Transcript Document

GEORGE FRIDERIC
HANDEL
1685 - 1759
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Born in Halle, 1685
Not from a musical family - his father hoped he would pursue
law
At age 10, Handel impressed Johann Adolph, Duke of
Weissenfels, who then financed his musical studies
Age 17 Handel became organist for one of Halle’s principal
churches
In 1703 he moved to Hamburg and became a violinist and
harpsichordist in the opera orchestra
In 1706 -Handel went to Italy (Florence, Rome, Venice) to study
opera
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL
1685 - 1759
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In 1710 Handel returned to Germany as court composer to
Georg Ludwig, the Elector of Hanover
1710 - London - success with opera “Rinaldo”
1711 - back to Hanover
1712 - back to England again, producing operas in London
Handel receives an annual stipend from Queen Anne
In 1714, August, Queen Anne died leaving no heir
September 1714 - the crown is passed to the house of Hanover
and. . .
Georg Ludwig, the Elector of Hanover, is crowned
King George I of England
George I
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Formerly,
the
Elector
of
Hannover
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King of
England
1714 1727
George II
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King of
England
1727 - 1760
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL
1685 - 1759
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Handel became England’s national composer
The 1720’s English audience begins to tire of the opera plots
In 1737 Handel began to compose oratorios
1741 - Messiah
Handel died in 1759 and was buried in Westminster Abbey 3000 people attended his funeral
His reputation grew even after his death
Handel never married
In the 19th century Handel’s music continued to reach a large
audience
The Water Music
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Composed for an excursion on the Thames river hosted by King
George I
First heard on July 17, 1717
The music is a loose selection of overtures, fanfares, dances,
and instrumental airs
The Water Music, as well as the Royal Fireworks Music, is
normally heard as a suite
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SUITE:
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– A group of dances presented together as a single
composition
– The dance suite developed in France and Germany
Water Music
– Hornpipe
“…Which His Majesty Liked So Well. . .”
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King George I and his party, in a large open barge,
went up the river (Thames). About 50 musicians
accompanied the King (on a separate barge). The
finest music, composed by Mr. Handel, pleased the
King so well that it had to be played three times
going and returning.
The orchestra consisted of trumpets, horns, hautbois,
bassoons, German flutes, French flutes, violins, and
basses
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The Handel House Museum is
located at 25 Brook Street, London,
home to the baroque composer
George Frideric Handel from 1723
until his death in 1759. It was here
that he composed some of the
greatest music in history, including
Messiah, Zadok the Priest and
Fireworks Music.
Did Handel Compose
ChristmasCarols?
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John Foster (1762-1822, of High Green House,
Yorkshire) composed While Shepherds Watched
Their Flocks By Night by adapting the aria 'Non vi
piacque, ingiusti Dei' from Handel's opera Siroe.
Edward Miller (1735-1807, Doncaster) composed a
version by arranging 'See, the Conqu'ring Hero
Comes' from Handel's oratorio Judas Maccabaeus.
Thomas Taylor (Chester) reworked the harpsichord
suite The Harmonious Blacksmith to yield Hymning
Seraphs Wake the Morn.
What About “Joy To The
World”?
•Joy to the World was not composed by Handel.
The tune first appeared in the early 1830's in English
tune-books.
–William Holford revised the tune and published it
(which he called Comfort) in the mid-1830's and
attributed it to Handel because of the tunes' resemblance
to the opening phrases of the choruses Lift Up Your
Heads and Glory to God from Messiah.
–The American composer Lowell Mason (1792-1872) in
1839 retained the attribution to Handel, changed the tunename to Antioch, and united it with Isaac Watt's hymn
[i.e., text] for the first time. Thus, Joy to the World was
born.
If Handel was born in 1685,
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why do the Westminster Abbey Handel
monument and floor plaque list his
birthdate as "February XXIII, MDCLXXXIV"
and "1684", respectively? Similarly, why
was the first centennial festival of his birth
observed in 1784?
Handel's contemporaries
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believed Handel's birthdate was 23 February
1684. This birthdate was miscalculated under the
incorrect assumption that Handel was born under
the old Julian calendar. At the time of his birth in
Saxony/Magdeburg, the new Gregorian calendar
was already in use. Dates using the Julian
calendar placed the beginning dates of a year (up
through March 25 -- the day the "new year" began
in the Julian calendar) as dates from the previous
year.
How did the tradition of the
audience standing during 'The
Hallelujah Chorus' (from Messiah)
begin? Did the King (George II) start
this tradition and why did he stand?
"...When Messiah was first performed in London
(1743), when the chorus struck up, 'For the Lord
God omnipotent reigneth' ('Hallelujah Chorus’),
reportedly the audience and King [George II]
stood and remained standing until the chorus
had ended...” (1780)
During Handel's lifetime, his
name was mistakenly written
as:
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Handle, Handell, Hendell, Hendler,
Händeler, etc.)
Of interest, he was christened
Georg Friederich Händel; however, he
first signed his name Georg Friedrich.
Handel and the Oratorio
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The Oratorio is a large-scale narrative work with soloists,
chorus, orchestra; no sets, costumes, or acting
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Handel was an internationally known
composer, German-
born, trained in Italy, worked in England
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Handel’s Messiah is in 3 parts - Christmas, Easter,
Redemption
This is a
reproduction of the
original program,
1742
No. 1 Overture
Slow
Fast
Handel, at the low ebb of his career and, as a
consequence of a stroke, suffering partial paralysis
on his left side, composed Messiah in the
incredibly short period of time of 21 days. The
composer had been invited to give a series of
concerts in Dublin, some of which would benefit
various charities. The premiere was met with
considerable success and served to boost Handel's
spirits for a return to London. While it is true that
George II stood during the singing of the mighty
"Hallelujah" Chorus at the second London
performance, Messiah did not enjoy the popularity
of many of Handel's other oratorios during the
composer's lifetime. In fact, it was only through
Handel's annual Eastertide performances to benefit
his favorite charity, the Foundling Hospital, that
Messiah was heard at all!
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No. 44 Chorus:
“Hallelujah”
Boston Handel and Haydn Society
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Founded as a choral society in 1815 by a group of Boston merchants, Handel and Haydn is among the oldest continuously
performing arts organizations in the country. From its earliest years the Society established its tradition of innovation, performing
the
American premieres of Handel’s Messiah in 1818,
Haydn’s Creation in 1819, Verdi’s Requiem in 1878, and Bach’s B minor Mass in 1887. The Society began performing
Handel’s Messiah annually in 1854.
Throughout its history the
Handel and Haydn Society has
brought the world’s most beautiful
music, and its greatest artists, to local
audiences, setting a standard for
orchestral and choral performances
that remains unparalleled.
King’s Chapel, Boston
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Founded in 1686, designed in 1749
The first Anglican Church in
New England
First large building in America
to be built of quarried stone
First church in America to
use an organ
First American performance of
Handel’s “Messiah” were here
First concert home of the
Boston Handel and Haydn Society
The bell, weighing over one ton,
the largest ever cast by
Paul Revere and Sons in 1816
The Castrato
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Castrati raised the art of singing beyond human limits
They attained a level of popularity similar to that of the
rock stars
The golden age of castrati lasted for two centuries, from
the beginning of the 17th Century to the dawn of the 19th
Century
The usual explanation given to justify the use of castrati
was that women were forbidden to sing in church choirs or
theatres in the papal states. However, their vocal
supremacy was the real reason for their extraordinary
popularity.
Farinelli
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Farinelli was the most famous singer of his century and one of the greatest singers of all time
Farinelli enjoyed a mythical status
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exceptional voice
highly skilled performer
praised for the beauty of his sound,
the range of his voice covered more than three and a half octaves
he could produce 250 notes in a single breath and sustain a note for more than a minute
Farinelli, at the age of 32, chose to retire from the limelight at the height of his success so he could
sing exclusively for King Philip V of Spain who was known to have been severely depressed for
many years
Thus began Farinelli's Spanish career, spanning more than two decades in the service of Philip V
(1700-46) and Ferdinand VI (1746-59)
Farinelli performed at all the main courts of Europe
Farinelli died in 1782 and was buried on a hillside in Bologna. His tomb no longer exists today as it
was destroyed by Napoleon's armies
Farinelli never actually sang for Handel
Farinelli; il castrato 1994
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GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD WINNER
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Alessandro Moreschi 1858-1922
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Bach-Gounod:
– “Ave Maria”
• Recorded in Rome,
April 11, 1904