The Life of G.F. Handel

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The Life of G.F. Handel George Frideric Handel was born on February 23rd, 1685 in Halle, Germany. Handel had a passion for music from the time he was capable of understanding it. His father Georg was a highly respected barber/surgeon (Cavendish, vol. 4, pg. 60), which did not believe in music as a career and wanted his son to study law. Georg thought a career in law would offer more prospects and stability (60). Handel’s father was so against having his son play music, he took all of his son’s instruments out of the house. However, Handel was so interested in music he managed to sneak a clavichord into the loft of the house on which he practiced secretly (60). In his early years, up until he went to college, he had not yet composed a piece; rather he simply kept learning different types of instruments to play. In the history of music, there are many different styles of music and six different time periods. Handel was in the Baroque period. Baroque can be defined as grotesque, in bad taste or of irregular and disproportionate shape (McGee 45). Meanwhile pieces during this time period were anything but grotesque—they were masterpieces. The styles during the baroque time period lasting from 1600-1750 consisted of operas, oratorios, cantatas, orchestras, concerto grosso, and rococos (McGee 48-55). Handel’s specialty was opera, thus during the baroque time period the most popular piece composed was “Messiah” which was first performed in 1742 (McGee 49). During the baroque time period, there were many composers that specialized in different areas of instruments. Arcangelo Corelli was an Italian musician that led the way for Antoni... ... middle of paper ... ... tells you without saying the conclusion of the piece is near by the way the dynamics change and at the rate in which they switch. Overall the Messiah was very soothing and I enjoyed listening to it. It helps to take your mind off of what is bothering you. I normally do not like classical music but I must say that this piece gave me interest. Work Cited Page · Cavendish, Marshall. The Great Composers. 10 vols. Freeport, Long Island: Grad, 1987. · Carlin, Richard. Classical Music. Chicago: A cappella books, 1992. · Keates, Jonathan. Handel: The Man and His Music. London: Gollancz Paperbacks, 1985. · Marietta, Larry. “The Hymns and Carols of Christmas.” Messiah. (7 Dec. 1997). America Online. 7 Dec. 2004. · McGee, Richard L. and Joan B. McGee. Music To Your Ears. Dubuque: Kendall/Hunt, 2003.

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