{Illustration: G. F. HANDEL from a woodcut by Eric King (not available)} CONTENTS DETAILED CONTENTS CHRONOLOGY CHAPTER I CHAPTER II CHAPTER III CHAPTER IV CHAPTER V CHAPTER VI CHAPTER VII BIBLIOGRAPHY HANDEL'S WORKS...

Birth and parentage—studies under Zachow at Halle—Hamburg—friendship and duel with Mattheson—Almira—departure for Italy. The name of Handel suggests to most people the sound of music unsurpassed in massiveness and dignity, and the familiar portraits of the composer present us with a man whose external appearance was no less massive and dignified than his music. Countless anecdotes point him out to us as a well-known figure in the life of London during the reigns of Queen Anne and the first two G

Arrival in Italy— Rodrigo —Rome: Cardinal Ottoboni and the Scarlattis—Naples: Venice: Agrippina —appointment at Hanover—London: Rinaldo . Handel spent three years in Italy. The known facts about his life there are singularly few, and his biographers have often had to draw copiously on their imagination. They may perhaps be forgiven for doing so, since they rightly sought to emphasise the fact that these three years were the most formative period of Handel's personality as a composer. Handel came

Second visit to London—Italian opera—George I and the Water Music —visit to Germany—Canons and the Duke of Chandos—establishment of the Royal Academy of Music. For the greater part of the nineteenth century the Handelian type of opera was the laughingstock of musical critics; they wondered how any audiences could have endured to sit through it, and why the fashionable society of London should have neglected native music for what Dr. Johnson defined as "an exotic and irrational entertainment." Th

Buononcini—Cuzzoni, Faustina, and Senesino—death of George I— The Beggar's Opera —collapse of the Academy. The opening performance of the Royal Academy of Music was undistinguished; it is hard to understand why the noble directors should have begun their season with Numitor , an opera by Porta, a Venetian composer, who is described in the book of words as "Servant to His Grace the Duke of Wharton." The Duke of Wharton was not one of the directors. The company, moreover, was more English than Ita

Handel naturalized—partnership with Heidegger— Esther —the Opera of the Nobility—visit to Oxford—opera season at Covent Garden—Charles Jennens—collapse of both opera-houses. Handel had by this time definitely decided to make England his home; on February 13, 1726, he had been naturalised as an English subject. He had every reason to regard England as the best place in which to live. He enjoyed the protection of the German court; George II and Queen Caroline gave him indeed a good deal more encou

Bankruptcy and paralysis—visit to Aix-la-Chapelle—the last operas—Vauxhall Gardens—Handel's "borrowings"—visit to Ireland— Messiah and other oratorios. The collapse of the Opera left Handel not only bankrupt, but with seriously endangered health. In April 1737 it had been announced that he was "indisposed with the rheumatism," from which he made a slight temporary recovery; but before the season was over it became clear that he was suffering from paralysis. "His right arm was become useless to h

Judas Maccabaeus—Gluck—Thomas Morell—incipient blindness—Telemann and his garden—last oratorios—death—character and personality. The new oratorio met with surprising success. In the first place, Handel had given up the subscription system, and opened the theatre to all comers. The relief produced by the victory of Culloden had no doubt encouraged the general public to spend more money on entertainments; the Duke of Cumberland was a popular hero, and, through the Occasional Oratorio , Handel's na

Mainwaring, J.: Memoirs of the Life of the Late G. F. Handel . London. 1760. Burney, Charles: A General History of Music . London. 1776-89. Burney, Charles: An Account of the Musical Performances in Westminster Abbey, etc. London. 1785. Hawkins, Sir John: A General History of the Science and Practice of Music . London. 1776. Coxe, W.: Anecdotes of G. F. Handel and Y. C. Smith . London. 1799. Schoelcher, Victor: The Life of Handel . London. 1857. The first attempt at a complete and documented bio

The following operas were all produced in London:...

All the following oratorios are in English:...

The following oratorios were all produced in London:...

Many of these are arrangements of other works....