X. Georg Frederick Händel
 German composer, born February 23, 1685, the
second son of the second marriage of the pastor at
Giebichenstein, near Halle. Handel was intended for a lawyer;
but; in spite of his father's strenuous opposition, he secretly
taught himself to play the harpsichord. In 1692, when Handel was
seven years old, his father took him on a visit to his elder
step-brother, valet at the court of Saxe-Weissenfels; here the
boy gained access to the chapel organ, and was heard by the Duke,
who insisted on his receiving a good musical education. Under
Zachau, organist of Halle cathedral, he studied counterpoint.,
canon, and fugue, and practiced the oboe, spinet, harpsichord,
and organ; he composed six sonatas for two oboes and bass, became
assistant organist to his teacher, and, for three years, wrote a
motet for every Sunday. In 1696 his father took him to Berlin,
where his remarkable skill in playing and improvising on the
organ and harpsichord excited the admiration of
Ariosti
and the jealousy of
Bononcini
. The Elector Friedrich offered to defray the expense of his
musical education in Italy; but Handel's father declined, and
returned with the boy to Halle. The following year (1697) the
father died, and Handel after completing his studies at the
gymnasium, entered Halle University (1702-3) as
stud. jur.
(in pious fulfillment of his father's desire), occupying, at the
same time, the position of organist at the Moritzburg Calvinistic
cathedral, with a salary of $50 a year, In 1703, however, he went
to Hamburg, where he was engaged as
violino di ripieno
by
Keiser
, the director of the German opera, When Keiser was temporarily
obliged to hide from his creditors, Handel took his place at the
harpsichord with such skill that he was engaged permanently as
clavecinist. His friendship with
Telemann
, the composer, and Mattheson, subsequently his biographer, was
begun here. He wrote a
Passion
to words by Postel, and brought out two operas,
Almira
and
Nero
(1705); he was also commissioned by Keiser's successor, Saurbrey,
to write
Florindo und Daphne
(1708), an opera filling two evenings.
In 1706, with 200 ducats saved from
music-teaching, Handel went to Italy, visiting Florence, Venice,
Rome, and Naples. In Florence (1707) he brought out his first
Italian opera,
Rodrigo,
with Tesi, the afterwards famous singer, in the leading
rôle. In Venice (1708),
Agrippina
created a furore and spread his fame throughout Italy. In Rome he
produced two oratorios,
La Risurrezione
and
Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno
with the famous violin-virtuoso
Corelli
as leader; and in Naples the serenata
Aci, Galatea e Polifemo,
remarkable for its bass solo for a voice of two octaves and a
fifth in compass He made the acquaintance of Lotti, and
Domenico
Scarlatti,
with whom he vied at the harpsichord and organ, Scarlatti
admitting his supremacy at the latter. In Naples he met
Alessandro
Scarlatti,
whose works exercised a strong influence on Handel. It was with
regret that, in 1709, he returned to Germany. He accepted the
post of
Kapellmeister
to the Elector of Hanover, replacing Steffani, who had
recommended him as his successor. In 1710 he visited England. His
opera
Rinaldo,
”composed” in two weeks by piecing together a number of
arias, etc., of earlier date, was produced at the Haymarket
Theatre with such success that he was pressed to remain in
England, but had to return to his duties.
In 1712 Handel again obtained leave of
absence, with the proviso “that he should engage to return
in a reasonable time,” and traveled to London. Two new
operas,
Il Pastor fido
and
Teseo,
were not specially successful; but an ode for the Queen's
birthday, and a Te Deum and Jubilate in celebration of the Peace
of Utrecht, won him public and royal favor, with an annuity of
#200; and Handel conveniently forgot his Hanoverian position. On
Queen Anne's sudden death in 1714, however, the E lector of
Hanover became George I of England, and was not inclined to
regard his absentee
Kapellmeister
with favor. The intercession of Baron Kilmanseck, and the
production, of the “Water-Musick” by an orchestra at a
royal aquatic fête, procured him regal grace, with a
confirmation of his annuity,
In 1716 Handel went to Hanover in the suite
of the King, and remained till 1718. He there composed his one
German oratorio, the
Passion,
to the words of Heinrich Brockes' poem,
In 1718 he returned to England, and
succeeded Dr. Pepusch as chapelmaster to the Duke of Chandos, in
whose service he composed his first great English oratorio,
Esther,
the secular oratorio
Acis and Galatea,
and the Chandos Te Deums and Anthems. He was also music-master to
the Prince of Wales' daughters, and wrote for Princess Anne his
first collection of “Suites de Pièces” for
harpsichord [
The Lessons
], which include the air with variations, “The Harmonious
Blacksmith.” He was appointed director of the new Royal
Academy of Music, established chiefly for the production of
Italian opera, and in 1720 successfully brought out
Radamisto,
with Senesino and the celebrated Margherita Durantasti in the
chief rôles (produced in Hamburg, 1721, as
Zenobia
). H is success excited the envy of
Bononcini
and
Ariosti
, who had also been invited to London, and who each bad a
following among the supporters of the Royal Academy. Matters were
not improved by Handel's, independent spirit, blunt manners, and
sharp tongue. Two factions arose, one supporting Bononcini and
the other Handel, the rivalry extending to the singers on either
side. This went on for several years; although Handel's work was
the better, Bononcini was more in popular favor, and might have
continued so, but lie was caught in an act of plagiarism which
compelled him to leave England in humiliation (1731). During this
period, Handel produced the operas
Floridante
(1721), Ottone,
Giulio Cesare,
Flavio
(1723),
Tamerlano
(1724),
Rodelinda
(1725),
Riccardo Primo
(1727),
Siroe
and
Tolemeo
(1728).
In 1726 Handel received letters of
naturalization, and in 1727 composed the four grand anthems for
the coronation of George II and Queen Caroline. In 1729, after a
visit to Germany and Italy, Handel associated himself with
Heidegger, the proprietor of the King's Theatre, and inaugurated
the season with
Lotario,
followed by
Partenope
(1730),
Poro
and
Ezio
(1731),
Sosarme
and
Orlando
(1732), when the partnership ended. In 1732 Handel gave a special
production of his revised oratorio
Esther,
with success, followed by
Acis and Galatea.
In 1733 he brought out besides the above, the oratorios
Deborah
and
Athaliah,
at Oxford, where he publicly played the organ, and excited as
much admiration by his performance as by his compositions; he
received the degree of Mus. Doc,
hon. causa.
The same year, Handel undertook the sole management of opera,
but his manners and methods, a quarrel with his principal singer,
Senesino, and a raising of prices, caused many of his chief
subscribers to suspend their support and start a rival troupe,
“The Opera of the Nobility,” with
Porpora
, and afterwards
Hasse
, as composer and conductor. They took possession of the King's
Theatre, and Handel first went to Lincoln's Inn Fields, and then
to Covent Garden, but in 1737 failed, the rival house also having
to close for want of support. The operas of this period were
Terpsichore
(1734),
Ariodante
and
Alcina
(1735),
Atalanta
(1736).
Arminio,
Giustino,
and
Berenice
(1737); the ode
Alexander's Feast
[Dryden] was also produced at Covent Garden in 1736, and the
revised
Trionfo del tempo e della verità
in 1737, Handel's superhuman efforts to hold his own, and his
many difficulties during this period, caused a failing of his
strength; a stroke of paralysis incapacitated one of his hands,
his brain was overtaxed, and, by the urgent advice of his
friends, lie went to Aix-la-Chapelle, whence he returned to
London in November, 1737, with improved health. Heidegger had
meantime formed a new company from the ruins of the two, and for
this venture Handel wrote several operas:
Faraniondo,
Serse
(1738),
Jupiter in Argos
(not perf.),
Imeneo
(1740), and
Deidamia
(1741).
This last date marks a decisive
turning-point; he now abandoned stage-composition for the work to
which he owes enduring fame--oratorio. The oratorios
Saul
and
Israel in Egypt
had been performed in 1739, also another important work, the
Ode for St. Cecilia's Day,
and, in 1740, the ode “L'allegro, il penseroso, ed il
moderato.” In 1741, at the invitation of the viceroy of
Ireland, Handel visited Dublin, and there produced his immortal
Messiah
on April 13th, 1742. Handel’s cordial reception in Ireland
greatly compensated for previous disasters. On his return to
London, He again became the popular favorite.
The Messiah
was followed by
Samson,
the Dettingen Te Deum,
Semele,
Joseph
(1743);
Belshazzar,
and
Heracles
(1744). This year he was again involved in monetary troubles, and
a year and a half elapsed before his
Occasional Oratorio
and
Judas Maccabaeus
were brought out (1746); then appeared
Joshua
(1747),
Solomon
(1748),
Susannah
(1748),
Theodora
(1749),
The Choice of Hercules
(1750), and
Jephthah
(1752; his last).
In 1750, for the third time, Handel had
retrieved his fortunes, and revisited his native country. In
1752, during the composition of
Jephthah,
he was afflicted with failing eyesight, and underwent three
unsuccessful operations for cataract, total blindness being the
result. he continued his musical performances under the direction
of his pupil John Christian Smith, and accompanied his oratorios,
on the organ, up to 1759. On April 6,
The Messiah
was given as the final performance of the season, Handel
presiding at the organ; on the 14th, the Saturday between Good
Friday and Easter, he died. He was buried in Westminster Abbey,
where a monument by Roubillac marks his grave. Handel had a
commanding presence, anti his features were animated and
dignified. His health was usually robust. Of fearless
independence, he was of a choleric temperament, and prone to
forcible outbreaks, but he was easily restored to good humor, and
possessed a fund of humor, and a ready wit. His liberality and
charitableness were renowned. He remained unmarried, arid was
never known to have fallen in love.
The grandeur and sustained power of Handel's
oratorio-style, the expressive simplicity of his melody and the
breadth and clarity of the harmonic structure, form a wonderful
and (at his time) unexampled artistic whole, He is unquestionably
one of the ”great masters.” His
Messiah
took England, and after her the rest of the musical world, by
storm. At the first London performance, when the grand
”Hallelujah Chorus” rang out, the entire audience rose
like one man, carried away by lofty enthusiasm thus originated
the custom of standing during this chorus.
Handel was peculiarly fortunate in coming to
England just as the ebb of English national stage-music after the
death of Purcell (from whom he learned much) was turning toward
the flood tide of Italian opera. His own dramatic works, also
strongly influenced by Keiser in Hamburg and the two Scarlattis
in Italy, vie with the finest of the period, and the best of them
bear comparison with his oratorios. Precisely contemporary with
J. S. Bach, he was quite outside the latter's sphere of
influence, and no communication existed between them.
Many original MSS. of his works he
bequeathed to his amanuensis, Johann Christian Schmidt; the
latter's son John Christopher Smith, Jr, Handel’s pupil,
presented them to George III. They are still in Buckingham Palace
library, and comprise thirty-two volumess of operas., twenty-one
of oratorios, seven of odes and serenatas, twelve of sacred
music, eleven of cantatas and sketches and five volumes, of
instrumental music. In the Fitzwilliam Collection at Cambridge
are seven volumes containing, rough drafts, notes and sketches
for various works; also a complete Chandos anthem, “O praise
the Lord with one consent."
An edition of Handel's works in thirty-six
volumes, by Arnold, was published by command of George III in
1786, but is incomplete and incorrect. A monumental edition of
his works, completed in 100 volumess, was undertaken in 1856 by
the German Händel Society, under the editorship of Dr.
Chrysander. The current standard edition is the Hallische
Händelsausgabe.
.-Biographical: Mattheson (1740, in the
“Ehrenpforte”); “Memoirs of the Life of the late
G. F. Haendel” Mainwaring (1760; German, with notes by
Mattheson, 1761 French, by Arnauld and Suard, 1778); “G. F.
Händel's Stammbaum,” Förstemann (1844); “The
Life of Handel.” Schölcher (1857);” “Georg
Friedrich Haendel” Chrysander (incomplete, 1858-67, when the
first half of volume III appeared extending to (1740);
“Händel und Shakespeare," Gervinus (1868); Life of
George Friederich Handel.," Rockstro (1883);
“Handel”(Streatfield 1909); “Haendel” Rolland
(1910); “Handel” Young (1947); “George Frideric
Handel” Lang (1966).
(The foregoing adapted from Baker's entry on Handel)
Articles:
The Works:
Links to related sites:
Bibliographies from Wikipedia:
and other sources
PDF-scores and MIDI-files from: CPDL=148
Subheaders
- Series A: Orchestral Concertos (Link to HOASM)
- Series B: Organ Concertos (Link to HOASM)
- Series C: German Arias
- Series D: Italian Cantatas and Duets
- Series E: Chamber Music
- Series F: Harpsichord Music
- Series G: Church Music
- Series H: Opera (Not original series)
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