Great
Classical Music
Composers

George Frideric HANDEL

23 February 1685 - 14 April 1759 (age 74)

Portrait by Paul Helm
click on image for more info

Handel is best known for his grand oratorio 'Messiah', his Water Music, and Music for the Royal Fireworks. In addition to these he produced a formidable body of work including about 50 operas.

Family

Born: Halle, Germany, 23 February 1685 (Pisces)
Father: Georg Händel, barber surgeon, barber and valet to the Saxony Court.
Mother: Dorothea Taust Händel, (Georg's second wife)
Siblings: He was the second born to Dorothea. I read somewhere that he had nine siblings many of which were half-siblings but I can't remember where I read it.
Partners: He never married and kept his private life to himself.
Children: none.
Died: London, 14 April 1759
Grave: Poets corner, Westminster Abbey, London.

Works

Style/period: English Baroque
Output: enormous
Genres: operas, oratorios, organ, harpsichord, concerti grossi

* the Messiah (including the 'Hallelujah chorus')
* Water Music
* Music for the Royal Fireworks
* The Cuckoo and the Nightingale
* The Harmonious Blacksmith
* Concerti Grossi
* 42 operas
* 29 oratorios
* 120 duets and trios and cantatas
* 16 organ concerti
* numerous chamber music pieces

Quotes

- "I did think I did see all Heaven before me and the great God Himself." (on composing the Messiah)

- "Should I have had to spend money in order to be like those idiots? Never in this world!" (on refusing to pay for an honorary degree at Oxford)

- "What a wonderful thing it is to be sure of one's faith How wonderful to be a member of the evangelical church, which preaches the free grace of God through Christ as the hope of sinners. If we were to rely on our works--my God, what would become of us."

- "Handel understands effect better than any of us -- when he chooses, he strikes like a thunderbolt." (Mozart)

- "He is the greatest composer that ever lived. I would uncover my head and kneel before his tomb" (Beethoven)

Handel on eBay

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The Handel Appreciation Society on facebook

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Tony Palmer's film of the life of Handel: "God Rot Tunbridge Wells"
This film was originally shown in 1985 on British television to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Handel’s birth. Written by John Osborne, it strips away what seemed like centuries of bad Handel performances and reveals a composer who burst upon London like a tornado and laid the foundations of an entirely different tradition of British music making – bold, brassy and brilliant. The words Osborne puts into Handel’s mouth, moreover, although completely invented, are derived from a clever reworking of those texts which Handel himself had used in his various operas & oratorios. (Amazon product description)	Amazon UK	Amazon USA