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George Frederic Handel
His Life, Music, and Story
Shannon Boswell
Music 1010 – Fall 2011
Mrs. Richardson
March 12, 2012
George Frederic Handel
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George Frederic Handel
His Life, Music, and Story
Handel is one of the most famous composers during the Baroque era who became a
British citizen in 1726. He wrote many operas and oratorios, including the popular Messiah. His
father wanted him to grow up and become a lawyer, but he had bigger ambitions than that. He
wrote many operas, oratorios and many other famous pieces of music that are still well known to
this day.
Early Life
Handel was born February 24, 1685, in Halle, Germany, to a family of no musical
background. His own musical talent, however, began to show before his tenth birthday. When
Handel was seven years old, he had the opportunity to play the organ in Weissenfels. There he
met the composer and organist Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow. Zachow was impressed with
Handel’s potential and invited Handel to become his student. Under the direction and guidance
of Zachow, Handel mastered composing for the organ, the oboe, and the violin by the time he
was ten years of age. His first job was as church organist in Halle.
In 1703 he traveled to Hamburg, Germany when he was 18 years of age. He decided to
pursue music in full force, by accepting a position at the Hamburg Opera’s Goosemarket Theater
as a violinist. During that time, he made his income by becoming a private music lesson teacher.
Opera
In 1704, Handel wrote his first opera, Almira. The opera was successful and pushed him
into composing several more successful operas. In 1706, Handel moved to Italy where he
George Frederic Handel
composed the operas Rodrigo and Agrippina. He also managed to write more than a few
dramatic chamber works during his trip to Italy.
Handel decided to travel to London because of the talk of the beautiful music happening
there. Within just two weeks, Handel composed Rinaldo. Rinaldo was Handel’s breakthrough
work. It gained him the widespread recognition he would maintain throughout the rest of his
musical career.
In 1726 Handel decided to make London his home permanently, and became a British
citizen. In 1727, when Handel’s latest opera, Alessandro, was being performed, Italian opera in
London took a hard hit as a result of a hostile rivalry between two female lead singers.
Frustrated, Handel broke away from the Royal Academy and formed his own new company,
calling it the New Royal Academy of Music. Under the New Royal Academy of Music, Handel
produced two operas a year for the next decade. Handel composed two more Italian operas
before he decided to abandon the failing genre.
Oratorios
In place of operas, oratorios became Handel’s new format of choice. Handel revised a
number of Italian operas to fit the new format, translating them into English for the London
audience. Handel’s oratorios became the latest craze in London and were soon made a regular
feature of the opera season.
Health Issues
Over the course of his musical career, Handel, exhausted by stress, endured a number of
potentially debilitating problems with his physical health. He is also believed to have suffered
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George Frederic Handel
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from anxiety and depression. Yet somehow, Handel, who was known to laugh in the face of
adversity, remained virtually undeterred in his determination to keep making music.
In the spring of 1737, Handel had a stroke that impaired the movement of his right hand.
His fans worried that he would never compose again. But after only six weeks of recuperation in
Aix-la-Chapelle, Handel was fully recovered. He went back to London and not only returned to
composing, but made a comeback at playing the organ as well. Six years later, Handel suffered a
second springtime stroke. He stunned audiences once again with a speedy recovery.
By 1750, Handel had entirely lost the sight in his left eye. He forged on, composing the
oratorio Jephtha. In 1752 Handel lost sight in his other eye and was rendered completely blind.
As always before, Handel’s passionate pursuit of music propelled him forward. He kept on
performing and composing. Handel relied on his sharp memory to compensate when necessary,
and remained actively involved in productions of his work until his dying day.
Death and Legacy
On April 14, 1759, George Handel died in bed at his rented house at 25 Brook Street, in
the Mayfair district of London. The Baroque composer and organist was 74 years old.
Handel was known for being a generous man, even in death. His will divided his assets
among his servants and several charities. He even donated the money to pay for his own funeral
so that none of his loved ones would bear the financial burden. Handel was buried in
Westminster Abbey a week after he died.
During his lifetime, Handel composed nearly 30 oratorios and close to 50 operas. At least
30 of those operas were written for the Royal Academy of Music, London’s very first Italian
opera company. His most renowned work is the oratorio The Messiah, written in 1741 and first
performed in Dublin in 1742.
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Works
The Messiah
The music for Messiah was complete in 24 days of composing. Handel began working on
it on the 22nd of August 1741. The autograph score’s 259 pages show some signs of haste such as
blot out and scratching, unfilled bars, and other uncorrected errors. According to other music
scholars the mistakes are remarkably small in a document of that length. At the end of the
manuscript, Handel wrote the letters “SDG” which stand for Soli Deo Gloria, “To God alone the
glory”. Taken the speed of the composition and the inscription, this had encouraged the belief
that the story Handel wrote was in divine inspiration.
Handel wanted the message of this work to be about the “Messiah” or redeemer who is
identified in Christian tradition also as Jesus Christ. It has been described as a commentary on
Jesus Christ’s Nativity, Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension. It all begins with God’s promises
as spoken by the prophets and ending with the glorification in heaven. Most of the oratorios that
Handel composed were comprised of dramatic singing roles but not in the Messiah.
The Messiah is a three-part structure with each part subdivided into scenes. Each scene is
a collection of numbers or movements that take the form of arias, choruses, and recitatives. In
Part I, the Messiah’s coming and the Virgin Birth is predicted by the Old Testament prophets.
The annunciation to the shepherds of the birth of the Christ is represented as well. Part II covered
Christ’s passion, death, resurrection, and ascension. The second part is also the most famous part
because of the hallelujah chorus that begins. Part III begins with the promise of redemption,
followed by a prediction of the judgment day. It ends with the final victory over sin and death. It
has also been said that much of the text is incomprehensible to those who are ignorant of the
biblical accounts of Christ.
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Water Music
Water Music is a collection of orchestral movements that are often considered the three
suites. It was written and then premiered on July 17, 1717 after King George I had requested a
concert on the Thames River. The concert was performed by over 50 musicians playing on a
barge near the royal barge that the king and close friends were on. George I was to have said that
he enjoyed the musicians play so much that he made the exhausted musicians play them three
times over the course of the trip. It has been said that Handel composed Water Music to regain
the favor of King George I. Previously King George I was the Elector of Hanover before he
succeeded to the British throne and was employing Handel.
The instrumentation varies depending on the movement, but it normally was completed
by having the following instruments: flute, two oboes, a bassoon, two horns, two trumpets, and
strings. This instrumentation was effective in the outdoor performances and has changed since
them to increase volume and effect.
Water Music opens with a French overture and is divided into three suites: Suite in F
major, Suite in D major, and Suite in G major. Suite in F major consists of 11 different
subdivisions; Suite in D major Suite in G major consists of 5 different subdivisions each. There
is evidence for the different arrangements to be in a set order back in Handel’s time but today
each of the different suites does not have a set order to them.
George Frederic Handel
References
8notes.com. (2012). George Frideric Handel. Retrieved March 9, 2012, from
http://www.8notes.com/biographies/handel.asp?vm=r
BAROQUE COMPOSERS AND MUSICIANS. (n.d.). Retrieved March 09, 2012, from George
Frideric Handel: his story from Germany to England:
http://www.baroquemusic.org/bqxhandel.html
Vickers, B. L. (1995-2008). George Frederic Handel. Retrieved March 09, 2012, from Handel:
http://gfhandel.org/
Whiting, J. (2004). The Life and Times of George Frederic Handel. Mitchell Lane Publishers.
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