Georg Friedrich Handel

Georg Friedrich Händel (German pronunciation: /ˈgeːɔʁk ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈhɛn.dəl/); in English George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (Halle, Brandenburg-Prussia; February 23^Jul./ March 5, 1685^greg.-London, April 14, 1759) was a German composer, later an English national, considered one of the top figures in the history of music, especially the baroque, and one of the most influential composers of Western and universal music. In the history of music, he is the first modern composer to have adapted and focused his music to satisfy the tastes and needs of the public, instead of those of the nobility and patrons, as was usual.

Considered the successor and follower of Henry Purcell, he marked an entire era in English music. For several experts, he is the first great master of music based on the technique of homophony and the greatest within the field of music. the genres of Italian serious opera and for some even in oratorio, ahead of Johann Sebastian Bach.

His musical legacy, a synthesis of the German, Italian, French and English styles of the first half of the XVIII century, includes works in practically all the genres of his time, where 43 operas, 26 oratorios (among them The Messiah) and a choral legacy are the most outstanding and important of his musical production.

Biography

Early Years (1685-1702)

Händel-Haus, birthplace of Georg Friedrich Händel in Halle.

Georg Friedrich Händel was born on February 23^Jul./ March 5, 1685^greg. in the city of Halle, located in the Duchy of Magdeburg of the Holy Roman Empire (present-day Germany), the son of Georg Händel and Dorothea Taust. His father, who was 63 when Georg Friedrich was born, was a surgeon- prestigious barber who served at the court of the Duchy of Saxe-Weissenfels and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. According to Handel's early biographer, John Mainwaring, "he had discovered such a strong propensity for music that his father, who had always desired to dedicate himself to the study of Civil Law, he had reason to be alarmed. He strictly forbade her to tinker with any musical instrument, but he did find means of procuring a small harpsichord which he carried privately to a room at the top of the house. He would sneak into this room constantly when the family was sleeping.” At an early age, he became a skilled organ and harpsichord player.

Händel baptismal sheet (Marienbibliothek de Halle).

Händel and his father traveled to Weissenfels to visit Handel's half-brother, Carl, or nephew, Georg Christian, who served as valet to Duke John Adolf I. On this trip, the young Handel sat in the organ stool in the palace church, where he surprised everyone with his playing the instrument. This performance helped him and the duke convince his father to allow him to take lessons in music composition and keyboard technique with Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow, the organist of the Marienkirche in Halle. Zachow composed the music for Sunday services in the Lutheran church and from him he learned about harmony and counterpoint, copying and analysis of sheet music and learned to playing the oboe, violin, harpsichord, and organ. In 1698, Handel performed for Frederick I of Prussia and met Giovanni Bononcini in Berlin.

Travels to Hamburg and Italy (1702-1710)

Oper am Gänsemarkt of Hamburg in 1726.

In 1702, when he was 17 years old and following his father's wishes, Handel began studying law under Christian Thomasius at the University of Halle. satisfied with it. A year later, in 1703, he traveled to Hamburg, where he was admitted as a violinist and harpsichordist to the orchestra of the Hamburg Oper am Gänsemarkt. There he met the composers Johann Mattheson, Christoph Graupner and Reinhard Keizer and composed his first two operas, Almira and Nero, in 1705. He wrote two other operas, Daphne and Florindo, in 1708 and are not clear if he directed those performances.

Händel towards 1710.

According to Mainwaring, in 1706 Handel traveled to Italy at the invitation of Ferdinand de' Medici. Other sources state that he was invited by Giovanni Gaston de' Medici, whom he had met in 1703-1704 in Hamburg. De' Medici, who had a great interest in opera, was trying to make Florence the musical capital of Italy by attracting outstanding talents of his time. In Italy, Handel met the librettist Antonio Salvi, with whom he later collaborated. He went to Rome and, as opera was (temporarily) banned in the Papal States, he composed sacred music for the Roman clergy. He enjoyed the patronage of both the nobility and the clergy. His famous Dixit Dominus (1707) is from this time. He also composed cantatas in the pastoral style for musical gatherings in the palaces of Cardinals Pietro Ottoboni, Benedetto Pamphili, and Carlo Colonna. In 1707, he composed his first oratorio The Triumph of Time and Disappointment and a year later he wrote La resurrezione , based on Biblical texts. Both were performed in a private setting for the Ruspoli and Ottoboni families in 1709 and 1710, respectively.

The first of all his Italian operas, Rodrigo, was produced at the Teatro Cocomero in Florence in 1707. Agripina was first performed in 1709 at the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo, owned by the Grimani family. It had a libretto by Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani and was staged for 27 consecutive nights. Such was the recognition that Händel was given in this country, that he received the nickname "Il caro Sassone" ("the dear Saxon", referring to the composer's German origins), as an affective name.

Hanover and early England (1710-1717)

Georg Friedrich Händel with King George I on July 17, 1717 in the Thames.

In 1710, he returned from Italy to Germany and became Kapellmeister to the Elector of Hanover George, who in 1714 would become George I of Great Britain. He visited Anne Marie Louise de' Medici and her husband in Düsseldorf on his way to London in 1710. He achieved great success with his opera Rinaldo, based on the epic poem Jerusalem Liberated by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso, despite the fact that the he had composed rapidly, with many borrowings from his earlier Italian works. This work contains the aria Cara sposa, amante cara and the famous Lascia ch'io pianga.

In view of his success, in 1712 he decided to settle in England. In the summer of 1713, he lived in the house of Mathew Andrews Barn Elms Surrey. He received an annual salary of £200 from Queen Anne, after he had composed for her Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate, first performed in 1713. Handel biographer Jonathan Keates suggested that he may have traveled to London in 1710 and settled there in 1712 as a spy for Queen Anne's future successor, his previous employer Prince George of Hanover.

One of his most important patrons was Richard Boyle, a wealthy young aristocrat from an Anglo-Irish family. For the young Lord Burlington, Handel composed in 1715 Amadigi di Gaula, a magical opera about A damsel in distress, based on the chivalric novel by Antoine Houdar de La Motte.

He did not compose operas for five years because it was difficult for him to imagine conceiving such a work as a coherent structure. In July 1717, Water Music was performed more than three times in the Thames for the King and his guests.

Cannons (1717-1719)

Händel towards 1720 touching the key.

In 1717, Handel became the composer of Cannons in Middlesex, where he laid the foundation stone for his future choral compositions in the Chandos Anthems. Romain Rolland claims that these hymns were so important to his oratorios as cantatas were for his operas. Another work, which he wrote for the First Duke of Chandos, the owner of Cannons, was Acis y Galatea, which was the most important work performed during the composer's life Winton Dean wrote, "music takes the breath away and disturbs the memory".

In 1719, the Duke of Chandos became one of the composer's most important clients and was among the leading subscribers to his new opera company, the Royal Academy of Music, but his patronage declined after Chandos lost money in the bubble of the South Sea Company, which burst in 1720 in one of the biggest financial crises in history. The composer himself had invested in Company securities in 1716, when prices were low, and he had sold them before 1720.

Conductor at Royal Academy of Music (1720-1728)

Georg Friedrich Händel in 1727, from Balthasar Denner.

In May 1719, Thomas Pelham-Holles, Lord Chamberlain, ordered Handel to find new singers for the Royal Academy of Music, founded by a group of aristocrats to ensure a constant supply of baroque or opera seria operas. he traveled to Dresden to attend the newly built opera. He saw Antonio Lotti's Teofane, and hired cast members for the company. Handel may have invited John Smith, his fellow student at Halle, and his son John Christopher Smith to become his secretary and clerk. By 1723, he had settled in a Georgian-style house at 25 Brook Street., which he rented for the rest of his life. This house, where he rehearsed, copied music, and sold tickets, is now the Handel House Museum. During twelve months, between 1724 and 1725, Handel wrote three outstanding and successful operas, Julius Caesar in Egypt, Tamerlane and Rodelinda. Operas are full of da capo arias, like Svegliatevi nel core. After composing Silete venti , he concentrated on opera and stopped writing cantatas. Scipione, from which the slow march of the British Grenadier Guards regiment is derived, was performed as a stopgap, pending the arrival of soprano Faustina Bordoni. In addition, he had the privilege of having the services of several of the leading vocal virtuosos of Italian opera: contralto castrato Senesino, soprano Francesca Cuzzoni and bass Antonio Montagnana, among others.

There he wrote 14 operas for that institution between 1720 and 1728, which made him famous throughout Europe. The economic stability of the company, the availability of prestigious soloists and an excellent orchestra, as well as the great enthusiasm of the public, allowed it to lead to the glory days of the Royal Academy of Music, which included several of the top pieces of serious opera.

On June 11, 1727, George I died, but before he died he had signed Handel's "Act of Naturalization". The composer was already a British subject. At that time he changed his name to "George Frideric Handel". George I was succeeded by George II and for his coronation the music was commissioned to the composer. Thus were born the Coronation Anthems "Zadok the Priest", which has been performed at every coronation since then; "My Heart is Inditing", "Let Thy Hand be Strengthened" and "The King shall Rejoice".. The dimensions of the required orchestra and musicians were extraordinary (it was possible to read in a newspaper "there are 40 voices and about 160 violins, trumpets, oboes, timpani and basses, proportionally, in addition to an organ, which was installed behind the altar"). After nine years of existence, the Royal Academy of Music ceased its function, but Handel soon started a new company.

King's Theater (1729-1734)

The King's Theatre in Haymarket (London) by William Capon.

The King's Theater in Haymarket, founded in 1705 by architect and playwright John Vanbrugh, quickly became an opera house. Between 1711 and 1739, more than 25 Handel operas performed there. In 1729, he became assistant manager of the theater under John James Heidegger.

He traveled to Italy to recruit new singers and also composed seven more operas, including Parthenope and Orlando. With Athalia, his first English oratorio, Deborah and Esther, Händel laid the foundation for the traditional use of the chorus that marked his later oratorios. He was more self-assured, open in its presentations and more diverse in its composition. He was able to invest again in the South Sea Company thanks to the commercial success of Esther and Deborah. He reworked his Acis and Galatea, which then became his greatest hit. He could not compete with the Opera of the Nobility, which hired musicians such as Johann Adolph Hasse, Nicola Porpora and the most famous castrato, Farinelli. The great support of this company by Frederick, Prince of Wales, caused conflicts in the royal family. In March 1734, Handel composed a wedding hymn "This is the day which the Lord hath made" and the serenade Parnasso in festa for Anne of Hanover.

Covent Garden Theater (1734-1740)

In 1734, the council of principal investors expected Handel to retire when his contract at the King's Theater expired, as there was no longer any interest in his continuing as a composer. The Opera of the Nobility was installed there, which had the Italian composer Nicola Porpora. Therefore, he immediately looked for another theater. They offered him a job at the newly built Covent Garden Theater and the composer accepted.

In cooperation with John Rich, impresario of this new theater and known for his spectacular productions, Handel agreed to produce five operas for the 1734-1735 season, two of which were revivals of Il pastor fido and Arianna and three premieres: Oreste (a pastiche more than an opera), Alcina and Ariodante. He suggested using his small choir and introducing the dance of Marie Sallé, for which he composed Terpsichore . In 1735, he introduced organ concertos between the acts. For the first time he let Gizziello substitute in the arias, who had no time to learn his part. Financially, Ariodante was a failure, despite the fact that he presented ballet suites at the end of each act. Alcina, his last opera with magical content, and Alexander's Feast starred Anna Maria Strada and John Beard. The latter became Handel's permanent tenor soloist for the rest of his life.The piece was a great success and allowed the composer to make the transition from writing Italian operas to English choral works.

In April 1737, when he was 52, he suffered a stroke that disabled the use of four fingers on his right hand, making it impossible for him to play. The disorder even seemed to sometimes affect his understanding. No one expected that he would ever be able to play again, but he recovered remarkably quickly from the problem, he traveled to a spa in Aachen to recuperate. For six weeks he took long hot baths and ended up playing the organ to a surprised audience. He was even able to write one of his most popular operas, Serse (which includes the famous aria Ombra mai fù which he wrote for the Caffarelli castrato), just a year after his bereavement.

Dublin and the oratories (1741-1749)

Georg Friedrich Händel in 1741.

In 1741, his last opera, Deidamia, a co-production with the Earl of Holderness, was performed three times. Handel gave up composing operas and devoted himself to oratorios, which had more success. During the summer of that year, William Cavendish invited him to Dublin, the capital of the Kingdom of Ireland, to give concerts to benefit local hospitals. There the premiere of The Messiah, took place in the New Music Hall in Fishamble Street, on 13 April 1742, with a choir of 26 boys and five men drawn from the choirs of St Patrick's and Holy Trinity Cathedrals.

The premiere of Samson, on February 18, 1743 at Covent Garden Theatre, and the use of English soloists was a great success. The work is highly theatrical, and the role of the choir became increasingly important in his later oratorios. In 1747, he wrote the oratorio Alexander Balus. This play was staged at the Covent Garden Theater on March 23, 1748, and for the aria Hark! hark! He strikes the golden lyre, he composed the accompaniment for mandolin, harp, violin, viola, and cello.

The last years (1749-1759)

In 1749, he composed the Music for the royal fireworks display and its first performance was attended by 12,000 people. A year later a performance of the Messiah was organized for a benefit of the Foundling Hospital, which was highly successful and was followed by annual concerts for the rest of his life. In recognition of his patronage, he was made governor of the hospital the day after his initial concert. He bequeathed a copy of Messiah to the institution after his death.His involvement with the Hospital is commemorated today with a permanent exhibition at London's Foundling Museum, which also houses the Gerald Coke Handel Collection. He also did charitable work with organizations that assisted poor musicians and their families.

In August 1750, while traveling by carriage to London on the way back from Germany, Handel was injured in an accident between The Hague and Haarlem. A year later, he began to have vision problems in one eye due to a cataract, which was operated by John Taylor. The operation did not improve his eyesight, but possibly worsened it.At the time he was composing the oratorio Jephtha . The following year, in 1752, he went completely blind.

At the beginning of April 1759, he felt ill while conducting his oratorio The Messiah. After the concert, he fainted. He died on April 14, 1759, at his home at 25 Brook Street. He was buried, according to his will, in Westminster Abbey, a pantheon of the most famous people in the United Kingdom. More than three thousand people attended his funeral, which was celebrated with state honours.

Händel owned an art collection that was auctioned a year after his death, in 1760. The auction catalog contained a listing of approximately seventy paintings and ten prints (he bequeathed other paintings).

Music Production

Analysis

Händel, by Philippe Mercier.

Händel's style is a synthesis of the main national musical styles of his time, taking the best elements and characteristics of each of them and surpassing them separately, like his compatriots contemporaries Johann Sebastian Bach and Georg Philipp Telemann, where in addition the English style of Henry Purcell is added, to which Händel gives a new and vigorous thrust, being the true follower of this composer. All this is the result of his stays in England, Germany and Italy, proving that he was a true cosmopolitan of his time.

His style has the solidity and counterpoint of German music, the melody and vocal approach of the bel canto of the Italian, the elegance and solemnity of the French school, and the audacity, simplicity and strength of the English. Händel is a faithful follower of these styles and techniques, in that he does not add anything new to all these musical currents of the first half of the century XVIII, although like Jean-Philippe Rameau, his music, especially in operas and oratorios, takes on a new and special dramatic and monumental sense, triumphant, powerful and solemn that is unique among the music of his time..

Generally, his production has a simple and straightforward structure, with a vocal language in the vein of Italian bel canto, but tempered and containing an expressive modesty reminiscent of Purcell instead of the Italian composers, whose qualities quickly captivate the audience, and homophony. It is, in essence, mostly Italian in style, which is the style most present in his music and the one that has most influenced all aspects of his work.

Händel introduced unusual musical instruments into his works, such as the viola de amor and the violetta marina (Orlando), the lute (Ode for Saint Cecilia's Day), three trombones (Saul), clarinets or small cornets (Tamerlane), theorbo, French horn (Water music), lyric, contrabassoon, viola da gamba, carillon, positive organ and harp (Julius Caesar in Egypt and Alexander's Feast).

Works

The musical catalog of Handel's works, which covers a total of 612 records plus 25 supplements and doubtful and lost works, it was elaborated and published in 1978 and 1986 in three volumes. It is known by the initials "HWV", which stands for Händel-Werke-Verzeichnis (in German, "Catalog of Handel's Works"). Unlike other catalogs that are arranged chronologically, the HWV is classified by type of genre work and according to its vocal or instrumental nature.

His works are divided into seven large groups, contained in two large blocks: vocal music (dramatic, oratorios, secular and religious) and instrumental music (orchestral, chamber and harpsichord) where he covers each and every one of the genres of his time.

Vocal music

	Hallelujah Coral representation of the "Aleluya", oratory The Messiah. Ombra mai fù «Ombra mai fù», aria de la opera Serse interpreted by Enrico Caruso in 1920. Arrival of the queen of Saba «Saba queen delegate», oratory Solomon.
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As for vocal music, the genres and works that the composer composed, totaling 290 pieces, are 43 operas in Italian, German and English —46 if Sémele, Acis and Galatea and Hercules—, two incidental music for shows in English, 26 oratorios in Italian, German and English, four odes and serenades in Italian and English, 100 cantatas in Italian and Spanish, 21 duets, two trios, 26 single arias, 16 works for spiritual concerts, 41 hymns, five tedeums, one Jubilate and three English hymns.

Operas make up the central point of his work along with oratorios and he is one of the most important composers of this genre, and the most prominent in the dramatic subgenre of baroque opera, the opera seria of the century XVII. However, within opera seria, Händel cannot be compared with his predecessors, Alessandro Scarlatti, and successors, Johann Adolph Hasse, Christoph Willibald Gluck and Nicola Porpora, since he was different from them due to his non-Italian forms and the use of of German and French opera resources.

Händel tended more and more to substitute Italian soloists for English ones. The most important reason for this change was the decline in financial returns from his operas, thus creating the tradition of oratorios that would govern his performances in the future. The works were performed without costumes or action, and the singers appeared in their own clothing. His most famous work, the oratorio The Messiah with its "Hallelujah" chorus, is one of the most popular works of the choral music and has become the centerpiece of the Christmas season.

Instrumental music

	Music for real artifice fires Oberture of the Music for real artifice fires. Sonata Fitzwilliam n.1 Sonata Fitzwilliam n.1, performed by Alex Murray (flaut) and Martha Goldstein (key). III Adagio III Adagio de la Suite No. 2 for clogging in fa mayor.
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In instrumental music, he composed 78 works in the orchestral field: 34 concertos for soloists, 23 concerti grossi, four overtures, seven suites, two symphonies, six dance movements and separate concertos, and two marches. He wrote 68 in the chamber field: 22 sonatas for a solo instrument and basso continuo, 25 trio sonatas and 19 individual movements of dances, marches and sonatas. Among all of them, two orchestral works stand out, Music for real fireworks and Water music.

Between 1703 and 1706, while residing in Hamburg, he composed the fourth structure of Suite No. 4, Zarabande for harpsichord in D-minor, the work was published only in 1733.

His keyboard works, especially the 186 for the harpsichord —30 suites and overtures and 156 single suite movements—, are one of the pinnacles of Baroque music, along with Johann Sebastian Bach, Jean-Philippe Rameau, François Couperin and Domenico Scarlatti for these instruments. His most important and well-known works are two collections of suites (HWV 426-433 and HWV 434-442) —published in London in 1720 and 1733—, six fugues (HWV 605-610) and twelve organ concertos (Op. 4 and Op. 7). In this area, his teacher Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow introduced him to the German harpsichord and organ school, where he received influences from Johann Kuhnau, Johann Jakob Froberger, Johann Caspar Kerll and Dietrich Buxtehude. This music has a free and spontaneous aspect, as well as than the rest of his instrumental music. This new and unusual genre was interpreted by himself in the intermissions of his oratorios. Handel, in these concerts, demonstrated his talent as an organist and his original sonority, and with them he won the favor of the public. However, one has an incomplete picture of what that music must have really sounded like, since the scores do not show the ornamentations or the sections reserved for improvisation. Händel, like Bach, was a notable keyboard improviser.

His suites HWV 426-433 have a great originality and variety in several aspects, in reference to the French suite for keyboard, following the norm like the rest of his instrumental work. He adopted various patterns and movements from various genres: the church sonata, as in the case of Suite 2, the classical structure of the suite, as in the case of Suite 1, or a combination of both genres, such as in Suite 7, and various styles, such as the concert in Suite 4. These suites have great power and dramatic sense, an air of grandeur that it almost goes beyond the framework of the harpsichord and uses tonalities little used in the first half of the century XVIII, as in the case of the Suite in F sharp minor, and, among the keyboard production, it is in these works where Händel's originality is most evident.

Legacy

View of the interior of the Westminster Abbey at the Händel Memorial, taken from the director's box, Edward Edwards, ca. 1790. Yale British Art Center.

After his death, his Italian operas fell into oblivion, except for such selections as the aria from Serse, Ombra mai fù. Oratorios by him continued to be performed, but not long after the composer's death they were thought to be in need of some modernization and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart orchestrated a German version of Messiah and other works. On the twenty-fifth anniversary of his death, a commemoration ceremony was held in Westminster Abbey.

Throughout the 19th century and the first half of the XX, particularly in English-speaking countries, his reputation rested mainly on his English oratorios, which were usually performed by huge choirs of amateur singers on solemn occasions. The centenary of his death, in 1859, was celebrated with a performance of Messiah at The Crystal Palace, involving 2,765 singers and 460 instrumentalists, performing for an audience of some 10,000.

Händel has generally been held in high esteem by his fellow composers, both in his own time and ever since. Johann Sebastian Bach unsuccessfully attempted to meet Händel while he was visiting Halle. Mozart is credited with to have said of him «Händel understands the affects better than any of us. When he wants, he strikes like lightning.” For Ludwig van Beethoven he was “the teacher of us all…the greatest composer that ever lived. I would bare my head and kneel at his grave." Beethoven highlighted above all the simplicity and popular appeal of Handel's music when he said: "Look to him to learn how to achieve great effect, by such means. simple ».

Händel in popular culture

1985 postal seal of the Federal Republic of Germany to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the birth of the composer.

Georg Friedrich Händel is one of the best-known composers of classical music. His likeness has been used in various artistic and other formats, including posters, cartoons, and postcards. Postage stamps and other philatelic and numismatic documents have been issued in many countries around the world, in many cases to commemorate the anniversaries of his birth and death. Commemorative coins, medals, and medallions have also been minted. His image or works by him have been used in various merchandising items, such as watches, cigar bands, playing cards, toy dolls, plates, mugs, and T-shirts. In addition, commemorative statues and plaques have been erected in different cities and there are numerous busts and portraits with the figure of him.

In 1942, the biographical film The Great Mr. Handel, directed by Norman Walker and starring Wilfrid Lawson, was released. In addition, his music has been used in more than 400 films and television shows. television.

As a religious music author, his name appears among the celebrations in the Lutheran Calendar of Saints and shares a date with Johann Sebastian Bach and Heinrich Schütz. In addition, he is honored with a holiday from the Episcopal Church's Calendar of Saints. He is celebrated on July 28 and shares it with Bach and Henry Purcell. Handel and Bach are also commemorated in the calendar of saints prepared by the Order of Saint Luke for use by the United Methodist Church.

The impact crater on the planet Mercury called "Handel crater" bears his name, as well as the Händel ice piedmont on the west-central coast of Alexander I Island, Antarctica.

Additional bibliography