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George Frideric Handel was born on February 23, 1685, to George and Dorothea Handel of Halle, Saxony, Germany. From an early age, Handel longed to study music, but his father objected, doubting that music would be a realistic source of income. George's aunt gave him a spinet (an early harpsichord that had a single keyboard and only one string for each note) for his 7th birthday. George and his aunt placed the spinet in the attic and whenever George had a chance he would go to the attic to play.
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The actual performance on April 27 went splendidly, too, but the subsequent fireworks did not work as well. They started a fire, which caused the main building at Green Park in London to burn down and the crowd to disperse in close to a panic.
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George Frederic Handel is recognized as a great composer of the Baroque age (1600-1750), a period that featured long, elaborate pieces of music that often required many singers. A large part of Handel’s genius involves the way he often broke or stretched the traditional rules of music to make a dramatic impact. He concentrated on writing music that would entertain the public, rather than being concerned with what other composers would think of his work.
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Today’s listening example, Zadok the Priest, is a British anthem which was composed by George Frideric Handel for the coronation of King George II in 1727. Zadok the Priest has been sung during the anointing of the sovereign at the coronation of every British monarch since its composition, and has become recognized as a British patriotic anthem.
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Handel’s Messiah is considered by many to be the greatest oratorio ever written. The complete work contains 50 sections and requires two and-one-half hours to perform. Handel composed it in 25 days of almost constant work. During this time, he refused to be interrupted by friends, hardly ate and rarely slept.
This composer was not a particularly religious man until the later years in his life, but he acknowledged a divine source as the motivational force for Messiah. When he finished the famous “Hallelujah Chorus”, which praises God as the King of Kings, he told a servant, ‘I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God himself.’ |
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