He went
to Hamburg in 1703 where he joined the opera house under the composer
Reinhard Keiser, playing 2nd violin in the orchestra. His first opera
Amira, written because Keiser lost interest in the libretto, which
Händel took over, was produced there in 1705, being followed
by three others. In 1706 Händel went to Italy in a prince's
retinue, meeting Corelli, the Scarlattis, and other leading figures,
and rapidly attaining mastery of Italian style in opera, chamber music,
and vocal music. He was acclaimed as a genius, the rival of his Italian
contemporaries. His opera Rodrigo was performed in Florence in 1707 and
Agrippina in Venice in 1709. The following year he was appointed court
conductor in Hanover and was also invited to write and opera (Rinaldo)
for London, where he quickly realized the possibilities for his own
success and, after settling his affairs in Hanover, settled there
permenately.
For the next 35 years, Händel was immersed in the ups and
downs of operatic activity in London where the Italian opera seria was
the dominant force. In 1712 he received a pension of £200 a
year for life from Queen Anne, this being increased to £600
by King George I, his former ruler in Hanover, for whom in 1717 he
composed the famous Water Music suite. From 1717 to 1720
Händel was resident composer to the Earl of Carnarvon (Duke of
Chandos from April 1719) at his palace of Cannons in Edgware. The II
Chandos Anthems were the chief fruit of his appointment. In 1719
Händel, in association with Giovanni Bononcini and Ariosti,
was a music director of the so-called Royal Academy of Music (not a
college but a business venture to produce Italian opera).
Händel travelled abroad to engage singers and in the 8 years
until the academy closed because of lack of support he composed 14
operas, among them Radamisto, Rodelinda, Admeto, and Tolemeo. In 1727,
for the coronation of George II, Händel wrote 4 anthems,
including Zadok the Priest, wihich has been sung at every British
coronation since then.
The success of Gay's The Begger Opera and imitative works was the
principle cause of the falling-away of support for Händel's
company. He went to Italy to hear operas by composers such as Porpora
and Pergolesi and to engage the leading Italian singers. Back in London
in partnership with Heidegger at the King's Theatre, Händel
wrote Lotario (1729), Partenope (1730), and Orlando (1733). In 1734 he
moved to the new Covent Garden Royal Opera House, for which he wrote
two of his greatest operas, Ariodante (produced January 1735) and
Alcina (produced April 1735), but he recognized that the popularity of
Italian opera was declining and began, somewhat unwillingly, to develop
the genre of dramatic oratorios which is perhaps his most original
contribution to the art of music. Esther (1732 in revised form) and
Acis and Galatea are typical examples. Ironically, released from the
conventions of opera seria, Händel's dramatic gifts found
wider and more expressive outlets in the oratorio form. Scores contain
stage directions and the use of choirs and orchestras became more
dramatic and rich. He conducted several oratorio performances in London
1735, playing his own organ concertos and entr'actes. Nevertheless he
continued to write operas and between 1737 and 1740 composed Berenice,
Serse, Imeneo, and Deidamia.
In 1737 Händel's health cracked under the strain of his
operatic labours and he had a stroke. Following his recovery, he wrote
a series of oratorios, including Messiah, produced Dublin, 1742. By
this work his name is known throughout the world, yet it is something
of an oddity in Händel's work since he was not a religious
composer in the accepted sense. But its power, lyricism, sincerity, and
profundity make it one of the supreme musical creations as well as an
oustanding example of devotional art. It was followed by Samson, Judas
Maccabaeus, and Solomon. The success of these works made
Händel the idol of England, and that popularity dominated
English music for nearly 150 years after his death. Not until
Händel's operas were revived in Germany in the 1920s was the
perspective corrected and the importance of that branch of his art
restored. Superb as are Händel's instrumental compositions
such as the concerti grossi, sonatas, and suites, it is in the operas
and oratorios that the nobility, expressiveness, invention, and
captivation of his art are found at their highest degree of
development. He did not revolutionize operatic form but he brought the
novelty of his genius to the genre as he found it. The scene-painting
and illustrative qualities of his orchestration are remarkable even at
a period when naive and realistic effects were common currency.
For the last seven years of his life Händel was blind, but he
continued to conduct oratorio performances and to revise his scores
with the assistance of his devoted friend John Christopher Smith. His
works were published by the German Händel Gesellschaft in a
complete edition (1859-1894) of 100 volumes, edited by Chrysander, and
a new edition, the Hallische Händel-Ausgabe, is in progress.
Principle compositions:
Operas: Hamburg: Almira, Nero (lost), (both 1705), Florindo e Dafne
(lost) (1707); Florence: Rodrigo (1707); Venice: Agrippina (1709);
London: Rinaldo (1711), Il pastor fido (1712; second version with
ballet Terpsicore, 1734); Teseo (1712); Silla (1714); Amadigi di Gaula
(1715); Radamisto (1720); Muzio Scevola, Floridante (both 1721); Ottone
(1722); Flavio (1723); Giulio Cesare in Egitto, Tamerlano (both 1724);
Rodelinda, regina de'Longobardi (1725); Scipione, Alessandro (both
1726); Admeto, Riccardo I (both 1727); Siroe, Tolomeo (both 1728);
Lotario (1729); Partenope (1730); Poro (1731); Ezio, Sosarme (both
1732); Orlando (1733); Arianna (1734); Ariodante, Alcina (both 1735);
Atalanta (1736); Arminio, Giustino, Berenice (all 1737); Faramondo,
Serse (both 1738); Imeneo (1740); Deidamia (1740).
Orchestrations: Water Music (c. 1717); Music for Royal Fireworks (1749).
Dramatic Oratorios: Rome: La Resurrezione, Trionfo del Tempo (1708);
Naples: Aci, Galatea e Polifemo (1709); Hamburg: Der für die
Sünde der Welt gemartete und sterbende Jesus (Brockes Passion)
(?1716); London: Haman and Mordecai (masque 1720, later revised as
Esther 1732); Acis and Galatea (1718; revised 1732 incorporating part
of 1709 work, and 1743); Deborah (1733); Athalia (1733) Alexander's
Feast (1736); Saul, Israel in Egypt, Ode for St. Cecilia's Day (1739);
L'Allegro, il Pensieroso ed il Moderato (1740); Messiah (1741); Samson,
Joseph (1743); Semele, Belshazzar, Hercules (1744); Occasional
Oratorio, Judas Maccabaeus (1746); Alexander Balus, Joshua (1747);
Solomon, Susanna (1748); Teodra, Alceste (1749); Choice of Hercules
(1750); Jephtha (1752); Triumph of Time and Truth (1757).
Cantatas and Chamber Duets: Händel composed 100 of the former
and 20 of the latter. Among the best known are Silete Vente, soprano,
instruments (1729); La terra è liberata (Apollo e Dafne),
soprano, instruments (c. 1708); and O numi eterni (La Lucrezia),
soprano, continuo (1709).
Church Music: Gloria Patri (1707) Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate
(1712-13); Dettingen Te Deum (1743); II Chandos Anthems (1717-18); four
Coronation Anthems (1727: The King Shall Rejoice; Let thy hand be
strengthened: My heart is inditing: Zadok the Priest); The Ways of Zion
do Mourn, funeral anthem for Queen Caroline (1737).
Vocal: Birthday Ode for Queen Anne (1713); nine German Arias (1729).
Instrumental and Chamber Music: 6 Concerti Grossi, strings, woodwind,
continuo, Opus 3 (1734); 12 Concerti Grossi, strings, optional wind,
Opus 6 (1739); 5 Concerti, orchestra (1741); 6 organ concerti, Opus 4
(1738); 6 organ concerti, Opus 7 (1760); 6 organ concerti (1740); 15
chamber sonatas (flutes, recorders), Opus 1 (1724); 3 concerti a due
cori; 2 oboe sonatas; 12 flute sonatas; 6 trio sonatas; 9 trio sonatas,
Opus 2 (1722-33); 7 trio sonatas, Opus 5 (1739); viola da gamba sonata;
8 suites de pièces, harpsichord (1720); 8 suites de
pièces (1733, these include the well-known Chaconne in G); 6
Fugues (1736).
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