George Frideric

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George Frideric

• Handel

"Handel is the greatest composer who ever lived.
I would bare my head and kneel at his grave"
-- Ludwig Van Beethoven (1824)
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Handel

• George Frideric Handel was born in 1685 in the
  little town of Halle, Germany.

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Handel
Handels father had no interest in music. He
wanted his son to be a lawyer.
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Handels mother Dorothea, was more tolerant and
the story goes that she smuggled a quiet keyboard
called a clavichord into the attic so that he
could practice late at night without his father
hearing.
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Handels father was a barber and surgeon. One
day, when he was about nine, he went along with
his father to the palace of the Duke.
While his father was cutting the Dukes hair,
little George wandered around until he found an
organ, which he decided to play. When the Duke
heard Handel play, he insisted that his father
get him music lessons.
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In 1703 Handel traveled to Lubeck to meet the
great Danish organist Dietrich Buxtehude. Buxtehu
de offered Handel his job right away!
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Well, it wasnt quite THAT simple. It seems that
Buxtehude had a daughter who was almost 30, and
all Handel had to do to get the job was marry
her! Handel wasnt crazy about the idea, and told
Buxtehude that hed just have to keep looking for
someone else to marry his daughter.
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Handel

• Handel instead got a job working for the Elector
  of Hanover.

• After only a few months he asked for some time
  off to go to London, where he was a big hit. He
  asked for 2 weeks off, but stayed 2 months in
  London. His boss was not happy. Handel liked
  his visit there, and hoped to return again
  someday.

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Handel

• When Queen Anne of England died, Handels
  boss, the Elector of Hanover, became King George
  I of England. (The fact that he didnt speak a
  word of English didnt seem to matter.)
• The king was probably still angry at Handel,
  but he did take him along with him to London.
  Handel finally got his chance to return to
  England, where he spent the next 50 years.

King George I
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Handels Water Music

• In the summer of 1717, King George requested a
  concert on the River Thames, and Handel was asked
  to write 'Water Music', for wind and strings.

A lot of people seem to think that King George
was angry at Handel for having run off to England
so soon after getting the job in Hanover and
staying longer than he was supposed to. They say
that Handel wrote Water Music to get back on
the Kings good side.
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Handels Water Music
The King and his party were on one barge eating
and drinking, and Handel and his 50 musicians
came floating by in another barge. Theres no
doubt that King George enjoyed Water Music. He
liked it so much that he asked the orchestra to
play it three times. It was a huge success,
although the players got a little wet.
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Music for the Royal Fireworks
Handel wrote the Music for the Royal Fireworks
for a special celebration the king was having.
There was to be fireworks and music included in
the festivities.
Although the music was nice, the party was a
disaster.
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Music for the Royal Fireworks
2 people died and hundreds were injured at the
premiere of the Fireworks music when the
fireworks caught fire before they were set off.
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Handels Messiah
At some point in any discussion about Handel, his
oratorio Messiah is bound to come up. What is
an Oratorio?
An Oratorio is much like an opera, but without
all the trouble of scenery and costumes and
movement. On the whole, oratorio is a lot cheaper
to produce than opera, which must have appealed
to Handels strong business sense.
He composed the entire oratorio Messiah, which is
several hours of music, in just under 3 weeks.
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Hallelujah Chorus
Youve probably heard the Hallelujah Chorus from
the Messiah. It is performed a lot at Christmas,
although in Handels actual oratorio, it takes
place at Easter.
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Hallelujah Chorus
King George II (King George the firsts son) was
so moved by the first performance of the
Hallelujah Chorus that he stood up. And Since the
King stood up, so did everyone else.
King George II stands
This established the tradition of standing
whenever this piece is performed.
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George Frideric

• Handel

Handel died on Good Friday in 1759, and was
buried in Westminster Abbey.
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Listening
1. Water Music
(Click to start)
2. Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah
(Click to start)
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George Frideric

• Handel

The End