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Dromo's Den
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[Up] [Dromo's Den] George Handel Biography HANDEL, GEORGE FREDERICK, musician and composer, born in Halle on the Saale, Germany, Feb. 23, 1685; died April 11, 1759. He was the son of a court surgeon in Brandenburg, and at a very early age exhibited natural tendencies toward musical accomplishments. When seven years old he received instruction in Halle under Frederick Wilhelm Zachau,and when nine years of age was skilled in playing on the violin, organ, and a number of other instruments. In 1703 he went to Hamburg, where he played a violin in the operatic orchestra, and soon after became a musical director. His first opera was "Almira," which appeared in 1705, and soon after he produced "Nero" and "Florinda." In 1707 he visited Italy, where he composed "Rodrigo." His "Agrippina" was played for thirteen nights in Venice. He returned to Germany in 1710, and while there was appointed chapel master to the elector of Hanover, afterward George I. of England, under whom he afterward received preferment in London. The Royal Academy was founded in the Haymarket, in 1720, with the special view of performing the operas of Handel under his personal direction. He remained seventeen years in London, producing many of his well known operas, but in 1737 his management and composing were interrupted by a severe impairment of his health. After careful treatment he partially recovered physical strength, and again wrote numerous oratorios. In 1752 be lost his sight, but subsequently composed and played on various instruments. Among his most celebrated and best known productions, besides those already named, are "Atalanta;" "Pastor Fido;" "Israel in Egypt;" "Alexander's Feast;" "Sampson;" "Ode for St. Cecilia's Day;" "Messiah;" "Esther;" "Deborah," and "Jephthah," the last of his oratorios. Handel had few equals as a musician and composer, his productions showing much grandeur and sublimity, and holding a rank in music equal to the place accorded Schiller and Goethe in literature. "Atalanta" is considered his greatest musical composition; it has hardly a parallel in musical history. The Teachers' and Pupils' Cyclopædia, Vol. II (Kansas City: Bufton Book Co., 1909) 792-793. |