![]() The young boy would play the instrument up there, in secret on his own, when his father was not around. His mother had to smuggle a small keyboard into the attic of their house. ![]() Though he wrote in all the available vocal and instrumental genres, Handel made his reputation. Handel's father did not approve of his son's love of music. (born Halle 23 February 1685 died London 14 April 1759) Handel, a cosmopolitan figure who was German by birth but who became a naturalised British citizen in 1727, is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest composers of his age. Beethoven thought Handel the greatest of all his predecessors he once said, "I would bare my head and kneel at his grave". In 1737 Handel suffered a stroke, which caused both temporary paralysis in his right arm and some loss of his mental faculties.īlind in old age, Handel continued to compose. In the 1730s and 1740s Handel turned to the oratorio which displayed to maximum effect Handel's melodic gift and the sense of timing he brought to big choral numbers. Through the 1720s Handel composed Italian operatic masterpieces for London stages: Ottone, Serse (Xerxes), and other works often based on classical stories. He impressed King George early on with the Water Music of 1716, written as entertainment for a royal boat outing. In 1706 Handel returned to Germany to become court composer in Hannover.Įnglish audiences took to his 1711 opera Rinaldo, and several years later Handel moved to England permanently. In 1703 he took a post as violinist in the Hamburg opera orchestra, he fought a duel the following year with the composer Mattheson over the accompaniment to one of Mattheson's operas. Handel was born in the German city of Halle on February 23, 1685.Īs a child he studied music with Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow, organist at the Liebfrauenkirche, and for a time he seemed destined for a career as a church organist himself. That might not sound too impressive, but then again he did suffer from a stroke in 1737, was involved in a coach crash in 1750 and had cataracts and eventually went blind after a botched eye operation 1751. Most music lovers have encountered George Frideric Handel through holiday-time renditions of the Messiah's 'Hallelujah' chorus or his Music for the Royal Fireworks. Some of Handel's biggest and best works were composed in the latter stages of his life. George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) was a German-British baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos.
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