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George Frideric Handel was born on Febuary 23, 1865 in Halle, Germany. Halle is a city in upper Saxon, on the Sale rive about 150 kilometers southwest of Berlin. He was very interested in music at an early age. Although his father discouraged his interest in music, his mother provided alot of support for him, and he led a life of music. At the age of twelve George was the assistant organist at the cathedral of Halle. Although Handel was able to show that he could master multiple instruments, his father wanted him to become a lawyer.
When he was 17, his father made him go to the University of Halle to study law. Within a year, Handel left the university in 1703 to go to Hamburg to study music. In Hamburg he played the violin in the opera orchestra. He also composed two operas for the Hamburg theatre. Later, in around 1706, George went to Italy, where he stayed until 1710. While he was there, he traveled alot.
He went to places like Florence, Venice, Rome, and Naples. While in Italy Handel met some people that would become a big influence on his musical career. He played for several patrons in this time. Handel then returned to Germany to become the musical director of the elector of Hanover. Later that same year, he visited England, and he never resumed his position for Hanover. In 1714, Handel's former employer, became King George I of England began to bestow special favors on George, who was now living in his permanent home in England.
His home was in London, and in 1727 he became an English citizen. While in England, Handel continued to compose in his Italian style, but he also began incorporating the style of English music, especially English coral music. Handel became the leading composer and director of Italian operas in England, and may be considered the most important composer of the entire baroque period. Later in his life, Handel stopped writing Italian operas, and began to focus on English oratorio. He started these in around 1740. Most of his oratorio were based on the old testament.
Handel's oratorios were three-act dramatic works, sort-of like operas, but they were preferred in concert without staging or action. During this period, Handel's Messiah was first performed in 1742. It is the most widely performed, and most influential oratorio of all time. Messiah is said to be exceptional, because it is not so much dramatic as it is meditative.
Unlike many composers, Handel had known what it was like to be popular. For over thirty years he had entertained lords and ladies, but at the age of 56 he was depressed, and creditors were coming to his house. He could not sleep because he feared that he was going to end up in a debtors prison, and he was plagued with rheumatism. Lucky for George, two letters came to him. The first was an invitation from the duke of Devonshire, inviting him to Dublin, to produce a series of benefit concerts, for the prisoners of several jails, and to support Mercers hospital on Stephens street, and also to support the charitable infirmary on the Inns Quay. Handel accepted the invitation, not only because he needed the money, but he thought it would be a nice change of pace for him.
In just a short time, he recieved the second letter, for a rich, eccentric Englishman named Charles Jennens. Jennens had written lyrics for Handel in the past, but when he opened the letter, he found that Jennens had sent him a compilation of Old Testament, and New Testament scriptures. He read the letter repeatedly, and it moved him so much he decided that he needed to put it to music in ontario form. George located himself in his study, and within seven days he had completed part one- the birth of the Messiah.
After just another nine days he had completed the second section- the redemption. And then after less than one week, he finished the third section- the resurrection, and the future ring of Christ. He took his new ontario of the Messiah with him to Dublin. On April 8, 1742, the public first heard the Messiah at a public reversal in Dublin. The first official presentation of it was on the thirteenth, and it was a huge success. This great success led to many more proformance's of it in the next 17 years before Handel died.
The last performance was only eight days before Handel's death on April 14, 1759 in London. He was then buried in Westminster Abby. The Messiah was the last musical performance Handel would ever hear. Although the Messiah is now traditionally thought of as a song for around Christmas time, it was originally performed mainly around Easter.
Although many chorals proform the Messiah, there is only one which is known to only proform Messiah and nothing else, The Messiah Choral Society of Orlando, Florida. It is said that while writing the Messiah, Handel literary saw visions of the subject about which he was writing, and while composing the Hallelujah chorus, he, "saw Heaven opened and the host of it worshipping the Glory of God." Supposedly, when listening to his music, and hearing the lyrics of the various portions of the Messiah, one can believe Handel was this honored. During the presentation of the Messiah, it is tradition to stand during the Hallelujah chorus. This custom was made because during the first presentation of the Messiah, King George II stood all of the way through this section, and back then if a monarch was standing nobody was allowed to remain seated. The King later said that no one, not even a powerful earthly monarch sits in the presence of the king of kings, the lord of lords, to whom (in the maybe not so distant future) every knee shall bow.
Handel wrote ove forty Italian operas. Ironically most of them were written, and mainly performed in London, England. Handel's operas became sort of neglected until the more recent years where it has become more of the norm to have a male alto or soprano singer. Now Handel's works can be performed, while still remaining inside the limitations of the genre. It is now more widely accepted by audiences today. Handel aslo wrote many ortorio's, but the Messiah is by far the best known of any of them.
They were all written in England while he was living in London. These ortorio's consisted of mainly only three parts. Depending on which ontario it was, the acts could represent different ideas. Earlier in his career Handel wrote music for the Catholic liturgy. He made this music in around 1707, when he was in Rome. While working for the Duke of Chandos, he wrote a series of anthems, called the Chandos anthems.
The four Coronation Anthems, written for the coronation of George II in 1727, represent music for a royal ceremonial occasion. Other settings for the Anglican liturgy include the Utrecht Te Deum of 1713, celebrating the Peace of Utrecht, and the Dettingen Te Deum, a celebration of the victory of Dettingen over the French army in 1743. Handel also wrote some secular music. The story of the shepherd and shepherdess Acis and Galatea and the monster Polyphemus forms the base of the pastoral Acis and Galatea, first performed in 1718. The aria of Polyphemus O ruddier than the cherry, is in popular baritone repertoire (site 1).
L'allegro, il penseroso ed il moderato, which was completed in 1740, provides one popular soprano aria, Sweet bird. In the earlier part of his career Handel wrote a large number of solo and duo Italian cantatas, with instrumental accompaniment, as well as vocal duets and trios with the more economical accompaniment of basso continuo. Another style of George Frideric Handel was orchestral music. He usually had a group of 2 violins, a cello, and a harpsichord, which contracted with a whole orchestra.
In 1736 Handel wrote a set of 12 concierto's in this style. Handel was a great keyboardist, and early in his career he wrote most of his music for the harpsichord. George Frideric Handel was probably the best composer of the baroque period, and according to many people, including Beethoven he was the best composer ever.
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