Transcript George Frederic Handel

George Frederic Handel
(1685-1759)
After hearing a
performance of Handel’s
“Messiah,” Lord Kinnoull
congratulated the
composer on the “noble
entertainment which he
had given the town.”
Handel replied, “I should
be sorry if I only
entertained them, I wish to
make them better.”
Handel & Bach
• Handel and Bach were
born in the same year,
1685 in the same
country, Germany.
• Handel was born in Halle
Germany, an industrial
city about a day’s
journey from Eisenach,
where Bach was born.
• Though they both
became famous
composers, Bach and
Handel never met in
their lifetime.
• Handel never married or
had kids.
Childhood
• Handel was the son of a barbersurgeon who worked for nobles.
He thought that playing music
showed weakness of character
and was not a respectable
profession.
• Handel enjoyed music from a
young age, but his father
forbade him to play instruments
and expected him to study to be
a lawyer.
• Handel was a stubborn boy. He
smuggled a clavichord into the
attic and covered the strings
with a cloth so he could practice
at night.
Childhood
• One day Handel went
with his father to visit a
duke. He found his way
to the church and began
playing the organ.
• The Duke was so amazed
by the boy’s playing that
he convinced Handel’s
father to let him begin
taking lessons.
• Handel’s father
reluctantly agreed, as
long as he kept studying
for a career as a lawyer.
Opera in Hamburg
• At 18, Handel gave up law and
moved to Hamburg, Germany to
play harpsichord for the opera.
He also composed two operas
there.
• One night his friend, the
composer and singer Mattheson
performed on stage until his
character died, and then wanted
to take over the harpsichord in
the orchestra. Handel refused to
give it up, so they had a duel
later. Mattheson stabbed at
Handel, but fortunately his sword
hit Handel’s coat button. They
both survived unscathed and
made up within a month later.
Move to Italy
• At the invitation of a prince,
Handel moved down to Italy.
(Florence, Venice, Rome.)
• Handel learned how to write
operas, cantatas, oratorios,
concertos and sonatas from
meeting and listening to the
greatest composers of the
time there.
• His church music, operas, and
instrumental pieces were very
successful.
Prince George of Hanover
• In 1710, Handel became
choirmaster for Prince
George in Hanover,
Germany. But Handel
continued to travel
frequently and decided to
settle in London, England.
• In 1714 his neglected
employer became King
George I of England and it
was said he was not
happy about Handel’s
abandonment of his
court.
• Handel wrote a suite of dances for the King’s boat party called
“Water Music.” The King loved the music and forgave Handel.
Music for the King
• Handel was frequently
asked to compose things
for royal events.
• He composed the anthem
“Zadok the Priest” for the
coronation of George II,
which is still used today
when a monarch is
crowned in England.
• Later, he composed
“Music for the Royal
Fireworks” as part of a
celebration of a new
treaty with France.
Italian Opera in London
• Handel opened one opera
company after another, writing
Italian operas and engaging the
most famous singers of the time
to come perform for the English
audiences.
• Handel had no patience for diva
singers. It’s said when one singer
refused to sing her aria as he
wrote it, Handel threatened to
throw her out a window.
• Because of his large size and gruff
manner, Handel was sometimes
called “the great bear.”
Challenges and Failure
• At age 52 Handel had a stroke that
temporarily paralyzed his right arm and
made it so he couldn’t think straight.
He couldn’t perform anymore. He
became deep in debt.
• He continued to produce operas, but
people didn’t like them and stopped
coming. The Bishop of London called
operas immoral and tried to ban them.
• When the pope had banned opera in
Rome earlier, Handel had responded by
writing oratorios instead. He did the
same thing in London, turning out 22
oratorios over the next 20 years.
Handel’s Oratorios
• An oratorio is a cross
between an opera and
a cantata.
• It includes overtures,
recitatives, arias, and
choruses like an opera,
but no sets, costumes
or props.
• It is based on a story
from the Bible, but is
performed in a theater
instead of a church.
• It is usually 2+ hours
long like an opera.
Handel’s “Messiah”
• Handel’s most famous
oratorio is his
“Messiah.” Written in
an incredible 24 days
(259 pages), Handel
claimed he was
inspired in writing it.
• Legend says that a
servant, tiptoeing into
the composer’s room
one evening to take
away an untouched
• supper found the composer in a state of ecstasy. A glorious vision
seemed to be hovering before his inner gaze. He was quoted as
saying that when he wrote the “Hallelujah” Chorus, “I did think I
saw all heaven before me, and the Great God Himself.”
• He signed it “S.D.G.”
Influence of “Messiah”
• Handel often performed “Messiah” as a
benefit concert for charities like orphanages
and debtors prisons.
• Despite the prejudice against Handel and his
works, “Messiah” became recognized as an
incredibly beautiful and spiritual work.
• At a royal command performance, King George
rose to his feet during the “Hallelujah” chorus,
as if to recognize it as the anthem of the “King
of kings,” the Messiah. Everyone else followed
and standing for that song is a tradition still
followed today.
• Today, Handel’s “Messiah” is the most popular
choral work in English and is frequently
performed for Christmas and Easter.
Legacy
• Handel died in 1759 at age 74.
• Thousands of people attended his
funeral in Westminster Abbey
where he was buried along side
monarchs and famous Englishmen
like Shakespeare and Dickens.
• Mozart and Beethoven praised
Handel as the master of all
composers, but his music went out
of style in the 19th century. It has
been making a comeback since the
70’s.
• The one exception: Handel’s
“Messiah” has been performed
continuously for 270+ years.