in London, Handel managed to run into the manager of The King’s Theatre, who then commissioned an opera from him. Handel composed this work, called Rinaldo, in only two weeks from its commission. This was the work that really took Handels popularity to the next level, and he would always be remembered for it. After composing Rinaldo, Handel's career took off and he started writing and performing for English royalty. In 1719, “Handel was invited to become the Master of the Orchestra at the Royal Academy of Music, the first Italian opera company in London.” (George Frideric …show more content…

As a result, Handel’s most famous oratorio, Messiah, made its debut at the New Music Hall in Dublin in April 1742.”
Just as a fun fact, supposedly the King was so overjoyed ny the Hallelujah section of The messiah that he stood up on his feet, and as was the custom of the day, everyone else rose with him. That tradition is still done at every performance of this work to this day.
Starting in the summer of 1737, Handel suffered from recurrent serious physical illnesses, which are thought of to be strokes, but many believe it could have been caused by lead poisoning through consumption of cheap alcohol. Little was known about his personal life, but we know he ate and drank plentifully, and became obese in his later years. Unfortunately in the later years of his life, Handel also started developing cataracts over his eyes. In an effort to try and fix his vision, he saw the same person that unsuccessfully treated Bach (John Taylor), and ended up ruining his vision permanently. Sadly, after this event Handel did not continue composing. He passed away on April 14th, 1759 and was buried in Poets Corner, Westminster

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