George Briaric Handel Biography

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was unlike most other composers of his time. “He wrote music for the glory of God, and to satisfy his own burning curiosity, not for future fame.” During the 1700s, people knew him as a talented musician, not as a composer, as we do today. He never left his country to pursue bigger and better things. Bach was content as long as he could play music. Traditions were very important to him. He wanted to carry on the musical tradition of his family, and never opted to change the traditional ways of composing, as did most composers. Bach’s work is vast and unique.

George Frideric Handel was born in Halle, Germany on February 23, 1685. He expressed an interest in music at an early age. While his mother encouraged this love of music, his father, George Handel, was not supportive of him pursuing music as a career, and pushed him towards a career in law. However, when Handel was 9, a duke heard him playing the organ and persuaded his father to let Handel study under Friedrich Zachow (the organist at the Liebfrauenkirche at Halle) who instructed him in the organ as well as composing. Handels’ father died when he was 12, leaving him as the only son of that marriage. This put more responsibility on Handel to maintain his family, but it also relieved most of the objection of his music studies. In

Sonatas composed from 1773 to 1784 were intended as “public” works from the very beginning, with a clear conception of the taste, preferences, and instruments available to the musical public of Vienna. The Sonata in F Major, Hob. XVI: 23; L38 written in 1773 for solo harpsichord is the best known and most virtuosic of

Many musical scholars believe that J. S. Bach and G. F. Handel are the two most important, influential composers of the Baroque period. Both of these men were born in Germany in 1685, and since they came into existence around the same time, they share some similarities. As an introductory statement, Bach and Handel were born into two very different families. Handel did not come from a musical family; his father wanted him to study law. By age nine, his talent was too obvious for his father to ignore and Handel began to study with a local organist and composer. On the contrary, Bach came from a long line of musicians. Bach also had four sons which became gifted composers, in their own right. Bach, like Handel, also started as an organist

His career includes 42 operas, 29 oratorios, 16 organ concerti, over 120 cantatas, trios and duets, chamber music, odes, and many ecumenical pieces, his most famous work being the Oratorio “Messiah.” Composed in 1741, the oratorio was preformed first in Dublin in 1742. It had a scriptural text from the King James Bible and was written for modest vocal and instrumental forces. The work, although very much in the style of Handel, is a series of thoughts on the Christian idea of redemption and utilizes a mixture of traditions. After Handel’s death in 1759, the Oratorio began to gain popularity even further and was adapted to larger scale choirs and orchestras. Handel has very much influenced the world of music, especially through his operas, and has grown in popularity throughout the years. As the inventor of English Oratorios and being so well known for his Italian operas his style and influence is felt around the world even still in the music of today.

George Frideric Handel is generally considered the second most important Baroque composer after Bach. Unlike Bach's nearly complete focus on church music in Germany, Handel more openly embraced the French, Italian, and English secular music. Also unlike Bach, Handel did not come from a long line of musicians. When he was born on February 23, 1685, Handel's family had no idea that he would rise to a legendary status in music. Handel's father began to see his son's desire to compose at an early age and violently objected. His mother was responsible for nurturing and continuing his musical education. At the age of seven, Handel was asked to give an organ recital for the Duke of Sachse-Weissenfels. The Duke was very impressed and awarded the family with a generous amount of money. This event persuaded his father to allow Handel to pursue his musical career. When his father died in1697, Handel was freed from his father's will. He studied with numerous organists and gained minor fame.

This piece is based upon the scriptural text from the King James Bible it was first performed in Dublin in 1742; Handel makes use of the renaissance technique of word painting and multi-part polyphony. It uses fascinating word painting and is repeated throughout the piece. This piece comes from the oratorio called Messiah; it is the third piece of Messiah. It is the combination of homophony and polyphony with the addition of two trumpets. There are also two oboes, two violins, a viola, and a basso continuo. The use of basso continuo (instrumental accompaniment) requires a chordal instrument and a thoroughbass.

Accordingly, the composers can start imagining about the inspiration the work of music has done as well as the starting point of the artwork. Throughout the Baroque era, the composers of the music earned a living through just writing the songs and were fortunate to be included in the payroll thus perform the religious and political works that they were presented with during the time. The needs of the institution in which the work was done dictated entirely which type of music that would be written by the composers. When the Baroque music has been fully used will dictate the way the history of the music can be perceived by the people and how gently they would be used to influence the belief of the majority of the people and how important they are to the society.

In George Frideric Handel’s masterful 18th century opera, Giulio Cesare, one may find many examples of the classic operatic archetype of power, particularly in relation to love and fear in how they are both tools that are oftentimes used to gain power. In this specific opera, Handel heralds the greater power-seizing potency of love when compared to its counterpart-- terror. In this essay, I plan to examine how the Egyptian character Cleopatra utilizes the power of love in order to achieve her own political and personal gains. I shall use text examples from the libretto to show how she triumphs over the darker forces of her enemies, Ptolemy and his great general named Achillas.

Handel and Bach are considered two of the greatest composers of all time. However, when comparing the output of these two musicians, the diversity manifest in music in the era when they wrote immediately becomes apparent. Handel, although he used religious subject matter, is usually characterized as fundamentally a 'secular' composer. He composed for the concert hall, not the church, and primarily as a result of royal commissions. His music is strident, powerful, and large in scope. It is designed to entertain, rather than to spur contemplation (The pure power of Handel's 'Hallelujah Chorus', NPR, 2008). Bach, in contrast, often created music designed to be performed in sacred spaces. His music is more fluid and nuanced in style and designed more to spur contemplation and devotion rather than excite people's interest as a piece of entertainment.

This piece is composed by George Handel who was born on February 23, 1685, in Halle, Germany. His parents, Georg and Dorothea Handel had no relation to music. His father believed becoming a musician will result in a Handel becoming successful and didn’t even allow Handle to own an instrument. On the other hand, his mother supported him and believed he should pursue his talents and let Handel take music lessons without the knowledge of his father. Although his father told him to become a lawyer, he disagreed and accepted a violinist position at Hamburg Opera’s Goose Market in 1703 at the age of 18. During 1706 to 1710, he moved to Italy to expand his abilities and composed the operas Rodrigo and Agrippina. He later moved to London and composed Rinaldo which was his stepping stone to becoming a famous composer. After operas, Handel took on the challenge of writing oratorios and produced the well known opera, Messiah which was debuted on April 1742. Other famous works Handel composed was Hallelujah and The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba. After encountering a lot of stress, Handel had problems with his health. In 1737, Handel had a stroke that limited the use of his right hand.Fortunately, he recovered quickly. Likewise, Handel Faced another stoke recovered. After a while, he became blind in his left eye and slowly the right eye. However, his passion for music did not allow Handle to stop composing music. On April

Handel's discovery of oratorio was quite accidental and came in the form of a commission from Dublin. His appreciation of its possibilites was immediate, and the die was cast that he would devote the rest of his creative life to composing in the genre.

In the spring of 1737, Handel had a stroke that impaired the movement of his right hand. His fans worried that he would never compose again. But after only six weeks of recuperation in Aix-la-Chapelle, Handel was fully recovered. He went back to London and not only returned to composing, but made a comeback at playing the organ as

George Frideric Handel (23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a baroque era composer, with an impressive repertoire of compositions. Handel didn’t grow up in a music rich environment, but in fact, he was forbidden by his father to touch any musical instrument, but found time when everyone else was asleep to play a clavichord he had smuggled to an upstairs room in the house. He grew up in Halle, Germany and at the age of 18, he traveled to Hamburg, and took a job as a violinist in the Hamburg Opera House. He supported himself by giving private lessons, and eventually published his first opera, Almira.

in 1710 and moved to Hanover; here he was given the job of director of