![]() He forged a personal idiom by taking Italian traditions and adding elements of German counterpoint and dance forms from France. Opera dominated Handel’s career, yet he was better known for his oratorios and instrumental works for several centuries. Some 40 years after Messiah’s premiere, English musicologist Charles Burney wrote, “This great work has been heard in all parts of the kingdom with increasing reverence and delight it has fed the hungry, clothed the naked, fostered the orphan and enriched succeeding managers of the oratorios, more than any single production in this or any other country.George Frideric Handel was one of the greatest composers of the Baroque period. Easter-time performances of Messiah continued each year at the Foundling Hospital until the 1770s, and Handel conducted or attended every one of them until his death in 1759. In 1749, it was another charity performance to assist with the completion of London Foundling Hospital for abandoned infants and children that began a series of concerts that once again brought Messiah to public audiences with renewed appreciation. The charity sponsors, hoping to squeeze in additional paying patrons, had asked the ladies to refrain from wearing hoops under their skirts and encouraged men to leave their swords at home.Īlthough the work was well received in Dublin, it was not a success in London, where audiences grappled with a sacred work being staged in theaters. The performance received rave reviews and exceeded expectations, raising 400 pounds and freeing 142 men from debtors’ prison. “I have myself been a very sick man, and am now cured,” he said. Handel told the sponsors of the premier performance of Messiah in Dublin, Ireland, on April 13, 1742, that the proceeds from the performance should be donated to prisoners, orphans and the sick. In just 23 days he completed a 260-page oratorio. On August 22, 56-year-old Handel sequestered himself in his London home and began to compose music to the biblical texts heralding the life of Jesus Christ. Using scripture references, the libretto detailed the life of Jesus Christ from His birth and ministry to His crucifixion and resurrection. In 1741, swimming in debt and out of favor as a composer, Handel received a libretto from Charles Jennens, a poet with whom he had worked previously. It seems to me that his brain has been permanently injured.”īut Handel refused to give up and surprised everyone when he miraculously recovered his strength and declared, “I have come back from Hades.” Messiah and Its Legacy The doctor who treated him said, “We may save the man-but the musician is lost forever. This was good for Handel, who struggled to keep his creditors away, and led him to push himself to the limit by composing four operas within the same year.Īs a result, Handel suffered a stroke that paralyzed his right arm. Difficult Timesīy the 1730s, British audiences had grown tired of operas sung in German or Italian and preferred comedic performances in English. ![]() There his operas and oratorios gained wide acceptance and Handel became an established part of English music and society circles. He traveled from city to city, learning what he could about each area's musical styles and gifts before he finally settled in London in 1711 at age 26. ![]() Soon, he left the confines of the classroom and headed out on the road. Even so, his father sternly reminded son that his destiny was for something more practical than music.Įventually, Handel enrolled in law school according to his father's wishes, but the musical pull was too much. Everyone was shocked, especially his father, who had no idea his son was so gifted. It came as a complete surprise to family and friends at church one day when the eight-year-old climbed up on the organ bench and began to play the postlude. It was there that Handel discovered the magic of music. ![]() Then, at night, while the rest of the family was asleep, George would silently creep up to the room and play music, ever so quietly, late into the night. By some unknown means, George was able to get a small clavichord and smuggle it to a tiny room at the top of the house. That wasn't about to stop the determined little youngster. His practical father intervened and forbade him from taking part in what he called "musical nonsense." He was intrigued by instruments, the sounds they could make and the feelings they could evoke. His father was a prominent and successful barber-surgeon for the local duke and had determined early on that young George would study civil law.īut George was drawn to things more artistic, especially more musical. George Frideric Handel was born on a cold February day in 1685, deep in the heart of Germany.
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