Handel

(hént’-1) (Hendel, Hendeler, MHendtler), (at first spelt Hendel England; later he anglicised it to (hin’dél, the form now used in England), Halle, Feb. 23, 1685—London, April I4, 1759; son of a barber (afterwards surgeon and valet to the Prince of Saxe-Magdeburg) and his second wife Dorothea Taust. Intended for a lawyer; in spite of bitter opposition he secretly learned to play a dumb spinet. At 7 on a visit to his elder step-brother, valet at the court of Saxe-Wei enfels, Handel while playing the chapel-organ was heard by the Duke, who persuaded the father to give the boy le ons. Zachau, organist of Halle, taught him cpt., canon and fugue, and he practised the oboe, spinet, harpsichord and organ; he soon c. sonatas for 2 oboes and ba , became a ist. organist, and for 3 years wrote a motet for every Sunday. In 1696 his skill on organ and harpsichord won him at Berlin the friendship of Ariosti and the jealousy of SBononcini. Elector offered to send him to Italy; but his father took him back to Halle; the next year his father died, and he went to Halle Univ. (170203) to study law, at the same time serving as organist at the cathedral at a salary of $50 a year. 1703 he went to Hamburg as violino di ripieno. He fought a duel with Mat the son, later his friend and biographer, and was saved by a button. When Keiser the dir. fled from debt, H. was engaged as clavecinist. He c. a ‘‘Pa ion”’ and prod. 2 operas, ‘‘Almira” (succ.) and ‘‘ Nero” (1705); he was also commi ioned to write “‘Florin do und Daphne” (1708), an opera filling two evenings. 1706, with 200 ducats earned by teaching, he went to Italy and made succe and powerful acquaintances, incl. Scarlattis. (1707) he prod. with succ. ‘‘Rodrigo”. Venice, 1708), and “A grip pin a” with great succ. In Rome he prod. 2 oratorios, and in Naples a serenata, “Aci, Galatea e Polifemo,” in which is a ba solo with a compa of 2 oc1709, in Germany taves and a fifth. as cond. to the Elector of Hanover; 1710 visited England on leave of ab- In 2 weeks he c. the opera sence. “Rinaldo,” a pasticcio of his older It was prod. at the Haysongs. market Th. with great succ.; 1712 he to London leave; His first two operas were stayed. not succ.; but an ode for the Queen’s birthday, and a Te Deum and Jubilate in celebration of the Peace of Utrecht won him royal favour and an annuity of £200; 1714 his Hanover patron became George I. of England, and he was for a time out of that monarch’s good graces, but -had already been restored when, at the request of Baron Kilmanseck, he produced the delightful 25 pieces called the ‘‘Water-Music,” at a royal aquatic féte. 1716-18 he went to Hanover with the King. He there c. his only German oratorio, the “Pa ion”; 1718 cond. to the Duke of Chandos and c. the English oratorio ‘‘Esther,” the secular oratorio “*Acis and Galatea,” and the Chandos Te Deumsand Anthems. He taught the Prince of Wales’ daughters, and c. for Prince Anne “‘Swuites de Piéces’’? for harpsichord (The Le ons) including ‘‘The Harmonious Blacksmith.” He was dir. of new R. A. of M. 1720 prod. the succ. opera ‘‘Rad am is to”’ (prod. 1721 in Hamburg as “‘Zenobia’). Ariosti appeared as rivals and a famous and lasting feud arose around the three after they had prod. one opera, ‘‘Musio Scaevola,”’ in which each wrote an act. B. had rather the better of it, when he was caught in a plagiarism (a crime not unknown in Handel’s works (v. Lottt). B. left England without reply (1731). Up to this time H. had prod. 12 operas. 1726 he was naturalised. 1729-31 he was in partnership with Heidegger, proprietor of the King’s Th., where he prod. ‘‘Lotario,” followed by 4 more operas. 1732 he prod. his two oratorios revised; 1733 the oratorios “Deborah” and ‘‘Athaliah” at Oxford, when he was made Mus. Doc. k.c. 1733 he began a stormy management of opera, quarrelled with the popular singer Senesino, and drove many o his subscribers to forming a rival troupe ‘‘The Opera of the Nobility,” with Porpora and afterwards Ha e as composer and conductor; 1737 the companies failed, H. having prod. 5 operas; the ode ‘“‘Alexander’s Feast” (Dryden), and the revised ‘‘Trionfo del Tempo e dell a Verita.”’ Overexertion brought on a stroke of paralysis in one of his hands and he went to Aix-la-Chapelle, returning to London with improved health. He now prod., under Heidegger, operas, incl. ‘‘Far am on do,” ‘‘Serse”? (1738), and “‘Deidamia”’ (1741). Now he abandoned the stage and turned to oratorio, producing ‘‘Saul,”’ and ‘‘Israel in Egypt’? (1739); the “Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day,” and in 1740 “‘L’ Allegro and Il Penseroso’’ [Milton), and a supplement ‘‘J/ oderato,’’ written by Chas. Jennens, who also wrote the text of the Me iah. 1741 he visited Dublin and prod. there his masterpiece the ‘‘Me iah,” April 13, 1742. This re-established him in English favour and raised him from bankruptcy. It was followed by “Samson,” ‘‘Dettingen um,” ‘‘Semele,” ‘Joseph (1743), “Belshazzar,” and ‘‘ Heracles” (1744). His rivals worked against him still, and in 1745 he was again bankrupt, writing little for a year and a half, when he prod. with renewed succe and fortune his ‘‘Occasional Oratorio,’ and ‘Judas Maccabaeus” (1746); ‘Joshua (1747), ‘‘Solomon” (1748); “Susannah” (1748); ‘“The odor a”’ (1749); ‘“‘The Choice of Hercules’ (1750); and ‘‘Jephthah” (1752), his last. During the comp. of ‘‘Sephthah” he underwent three unsucce ful operations for cataract. He was practically blind the rest of his life, but continued to play org.-concertos and accompany his oratorios on the organ up to 1759. He was buried in Westminster Abbey. His other comp. incl. the “Forest Musick” (Dublin, 1742), etc., for harps.; the ‘‘Fireworks Musick” (1749) for strings; 6 organ-concertos; concertos for trumpets and horns; and for horns and side drums (MS.); sonatas for vln., viola and oboe, ete. A complete edition of his works in too vols. was undertaken in 1856 for the German Handel Sec. by Dr. Chrysander as editor. Biog. by Mat the son (1740); Main waring (1760); (1844); Schélcher (1857); Rockstro (1883); Chrysander (unfinished at his death), Leichtentritt (in man). Various aspects of Handel’s life and art are considered in studies in English by Benson, Davey, Flower, Marshall, Romain Roll and, Streatfeild, C. F. A. Williams.