George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) was a composer, noted for his orchestral and choral music, including the oratorio Messiah. He was born and brought up in the German city of Halle, and is known in German as Georg Friedrich Händel, but moved to England in 1712 and became a naturalised British citizen in 1727.[1]
Handel's father discouraged his early interest in music, and he studied law for a time. His first two operas were produced in 1705, and in 1706 he travelled to Italy, producing sacred music and operas. He moved to England in 1712, and composed music for Queen Anne and Lord Burlington. In 1717 he became house composer at Cannons in Middlesex, the home of the Duke of Chandos, for whom he composed the Chandos Anthems. Many of his operas and oratorios were first performed at the King's Theatre in the Haymarket (now Her Majesty's Theatre) or Covent Garden, but his most famous oratorio, Messiah, using words from the King James Bible, was first performed in Dublin in 1742.
While in Germany, Handel had been Kapellmeister to the Elector of Hanover, who later became King of England as George I. Handel wrote the very popular Water Music for the king in 1717. In 1727 Handel wrote the coronation music for the king's successor Georg II; The anthem Zadok the Priest has been performed at every coronation since then. In 1749 the king commissioned Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks: over 12,000 people attended its public rehearsal in Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, causing a three-hour traffic jam.
Beethoven described Handel as:
- "the master of us all... the greatest composer that ever lived. I would uncover my head and kneel before his tomb. ... Go to him to learn how to achieve great effects, by such simple means".[2]
Handel never married, and there is no firm evidence that he ever had a romantic relationship with a man or woman. George II is said to have asked him about his "love of women," to which Handel replied evasively that he had no time for anything but music. There have been speculations that he might have been gay, but this can never be proved one way or the other.[3]
References
- ↑ http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/parliamentary-archives/archives-highlights/handel-and-naturalisation/ "British Citizen by Act of Parliament: George Frideric Handel" Parliament.uk '14 April 2009
- ↑ Percy Marshall Young, Handel (Master Musician series, J M Dent & Sons, 1975, isbn 0-460-03161-9
- ↑ http://tehandmusicology.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/queer-handel.html Teh and Musicology blog, "Queer Handel" 26 October 2008
