Georg Friedrich Haendel

Georg Friedrich Haendel (February 23rd 1685, Market - April 14th 1759, London) was a Compositeur of German origin , naturalized British. Become British citizen it named itself George Frideric Handel .

Its name knows several C-Ws communication: in German, Händel can (in transcription of the Umlaut) also be written Haendel (orthography often preferred in French) and, after his installation in England, the interested party wrote it without dieresis: Handel , which is the manner retained by the english-speaking.

Its life

Market

His/her father, Georg Händel, born in 1622, was a surgeon-barber of confession Lutheran which, become widowed in 1682, remaria the following year with Dorothea Taust, girl of a thirty year old Pasteur younger than him. Georg Friedrich was their first child, elder of two sisters, Dorothea Sophia born in 1687 and Johnna Christiana, born in 1690.

His/her father dreamed for him of a career of lawyer, though the child showed early gifts for the music. On the contrary, his/her mother supported her provisions and his/her aunt offered a virginal to him. Unwillingly, the father made him take courses near the organist Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow who gave him a complete musical education; he learned how to play of the Clavecin, of the Orgue, the Violon, the Hautbois. He very early put himself to compose of instrumental and vocal works.

In 1697, a stay with Berlin put it in liaison with the court of king de Prusse who recognized his provisions for the music, but it returned to Halle at the request of his father, who died four days before his return. To respect the paternal will, it continued its legal studies, while continuing its musical practice.

Towards 1702, it was engaged with the cathedral of Halle in the titular capacity as organist, and bound with Georg Philipp Telemann which went to Leipzig and made stage with Halle, of a durable friendship.

Hamburg

It remained little of time at this station which it left to settle with Hamburg, the musical center most important of Germany of the North, and which had a famous opera, the opera amndt Gänsemarkt under the direction of Reinhard Keiser - Haendel was engaged there as a harpsichordist and there contacted the Italian opera. It gave courses, met to it Johann Mattheson, its elder four years, which was already a notorious musician and of which he became the faithful friend - in spite of some stormy episodes. Together, they went to Lübeck to hear and meet the famous Dietrich Buxtehude, then returned to Hamburg. Mattheson opened many doors to him, both exchanged their councils and Händel could, inter alia, to make represent its first two operas, Almira and Nero . It was as in Hamburg as Haendel bound knowledge, thanks to entregent of Mattheson, with British diplomats. The stay in Hamburg was thus determining for the career of the musician, who would be a few years later one of the principal promoters of the Italian opera in England.

Italy

In 1706, on the suggestion of the prince Gian Gastone de Médicis, it left for Italy where it spent three years. This stay was decisive in the evolution of its style and its career; Florence, Rome, Naples, Venice was the cities where he managed to be made a great reputation, so much as instrumentalist (with the Orgue, with the Clavecin, the Violon) that as type-setter of crowned or profane works very noticed (the psalm Dixit Dominus , the Oratorio Resurrezione , the operas Rodrigo , Agrippina , of tens of Italian cantatas, etc) This voyage was the occasion for him of côtoyer of many famous musicians: Bernardo Pasquini, Giovanni Bononcini, Arcangelo Corelli, Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti: with this last, it took part in a musical Joute with the organ and the harpsichord: he was recognized higher than Scarlatti for the organ stop and the two musicians made good match with the harpsichord. Nevertheless, the two musicians concluded friendship. Haendel remained marked during all the remainder of her existence by these years of youth which it had passed in the “fatherland” of the music and by the major influence that had exerted on him the major type-setters who are Corelli (which it would remember in its sonatas for violin, its concertos grossos) and Alessandro Scarlatti, the Master of the Neapolitan opera.

Hanover

At the beginning of 1710, it gave up Venice for Hanover where one had proposed to him the post of choirmaster of the Voter Georg Ludwig. Hardly arrived, he asked a leave to go to London: the Great Britain which did not have any more a large type-setter since death of the English Purcell attracted many continental musicians trained with the Italian music. It made there play several of its works which were accommodated kindly. It turned over to its station to Hanover, while remaining in contact with the many relations which it had tied in London. Lastly, in 1712, it required a new temporary leave to turn over to London: the circumstances made that it is established there definitively. The successes gained near the public, of the aristocracy and the Court indeed led it to remain in London beyond the fixed term and - know did? - in a final way.

Great Britain

This “desertion” could have carried damage to him, because, with died of the queen Anne in 1714, it was precisely his/her cousin distant the Voter from Hanover, heir to the Stuart dynasty by his mother, who became king de Grande-Bretagne under the name of George I {{er}}. But this one did not keep resentment with its choirmaster and preserved its station and its pension to him.

Haendel, who never founded of family, was naturalized British in 1726. The first years of its installation in England transfer the composition of many works, for the opera or the instruments, in particular the three continuations of famous the Water Music (1717), of the concertos, the eight continuations for harpsichord (1720). Towards 1717 or 1718, it settled for two years in a sumptuous patron, the duke of Chandos. It composed the Chandos anthems there.

Then it took part starting from 1719 off in the creation of Royal Academy Music, company of which the goal was to assemble operas to London in Haymarket Theater. He was the musical director and went for it on the continent to engage singers of talent. After triumphing beginnings, Haendel faced the arrival of a rival whom it had well-known in Italy: Giovanni Bononcini . Competition was sharp, Haendel producing at that time many masterpieces (in particular Giulio Cesare , Tamerlano , Rodelinda ) and turned to its advantage before the financial problems did not accumulate, involving the closing of Academy at the end of the ninth season. In 1727, Haendel composed the music of crowning of the new king George II ( Coronation anthems ).

It went up in 1729, almost only, a second academy which functioned until in 1732, before also sinking it in the financial problems although it multiplied creations and resumptions of already devoted works. It was in 1730 that it turned over to Halle to see there last once his mother, who died little of time afterwards. Having learned its presence not far from Leipzig, Jean-Sebastien Bach made him invitation come to see it via his/her oldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann which was then installed in Halle. However, the two large type-setters never knew each other. Beginning of the year 1730 go back the first achievements to Haendel in the field of the Oratorio in English.

In 1733, it founded a third Academy which lasted only three years, notwithstanding the energy spent by the type-setter to multiply new creations which obtained sometimes great successes. He was indeed confronted with the competition of Nobility Opera, animated by two type-setters, Hasse and Porpora. Financial problems, disagreements between artists, coteries caused the end of this company just as that of Nobility Opera. Was overwork undoubtedly the cause of a first health accident (crisis of apoplexy?) who paralyzed it partially and reached it morally, but it is restored very quickly after a cure at a watering-place with Aachen. At that time (1737) died the Caroline queen, who had known it child in Berlin and which had been a faithful support; this death touched it deeply; it composes a Funeral Anthem in its homage.

Haendel was equipped with a savage energy and a indéfectible health. It continued to compose, to carry out and to make represent operas, concertos grossos, and it started to exploit the vein of the oratorios, with Saül and Israel in Egypt . In interlude of its oratorios, it carried out its concertos for organ, form original which it developed. Its concertos were worth a sharp success to him. They are sixteen, of which the six first were published in 1738 under the title of opus 4. The opus 7, which gathers six others of them, was published in 1760 after the death of the type-setter. It was in 1741 that Haendel produced her last opera, Deidamia . Henceforth it devoted its lyric production to the oratorio and wrote to back-to-back the Messiah (in English Messiah , one of its big bosses of work) of 24 days and Samson then went, on the invitation of the Lord lieutenant of Ireland, with Dublin where it remained during several months, until August 1742 and where its works had very great successes.

From return to London, it recovered to work in a keen way. It undergoes one second attack of paralysis from which it went back again. It continued to compose of many masterpieces, in the field of the oratorio as in the instrumental music. The Musique for the royal fireworks is one of its most known works and most popular, rightly. Composed in 1749 to celebrate the fine peace treaty putting at the War of succession of Austria, this music sumptuous is emblematic art of Haendel. It is located in the tradition of the school of Versailles of Jean-Baptiste Lully, Delalande, Mouret, Philidor and constitutes some like crowning by its imposing and solemn character magnificiently adapted to the execution in the open air. Last works were, again, of the oratorios, but the health of the musician declined in spite of his robust constitution and the cures at a watering-place. It undergoes new paralyzing attacks and became blind after the intervention missed by the best specialist in the time, John Taylor, which had already operated without success Jean-Sebastien Bach. It continued in spite of very being interested in the musical life, and died the April 14th 1759, day of the Easter Saturday. It was buried with the Abbaye of Westminster, according to its desire.

Its works

Its production is very important in all the practiced kinds of its time, and its catalog (HWV for Händel-Werke-Verzeichnis ) includes/understands more than 600 numbers, which is not very significant, because:

only one number can apply to a simple minuet isolated as with a complete opera;
several transcriptions of the same work for various executions can constitute or take part in different numbers.

At all events, it is about a considerable unit. Some particularly outstanding works:

Toilets Music (HWV 348-350)
Music for the royal fireworks (HWV 351)
sonatas for various instruments (violin, flute, oboe) opus 1
13 sonatas in trio opus 2 and opus 5
18 concerti enlarged opus 3 (HWV 312-317) and opus 6 (HWV 319-330)
12 Concertos for organ opus 4 (HWV 289-294) and opus 7 (HWV 306-311) + 4 separate
Concerto for toothing-stone opus 4 N°6 (also for organ)
3 Concertos for oboe
8 “great” continuations for harpsichord (1720)
Dixit Dominus HWV 232
Chandos Anthems

Characters of the music of Haendel

Operas

The 42 operas of Haendel are in the Italian tradition of the Dramma per musica with alternation of recittativo secco and arias da capo (Opera seriated). In the course of time, its style evolved/moved without never breaking with this tradition. Thus, it introduced récitatif accompanied (for example in Orlando ) for better reinforcing the expression of a particular feeling. Sometimes also, it finished an aria on the second part without beginning again with the da capo but while connecting immediately on récitatif.

Apart from the arie of soloist, it also composed of the duets, rare trios and only one quartet. At the beginning, Haendel wrote choral societies parts only for the end of the opera: they are sung there by the protagonists. It is only in 1735 qu ' it seems to have composed an autonomous chorus. The same year, he wrote ballets for the Alcina operas and Ariodante represented with Covent Garden because he then had at his disposal a corps de ballet.

The openings have the structure " with the française" development by Lully. The booklets very often follow the Venetian tradition. In spite of the great popularity of its contemporary Métastase - whose booklets were often put in music by several successive type-setters - it called upon this author only three times for his own operas.

Sacred music

Lutheran like Jean-Sebastien Bach, Haendel was in contact with several Christian pertaining to worship traditions: Catholicism in Italy, Anglicanism in England. He adapted easily, and its religious feeling is not contradicted, during all its long career.

The sacred music of Haendel includes/understands some German works (e.g. Passion according to Brockes ), of the Latin psalms, the parts put in music on Italian words and works on English texts.

Among the compositions on Latin texts, one distinguishes particularly Dixit Dominus , Laudate pueri and Nisi Dominus .

The first parts of the beginnings in London are of a character intimist related to the modesty of the means of interpretation the type-setter had: thus Chandos anthems .

Other religious works of the London period were written in general for “Chapel Royal” for particular and/or official occasions. The Te Deum and Jubilate of Utrecht, composed to celebrate the conclusion of the Paix of Utrecht are strongly influenced by the style of Purcell.

Among the four Coronation Anthems of 1727, that entitled '' Zadok the Priest '' was always played, since the time of Haendel, at the time of the ceremonies of crowning, the last time in 1952 for Elisabeth II.

Haendel composed in 1737, at the time of the funeral of the Caroline queen, who had been for him a close friend, The Ways off Zion Do Mourn that much regards as one of its funeral musics most poignant. It re-used the music of it, by completely transforming it in the oratorio Israel in Egypt . It was him which created the Oratorio in English, musical form to which it devoted all the last part of his life. It at the same time allowed him all to express its religious feeling and to compose the music which he liked, so near to that of the opera.

The Messie remains his most known work, interpreted continuously in Great Britain and then in the United Kingdom since the time of Haendel: the tradition to rise when the first notes of the great chorus Alléluia resound since then perpetuates.

Hændel composed of others oratorios on biblical topics: Solomon (Solomon), Saül , Samson , Joshua ( Josué ), Belshazzar , Jephta (Jephté), Sole , Judas Maccabaeus (Judas Maccabée), Bathsheba (Bethsabée), Theodora , etc…

Music for orchestra

The majority of the orchestral compositions of Haendel belong to operas and oratorios: they are the openings and the interludes.

Among independent works for orchestra, one finds the six Concerto S for Hautbois of the opus 3, published in 1734, but of a former composition and written for various occasions, as well as the twelve concertos grossos of the opus 6 of 1739, in the tradition of Corelli, the structure being that of the sonata of church, but Haendel has her personal style, particularly in the alternation of the concertino and the Tutti .

Its concertos for organ and orchestra do not have a former example: it created this kind which made some followers (for example at French Michel Corrette). These concertos, with the concertos for one or more harpsichords of Bach are the first concertos of soloist written for keyboard instruments (S). Haendel played of it the soloist part during the interludes of her operas, on the positive organ of which it could lay out with the theater: there is not, in, principle, of voice to the pedals (they can thus just as easily be played harpsichord). In den Jahren 1747-1748 schrieb Händel drei Concerti had cori, in denen das Orchester in zwei Bläserchöre (Oboen, Fagott, Hörner) und das Streichensemble aufgeteilt STI. Das musikalische Material für sharp Konzerte stammt im wesentlichen aus Chorsätzen, z.B aus dem Messiah.

Als Freiluftmusik konzipiert sind die Wassermusik für Bootsfahrten auf der Themse, die nach heutiger Kenntnis in mehreren Schüben in den 1710er und 1720er Jahren entstanden STI, und die Feuerwerksmusik von 1748. Beide sind breit angelegte Suiten, in denen sich lebhafte Tanzsätze, Airs und konzertante Sätze abwechseln. -->

Chamber music

Six sonatas in trio (opus 2) were published in 1733, however their composition extends over many years, and perhaps the first go up until 1703. They are sonata da chiesa of strict form, with four movements.

Seven other sonatas (opus 5) were published in 1739. They have five or six movements, among which dances such as the Sarabande or the Gavotte. They are thus hybrid works between sonata and continuation. Same forms are the ten sonatas soloists of the opus 1 which were written between 1712 and 1726 and were published in 1732.

The compositions of Haendel for the harpsichord are extremely numerous and were written mainly like didactic parts or of circumstance. Most important, in what they were published under the control of the type-setter himself are the eight continuations HWV 426-433 of 1720; this differentiates them from a second collection published in 1730 in Amsterdam, without its approval (HWV 434-438). All these parts have in common, on the one hand to have been certainly made up during its youth - but the dating in is conjectural - and perhaps for some of them, during its stay in Hamburg, on the other hand to hardly respect the traditional structure of the continuation.

Time of Haendel, the chamber music included/understood as well purely instrumental works as vocal works. Many are the profane cantatas for small manpower which it composed: more than 60 cantatas for soloist with low continues which consist of airs and récitatifs alternate the made-to-order of Alessandro Scarlatti. He is necessary to add to it more than ten cantatas with instruments soloists. The majority of these profane cantatas date from the Roman stay of Haendel, when he attended Alessandro Scarlatti, Arcangelo Corelli, Bernardo Pasquini, with the Académie of Arcadie. The nine German airs for voice soloist, instruments and low continuous go back to 1709.

Haendel composed 21 duets with low continuous. Two of them probably go back to 1722; the others were composed per third in Italy, in Hanover or London, in the years 1740. Their structure differs deeply from that of the cantatas in solo, because there is neither récitatif, nor aria da capo: the stress is laid on the aspect contrapuntic of the arrangement of the voices. They follow the example of similar compositions by Agostino Steffani.

The art of Haendel

As much of her contemporaries, Haendel was an extremely fertile type-setter. It produced in about all the kinds practiced at its time of works which very often represent the top of it, that it is in instrumental music or vocal. In this last field, this German musician produced few works in his native tongue, but it competed, in Italian, with the Italian specialists in the cantata and of the opera and it was, in English, the first successor and rival worthy of Henry Purcell.

Its style, very recognizable, combines the melody invention, the liveliness and the flexibility of inspiration of the Italians, the majesty and the amplitude of the topics of the French Large-Century, the direction of the organization and the counterpoint of the Germans.

A distinctive feature is the dynamism which emanates from this music, with the imitation of the character: a force of the nature, which one guesses at ease and imposing itself in any company. Its topics cannot breathe the trouble, it is an overflowing energy, a liveliness of extraverti which it is hard to imagine to polish his work: Haendel composed very quickly and could invent, in an instinctive way, the very popular melodies, which run in an obvious way and which one memorizes with facility.

The importance of its production goes hand in hand, as at much of its contemporaries, even the most endowed, (Bach, Telemann, Rameau, etc) with a re-use attends its most successful topics, which it is not rare to find sometimes with identical in several works, possibly transcribed, transposed, adapted… the same topic can pass from a sonata in trio to a concerto grosso, with a concerto for organ, a cantata. He did not hesitate, in addition, to endorse of the topics of other type-setters, and these loans are numerous: François Couperin, Georg Muffat, Johann Kuhnau, Johann Kaspar Kerll inter alia him provided some. But it was not alone to do it, and Bach itself was indebted with certain of his/her colleagues. Multiple versions of same works, contradictory sources, plundering by other musicians, pirate editions made without the downstream and the revision of the type-setter make difficult the work of the musicologist, especially when quantity of the parts which come out from a category (cantatas Italians, parts isolated for the harpsichord,…) is so important. Only seven collections of instrumental parts carry a number of opus.

Its science of the counterpoint is very solid, but being before any expert, his research in this field are not of nothing comparable with those Jean-Sebastien Bach, more speculative musician undoubtedly and more introvert: he sought much more than this one to make effect thanks to his dramatic gifts. That undoubtedly explains why one never wrote of opera or oratorio with dramatic vocation whereas the other devoted to it the essence of its career and its energy. Its deep comprehension of the human one, therefore characters, also predestined it with this activity.

In fact, if the two men, exact contemporary resulting from the same area of Germany, represent the top of the European Baroque music together and died blind after being operated by the same surgeon, all the remainder opposes them: Bach, married twice, generated more than twenty children, with including four musicians endowed, when Haendel lived unmarried until death; the first quasi never left its area of origin, while the other furrowed Europe; Bach was at his place in the sacred music whereas Haendel composed especially of the profane music. Bach remained relatively been unaware of of sound living and was well quickly forgotten after its death whereas Haendel was greatest successes, before and after its disappearance, without knowing the 80 years eclipse which almost made forget that of Bach.

These two large musicians knew each other by their respective music and their reputation; they made both part of the same learned society and had many common relations. It should certainly be interpreted the fact that Haendel never got out of order to meet Bach - whereas it hesitated if little to travel and to meet all his/her colleagues - that is to say by the feeling not to be - for once! - with the height, that is to say by that of their reciprocal incommunicability.

The heritage of Haendel

Of alive sound, Haendel was an important success in Italy and Great Britain, but also in France, where some of its instrumental works were heard with the Concert of sacred music.

After its death, its operas fell into the lapse of memory, while its crowned Musique continued to meet a certain success, especially in Great Britain. That resulted in particular in the permanence of the type-setter, formant what the musicologists call the development of the classicism. Haendel off belonged to the type-setters interpreted in the Concerts Ancient Music .

Beethoven on its side regarded Haendel as the largest type-setter of all times. He studied Haendel during his last creative period and, some time before his death, was made offer a complete edition of his works and projected to write Oratorio S in the style of his idol. The opening the Dedication of the house (1822), contemporary of the Ninth symphony , was an attempt of the kind.

At the 19th century, Haendel was especially appreciated for her religious work, as well in France as in Great Britain. To Paris, Choron contributed for much putting it at the poster Concert S. the work of Haendel is particularly appreciated to emphasize the professional choruses and the choral societies of amateurs and the celebrity of the Hallelujah of the Messiah is tall. One particularly carries out also readily some of his compositions chatoyantes (concertos for organ, Royal Fireworks Music, Water Music…)

Starting from the Years 1960, the remainder of its work is redécouvert, in particular its operas. Haendel profits fully from the revival of the Baroque music. Several of its operas are again assembled and recorded. Consequently, the Instrumental music (of room) and the vocal music profane of Haendel also leave the lapse of memory and it becomes one of the type-setters most played in world on the lyric scenes.

Quotations in connection with Haendel

Haendel is our Master with all. Joseph Haydn
I am making me a collection of the runnings away of Haendel. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Here the Truth! Ludwig van Beethoven , showing the complete edition of works of Haendel whom it had just received.
Haendel is tallest, the most solid type-setter; of him, I then still to learn! Ludwig van Beethoven
I would like to kneel on his tomb. Ludwig van Beethoven
Israel in Egypt is my ideal of work choral society. Robert Schumann
Haendel is tall like the world. Franz Liszt

See too

Internal bonds

External bonds

gfhandel.org - very complete Site
haendel.it - Site on Handel and other type-setters baroques
Classic Cat - Handel - Guide for files mp3
haendelhaus.de - Biography
www.handel-with-care.net - Site on Handel
Lorraine Hunt Lieberson plays Haendel
WIMA free Partitions.

Musical extracts

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