George Frideric Handel

1. George Frideric Handel • George Frideric Handel was born in Halle, Germany in 1685. (The same year as J.S. Bach.) The town of Halle had a lot of places to hear music. Organ recitals and choir music were at the churches, town musicians played brass instruments for special occasions and there were many street musicians.

2. George’s father was a was a well known barber-surgeon. People from all over came to see him for both medical care and to get their hair cut. He was over 60 when George was born. George’s father didn’t want him to study law. He thought music was a waste of time and he could never make a good living. There is story that tell of George’s mother and aunt smuggling a harpsichord into the attic so George could practice quietly at night.

3. When George was 10 years old, his father took him on a trip to the palace of an important duke. While Mr. Handel went about his business, George found an organ in the duke’s chapel and began to play it. The duke was passing by and could hardly believe such beautiful music could be played by such a young boy. The duke convinced Mr. Handel to let George have music lessons.

4. George became an expert organist and harpsichord player and began composing music. At the age of 18 he began working professionally playing the violin in an opera-house orchestra.

5. Operas were the top entertainment during Handel’s time. They were as popular as movies are today. People loved to spend evenings listening to the great singers in beautiful costumes act out a story. Handel wrote over 40 operas.

6. George was invited to go to England to write and perform his music. He wrote many successful operas there and was even able to start his own opera company. After a while however, people became tired of the style of opera Handel wrote. Many of the opera stars were spoiled and demanded huge amounts of money. George started to loose money and eventually his opera company went bankrupt.

7. George began writing a new kind of music called an oratorio. An oratorio is a religious work for choir and soloists. Handel wrote 29 oratorios. His most famous oratorio was written in 1741 and is called The Messiah. It is about the life of Jesus Christ. Today, The Messiah is some of the most famous music in all the world.

8. Handel liked England so much, he decided to stay there. He lived there for the rest of his life and became a citizen. He was very respected and successful composer. Handel became the court composer for the King of England. One time the king arranged for a huge party on the Thames river in London. He asked Handel to write some music for the occasion. At the party, the king and his royal court were floating on the river in boats. Handel and his orchestra were also on a boat playing the special music he had written. He called it Water Music. The king loved this music and it is very famous even today.

9. In August 1750, on a journey back from Germany to London, Handel was seriously injured in a carriage accident.In 1751, one eye started to fail. Eventually he lost his vision entirely and was blind for the last few years of his life. In spite of this, he continued to play the organ and conduct. Handel died at the age of 74 in 1759. The last performance he attended was Messiah. Handel was buried in Westminster Abbey. More than three thousand mourners attended his funeral, which was given full state honors. Handel’s statue at gravesite