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George Frederick Handel

An internationally known composer in his lifetime, Handel wrote more than 40 Italian operas, concertos, and
much church music.

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Musical Period Baroque

Born February 23, 1685 in Halle, Germany

Died April 14, 1759 in London, England

Credit: Balthasar Denner

Genre Classical, Vocal

Follow Artist + Styles Choral, Chamber Music, Concerto, Keyboard, Opera, Orchestral

Also Known As Georg F. Haendel

Georg Frideric Handel
Biography
Georg Friederich Haendel
Georg Friederich Händel
Compositions Georg Friedrich Haendel
George F. Haendel
George Frideric Handel
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George Friederich Haendel
George Friederich Händel
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Biography

George Frederick Handel Biography by TiVo Staff

George Frederick Handel Biography by TiVo Staff

Most music lovers have encountered George Frederick Handel through holiday-time
renditions of the Messiah's "Hallelujah" chorus. And many of them know and love that
oratorio on Christ's life, death, and resurrection, as well as a few other greatest hits like the
orchestral Water Music and Royal Fireworks Music, and perhaps bits of Judas Maccabeus or
one of the other English oratorios. Yet his operas, for which he was widely known in his own
time, are the province mainly of specialists in Baroque music, and the events of his life, even
though they reflected some of the most important musical issues of the day, have never
become as familiar as the careers of Bach or Mozart. Perhaps the single word that best
describes his life and music is "cosmopolitan": he was a German composer, trained in Italy,
who spent most of his life in England.

Handel was born in the German city of Halle on February 23, 1685. His father noted but did
not nurture his musical talent, and he had to sneak a small keyboard instrument into his attic
to practice. As a child he studied music with Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow, organist at the
Liebfrauenkirche, and for a time he seemed destined for a career as a church organist
himself. After studying law briefly at the University of Halle, Handel began serving as
organist on March 13, 1702, at the Domkirche there. Dissatisfied, he took a post as violinist in
the Hamburg opera orchestra in 1703, and his frustration with musically provincial northern
Germany was perhaps shown when he fought a duel the following year with the composer
Mattheson over the accompaniment to one of Mattheson's operas. In 1706 Handel took off
for Italy, then the font of operatic innovation, and mastered contemporary trends in Italian
opera seria. He returned to Germany to become court composer in Hannover, whose rulers
were linked by family ties with the British throne; his patron there, the Elector of Hannover,
became King George I of England. English audiences took to his 1711 opera Rinaldo, and
several years later Handel jumped at the chance to move to England permanently. He
impressed King George early on with the Water Music of 1716, written as entertainment for a
royal boat outing. Much of his keyboard music, including the suite with the famous melody
"The Harmonious Blacksmith" dates from just before his going to Italy and his first decade in
England. For 18 months, between 1717 and 1719, Handel was house composer to the Duke of
Chandos, for whom he composed the 11 Chandos Anthems for chorus and string orchestra.
He also founded the Royal Academy of Music, a new opera company in London, with the
support of the Duke and other patrons. Through the 1720s Handel composed Italian operatic
masterpieces for London stages: Ottone, Serse (Xerxes), and other works often based on
classical stories. His popularity was dented, though, by new English-language works of a
less formal character, and in the 1730s and 1740s, after the Academy failed, Handel turned
to the oratorio, a grand form that attracted England's new middle-class audiences. Not only
Messiah but also Israel in Egypt, Samson, Saul, and many other works established him as a
venerated elder of English music. The oratorios displayed to maximum effect Handel's
melodic gift and the sense of timing he brought to big choral numbers. Among the most
popular of all the oratorios was Judas Maccabeus, composed in 32 days in 1746. His
Concerti grossi, Op. 6, and organ concertos also appeared in the same period. In 1737,
Handel suffered a stroke, which caused both temporary paralysis in his right arm and some
loss of his mental faculties, but he recovered sufficiently to carry on most normal activity. He
was urged to write an autobiography, but never did. Blind in old age, he continued to
compose. He died in London on April 14, 1759. More than 3,000 mourners were present for
the funeral of the famous composer. He was buried at Westminster Abbey and received full
state honors. Beethoven thought Handel the greatest of all his predecessors; he once said,
"I would bare my head and kneel at his grave."
 Quiz

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