Georg Friedrich Handel - biography, facts from life, photographs, background information. Biography of Georg Friedrich Handel German composer courtier of the English king

Georg Friedrich Handel (1685-1759), German composer.

Born February 27, 1685 in the city of Galle. From early childhood, the boy had a talent for music, but his father dreamed that he would become a lawyer. Nevertheless, the parents allowed their son to take organ and composition lessons from F. V. Zachau.

After the death of his father in 1697, Handel decided to devote himself entirely to music; however, back in 1702, he continued to study at the faculty of jurisprudence at the University of Halle. At the same time, Handel received the post of organist of the Protestant cathedral. In 1703, the musician left for Hamburg, where he took the place of second violinist, harpsichordist and conductor of the Hamburg Opera.

In this city, he wrote and staged his first opera, The Vicissitudes of the Royal Fate, or Almira, Queen of Castile (1705). Since then, opera has taken a central place in Handel's work. He wrote over 40 works of this type of musical art.

From 1706 to 1710 the composer spent in Italy, improving his skills. In addition, he performed in concerts with great success as a virtuoso performer on the organ and harpsichord.

Glory to Handel was brought by his next opera - "Agrippina" (1709). From Italy, he went back to Germany, to Hanover, where he took the place of the court Kapellmeister, and then to London. Here in 1711 he staged his opera Rinaldo.

Beginning in 1712, the composer lived mainly in the English capital; he was patronized at first by Queen Anne Stewart, and after her death by George I. Since the opening of the Royal Academy of Music opera house in 1719, headed by Handel, the time has come for his brilliant fame. The composer wrote his operas one after another: "Radamist" (1720), "Muzio Scaevola" (1721), "Otto" and "Flavius" (both 1723), "Julius Caesar" and "Tamerlane" ( both 1724), "Rodelinde" (1725), "Scipio" and "Alexander" (both 1726), "Admet" and "Richard I" (both 1727).

In 1727, Handel received English citizenship. In 1728, due to financial difficulties, the opera house was closed. A difficult time came for Handel, he tried to create a new theater, and repeatedly traveled to Italy. All these troubles undermined his health: in 1737 he was paralyzed on the right side of his body. But the composer did not leave creativity. In 1738 he was
the opera "Xerxes" was written, but the next opera - "Deidamia" (1741) - failed, and Handel did not write more operas.

He settled on the genre of oratorio, in which, on a no lesser scale, he showed the full strength of his genius. Among the best examples of this genre are "Saul" and "Israel in Egypt" (both 1739), "Messiah" (1742), "Samson" (1743), "Judas Maccabee" (1747), "Ievfai" (1752). In addition to the oratorios, Handel wrote about a hundred cantatas, and for the orchestra - 18 concertos under the general title "Big Concertos".

After 1752, Handel's eyesight deteriorated greatly, and at the end of his life he was completely blind. Nevertheless, the composer continued to create. The last concert under his direction, in which the oratorio "Messiah" was performed, took place eight days before Handel's death.

GeorgeHandel is one of the biggest names in the history of musical art. The great composer of the Enlightenment opened up new perspectives in the development of the genre of opera and oratorio and anticipated the musical ideas of the following centuries: Gluck's operatic drama, Beethoven's civic pathos, and the psychological depth of romanticism. He is a man of inner strength and conviction.Show said: "You can despise anyone and anything,but you are powerless to contradict Handel.” "... When his music sounds on the words "sitting on his eternal throne", the atheist is speechless."

Georg Friedrich Handel was born in Halle on February 23, 1685. He received his primary education in the so-called classical school. In addition to such a thorough education, the young Handel took some musical concepts from the tutor Pretorius, a connoisseur of music and the composer of several school operas. In addition to schoolwork, he was also helped by court bandmaster David Poole, who entered the house, and organist Christian Ritter, who taught Georg Friedrich to play the clavichord.

Parents paid little attention to their son's early inclination to music, classifying it as a child's play. Only thanks to a chance meeting of a young talent with an admirer of musical art, Duke Johann Adolf, the boy's fate changed dramatically. The duke, having heard a wonderful improvisation played by a child, immediately convinced his father to give him a musical education. Georg became a student of the well-known Halle organist and composer Friedrich Zachau. In three years, he learned not only to compose, but also to play the violin, oboe, and harpsichord freely.

In February 1697, his father died. Fulfilling the wish of the deceased, Georg graduated from high school and five years after the death of his father entered the law faculty of the University of Halle.

A month after entering the university, he signed a one-year contract, according to which "the student Handel, because of his art" was appointed organist in the city's Reformed Cathedral. He trained there for exactly one year, constantly "improving his agility in organ playing." In addition, he taught singing at the gymnasium, had private students, wrote motets, cantatas, chorales, psalms and music for organ, updating the repertoire of city churches every week. Handel later recalled, "I wrote like a devil at the time."

In May 1702, the War of the Spanish Succession began, engulfing all of Europe. In the spring of 1703, when the contract expired, Handel left Halle and headed for Hamburg.The opera house was the center of the city's musical life. The opera was led by the composer, musician and vocalist Reinhard Keiser. Handelstudied the style of opera compositionsfamous Hamburgerand the art of directing an orchestra.He got a job at the opera house as a second violinist (he soon became the first). From that moment on, Handel chose the field of a secular musician, and the opera, which brought him both fame and suffering, became the basis of his work for many years.

The main event of Handel's life in Hamburg can be considered the first performance of his opera Almira, January 8, 1705. Operahandelplayed successfully about 20 times.In the same year, the second opera, Love Acquired by Blood and Villainy, or Nero, was staged.

In Hamburg, Handel wrote his first work in the oratorio genre. These are the so-called "Passion" based on the text of the famous German poet Postel.It soon became clear to Handel that he had grown up, and Hamburg became too small for him. Having saved up money by lessons and writing, Handel left.Hamburg owes the birth of its style. The time of apprenticeship ended in him, hereHandeltried his hand at opera and oratorio - the leading genres of his mature work.

Handelwent to Italy. From the end of 1706 until April 1707 he lived in Florence and then in Rome. In the autumn of 1708, Handel achieved his first public success as a composer. Through Duke Ferdinand of Tuscany, he staged his first Italian opera, Rodrigo.He also competes in public competitions with the best of the best in Rome, Domenico Scarlatti acknowledges his victory. His playing on the harpsichord is called diabolical - a flattering epithet for Rome. He writes two oratorios for Cardinal Ottoboni, which are immediately performed.

After success in Rome, Handel hurries south to sunny Naples. A constant rival of Venice in the arts, Naples had its own school and traditions. Handel stayed in Naples for about a year. During this time, he wrote the charming serenade Acis, Galatea and Polyphemus.Handel's main work in Naples was the opera Agrippina, written in 1709 and staged the same year in Venice, where the composer returned again. At the premiere, the Italians, with their usual fervor and enthusiasm, paid tribute to Handel. " They were struck like thunder by the grandiosity and grandeur of his style; they never knew before all the power of harmony”, — wrote those present at the premiere.

Italy gave Handel a warm welcome. However, the composer could hardly count on a solid position in the "empire of Music". The Italians did not doubt Handel's talent. However, like Mozart later, Handel was ponderous for the Italians, too "German" from art. Handel left for Hanover and entered the service of the elector as court bandmaster. However, he did not stay there long. The coarse morals of the small German court, the absurd vanity and imitation of the great capitals, aroused disgusthandel. By the end of 1710, having received leaveat the Elector'she went to London.

There, Handel immediately entered the theatrical world of the British capital, received an order from Aaron Hill, the tenant of the Tidemarket Theatre, and soon wrote the opera Rinaldo.

On fateat Handelinfluenceddebut in the genre of ceremonial and solemn music, popular for England. In January 1713, Handel wrote the monumental Te Deum and Ode to the Queen's Birthday. Queen Anne was pleased with the musicOdesand personally signed the permission to perform "Te deum". On the occasion of the signing of the Peace of UtrechtJuly 7in the presence of the Queen and Parliamentunder the arches of St. Paul's Cathedral soundedsolemn and majestic sounds of Handel's "Te deum".

After the success of Te Deuma, the composer decided to pursue a career in England.Until 1720, Handel was in the service of the old Duke of Chandos, who was superintendent of the royal army under Anna. The Duke lived at Cannon Castle, near London, where he had an excellent chapel. Handel composed music for her.These years turned out to be very important - he mastered the English style. Handel wrote anthemes and two masks, a modest amount despite his fabulous productivity. But these things (along with "Te deum") proved to be decisive.

The two antiquity mask performances were English in style. Handel later revised both works. One became an English opera (Acis, Galatea and Polyphemus), the other became the first English oratorio (Esther). Altema is a heroic epic, Esther is a heroic drama based on a biblical story. In these works, Handel already fully owns both the language and the nature of the feelings expressed by the English in the art of sounds.

The influence of anthemes and operatic style is clearly felt in Handel's first oratorios - "Esther" (1732), in the following written "Deborte", "Atalia" (1733). Nevertheless, opera remained the main genre of the 1720s and 1730s. It absorbs almost all of Handel's time, strength, health and fortune.In 1720, a theatrical and commercial enterprise was opened in London, it was called the Royal Academy of Music. Handel was instructed to recruit the best singers in Europe, predominantly of the Italian school. Handel became a free entrepreneur, a shareholder. For almost twenty years, starting in 1720, he composed and staged operas, recruited or dissolved a troupe, worked with singers, orchestras, poets and impresarios.

Here is the history. At one of the rehearsals, the singer was out of tune. Handel stopped the orchestra and reprimanded her. The singer continued to fake. Handel became furious and made another remark, in much stronger terms. The fakery didn't stop. Handel again stopped the orchestra and said: If you sing out of tune again, I'll throw you out the window". However, this threat did not help either. Then the huge Handel grabbed the little singer in an armful and dragged her to the window. Everyone froze. Handel hoisted the singer on the windowsill ... and so that no one noticed this, smiled at her and laughed, after which he took her off the window and carried her back. After that, the singer sang cleanly.

In 1723 Handel staged Otgon. He writes easily, melodically pleasing, it was the most popular opera in England in those days. In May 1723 - "Flavio", in 1724 — operas: "Julius Caesar" and "Tamerlane", in 1725 - "Rodelinda". It was a victory. The last triad of operas was a worthy crown for the winner. But tastes have changed.Hard times have come for Handel. The old elector, the only strong patron - George I - died. The young king, George II, Prince of Wales, hated Handel, his father's favorite. George II plotted against him, inviting new Italians, set enemies on him.

In 1734-35 French ballet was in vogue in London. Handel wrote opera-ballets in the French style: Terpsichore, Alcina, Ariodant, and pasticcio Orestes. But in 1736, due to the aggravated political situation, the French ballet was forced to leave London and Handel went bankrupt. He fell ill, he was paralyzed. The opera house was closed. Friends lent him some money and sent him to a spa in Aachen.The rest was as short as a dream. He woke up, he stood on his feet, his right hand moved. A miracle happened.

In Decembere 1737Handelcompletes "Faramondo" and takes on the opera "Xerxes".At the beginning 1738 the audience willingly went to the "Faramondo". In Februaryis heput pasticcio "ALessandro Severo, and in April, Xerxes. At this time, he writes unusually well: the fantasy was extremely rich, the beautiful material obediently obeyed the will, the orchestra sounded expressive and picturesque, the forms turned out to be honed.

Georg Friedrich Handel composes one of the best "philosophical" oratorios - "Cheerful, thoughtful and moderate" on the beautiful youthful poems of Milton, a little earlier - "Ode to St. Cecilia" to the text by Dryden. The famous twelve concerti grossi were written by him during these years. And it was at this time that Handel parted with the opera. In January 1741, the last one, Deidamia, was staged.

Handelaftertwenty years of perseveranceconvinced that the sublime kind of opera seria did not make sense in a country like England. In 1740 he stopped defying English taste - and the British recognized his genius -Handelbecame the national composer of England.If Handel wrote only operas, his name would still take pride of place in the history of art. But he would never have become the Handel that we appreciate him to this day.

Handelpolished his style in the opera, improved the orchestra, aria, recitative, form, voice leading, in the opera he acquired the language of a dramatic artist. And yet in the opera he failed to express the main ideas. The highest meaning of his work was oratorios.

A new era began for Handel on August 22, 1741. On this memorable day, he proceeded to the oratorio "Messiah". Later, writers would reward Handel with an exalted epithet - "the creator of the Messiah." For many generations, she will be synonymous with Handel. "Messiah" is a musical and philosophical poem about the life and death of a person, embodied in biblical images. However, the reading of Christian dogmas is not as traditional as it might seem.

Handelcompleted "Messiah" on September 12. The oratorio was already being rehearsed when Handel unexpectedly left London. He went to Dublin at the invitation of the Duke of Devonshire, Viceroy of the English King in Ireland. There he gave concerts throughout the season. April 13, 1742 Handel staged "Messiah" in Dublin. The oratorio was warmly received.

On February 18, 1743, the first performance of "Samson" took place - a heroic oratorio based on the text of Milton, whichis one of the best European tragedies of the second half of the 17th century.Milton's Samson is a synthesis of the biblical story and the genre of ancient Greek tragedy.

In 1743, Handel showed signs of a serious illness, but he recovered fairly quickly.February 10, 1744composerhe staged Semele, on March 2 - Joseph, in August he finished Hercules, in October - Belshazzar. In the autumn he rents Covent Garden again for the season. Winter 1745Handelputs "Belshazzar" and "Hercules". His rivals are making every effort to prevent the success of the concerts, they succeed. In March, Georg Handel fell ill, fell ill, but his spirit was not broken.

August 11ta 1746Handel is finishing Judas Maccabee, one of his finest biblical oratorios. In all the heroic-biblical oratorios of Handel (and the composer has a number of them: "Saul", "Israel in Egypt", "Samson", "Joseph", "Belshazzar", "Judas Maccabee", "Jesus Nun") in the center of attention - the historical fate of the people. Their core is fighting. The struggle of the people and their leaders against the invaders for independence, the struggle for power, the struggle against apostates in order to avoid decline. The people and their leaders are the main characters of the oratorio. The people as a character in the form of a choir is Handel's property. Nowhere in music before him did the people perform in such a guise.

In 1747, Handel rents Covent Garden again. He gives a series of signature concerts. April 1 puts "Judas Maccabee" - he is successful.In 1747, Handel wrote the oratorios Alexander Balus and Joshua. He puts on oratorios, writes "Solomon" and "Susanna".

In 1751 the composer's health deteriorated. May 3, 1752 to himunsuccessfullyoperateeyes.In 1753, complete blindness sets in. Handel distracts himself with concerts, playing by memory or improvising. Occasionally writes music. April 14, 1759 he died.

Handel's friend and contemporary, writer and musicologist Charles Burney, wrote: Handel was a large, stout and hard-moving man. His expression was usually gloomy, but when he smiled, he looked like a sunbeam breaking through black clouds, and his whole appearance became full of joy, dignity and spiritual greatness.". “This ray still illuminates and will always illuminate our lives.

OrchestraHandel's new style (1685-1759) belongs to the same epoch in the development of orchestration as the style of Bach's contemporary. But it also has its own unique features. Orchestral texture of oratorios, toconcertos for organ and orchestra and concErto grosso of Handel is close to choral polyphonic texture. In operas, where the role of polyphony is much less, the composer is much more active in the search for new orchestral techniques. In particular, his flutes are moretheir characteristic register (manyabove the oboes); having gained freedom in the new register, they become more mobile and independent.

Of greatest interest in Handel is the grouping of instruments. Skillfully alternating groups, opposing strings to wood or brass with percussion, the composer achieves a variety of effects. Working in opera houses, Handel had much larger casts, more opportunities than Bach. His orchestration style is more opulent and decorative.

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HANDEL, GEORGE FRIEDRICH(Händel, Georg Friedrich) (1685–1759), German composer who worked most of his life in England; along with J.S. Bach - the largest representative of the Baroque era in music and, by all accounts, one of the greatest figures in the history of world musical art. Oratorio by Handel Messiah (Messiah) - among the world's favorite and popular works, but Messiah is just one of the many masterpieces of this extraordinarily gifted and prolific musician.

A LIFE

Early years.

Georg Friedrich Handel was born on February 23, 1685 in Halle (Saxony). The father, already a middle-aged surgeon, was at first against his son's musical studies, but when the boy was eight years old, he allowed him to study the organ for three years under the guidance of a local organist. In January 1702, after the death of his father, Handel entered the law faculty of the university of his native city, but a month later he was appointed organist at the cathedral. The following year, he said goodbye to Halle and went to Hamburg, where he became first a violinist and then a harpsichordist at the Hamburg Opera, at that time the only opera house in Germany. In Hamburg, Handel composed Passion for the Gospel of John (Passion nach dem Evangelium Johannes), in 1705 his first opera was staged there. Almira (Almira). She was soon followed Nero (Nero), Florindo (Florindo) and Daphne (Daphne). In 1706 he left for Italy and remained there until the spring of 1710, living in Florence, Rome, Naples and Venice and composing Italian cantatas and oratorios, Catholic church music and operas. Handel met A. Corelli, A. and D. Scarlatti and other leading Italian composers, surprising them with his virtuoso playing on various instruments; a stay in Italy reinforced Handel's earlier inclination towards an Italian musical style.

Trips to England.

In June 1710, Handel replaced A.Steffany as court bandmaster of the Elector of Hanover, George, having previously asked for leave to travel to England. In the autumn of the same year, he went to London, where immediately upon arrival, within fourteen days, he composed an opera Rinaldo (Rinaldo), delivered on February 24, 1711.

Six months later, Handel returned to Hanover, but in the spring of 1712 he again ended up in England, where he wrote several more operas and dedicated them to Queen Anne. Clothes for birthday, and in honor of the conclusion of the Utrecht Peace he wrote Te Deum(1713). However, in 1714 the queen died, and she was succeeded by George of Hanover, who was very angry with Handel for his arbitrary delay in England.

Forgiveness was granted after the execution Music on the water (water music) - a surprise prepared by Handel for the king's boat trip along the Thames from Whitehall to Limehouse one August evening in 1715. (The story of Handel's forgiveness is considered by some to be a legend, since it is known that Handel's music sounded during another royal voyage in July 1717.) King approved an annual pension of 200 pounds, granted to the composer by Queen Anne, and in January 1716 Handel accompanied the monarch on his visit to Hanover; at the same time, the last work of the composer in German text was created - a poem about the Passion of the Lord by B.H. Brokkes, also used by J.S. Bach in his Passion according to John.

Upon his return to London (1717), Handel entered the service of the Duke of Chandos and directed concerts at the Duke's palace of Cannons near London; a number of Anglican anthems (church hymns) were also created there, a pastoral Acis and Galatea (Acis and Galatea) and a mask (entertainment performance) Haman and Mordechai (Haman and Mordechai, first edition of the oratorio Esther, Esther).

Opera composer.

Handel's service with the duke coincided with the period when Italian opera was not given in London, but in 1720 opera performances were resumed at the Royal Academy of Music, which was founded a year earlier with the participation of representatives of the English nobility and under the direction of Handel, J.M. Bononchini and A. Ariosti. Handel went to Europe in search of singers and returned with a new opera - Radamisto (Radamisto). The academy lasted nine seasons, during which Handel staged some of his best operas, such as Floridante(Floridante), Otto(Ottone), Julius Caesar(Giulio Cesare), rodelinda (Rodelinda). In February 1726 Handel became a British citizen. After the death of King George I (1727), he composed 4 coronation anthems for his heir. In 1728, the Academy of Music went bankrupt, unable to compete with the original witty satire that had just been staged in London. Beggar's opera Gaia and Pepusha, which had a tremendous success. Nevertheless, Handel did not want to admit defeat and, together with his business partner Heidegger, began the struggle: he gathered a new opera troupe and staged performances, first at the Royal Theater, then at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theater in Covent Garden. Since he had to fulfill during Great Lent Esther without a stage production (1732), he composed an oratorio the following year Deborah (Deborah) especially for the Lenten period, when it was impossible to give an opera. Handel's entreprise had a strong rival in the person of the opera troupe, which, in defiance of the father-king, was patronized by the Prince of Wales. During this period, the composer's health deteriorated, and in 1737 rheumatism, overwork and a deplorable financial situation finished off Handel, who was also abandoned by his companion. The composer made a truce with creditors and went to take hot baths in Aachen.

Oratorio.

1737 is a turning point in Handel's life. He returned from the resort cheerful and strengthened. But although he renewed his partnership with Heidegger, and from 1738 to 1741 the enterprise staged several more Handelian operas at the Royal Theater (in particular, Deidamia, Deidamia, the composer's last opera), Handel's attention now turned to another genre - the English oratorio, which did not require a stage or expensive Italian singers.

On March 28, 1738, Handel showed a program at the Haymarket Theatre, which he called oratorio(actually it was a mixed program of compositions from different genres), and it brought the composer an income of about a thousand pounds, which allowed him to pay all his debts. By this time there were already Esther, Deborah and Atalia (Athalia), but so far these have been only scattered examples of the new genre. From now on, starting from Saul (Saul) and Israel in Egypt (Israel in Egypt, 1739), Handel began to compose oratorios with the same regularity with which he had previously created Italian operas. The most famous oratorio Messiah(1741) was composed in three weeks and first performed on 13 April 1742 in Dublin. She was followed Samson, Semele, Joseph and Belshazzar. In the summer of 1745, Handel experienced a second serious crisis, both financial and related to deteriorating health, but managed to recover from it and marked the suppression of the Jacobite uprising with the creation of a pasticcio called Oratorio for the occasion (Occasional Oratorio). Another oratorio associated with the Jacobite uprising was Judas Maccabee (Judas Maccabaeus, 1747), which contemporaries perceived as a laudatory ode to the savior of England, the "butcher" Cumberland (William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland), slightly covered by a biblical story. Judas Maccabee- Handel's best oratorio; at the very first performance, the work turned out to be so in tune with the general mood that Handel immediately became a national hero, and a hero of the whole people, including not only the nobility, but also the middle class. In 1748-1750 he pleased his fans with a whole series of masterpieces - Alexander Balus (Alexander Balus), Joshua(Joshua), Susanna (Susan), Solomon (Solomon) and Theodora(Theodora), of which not all passed with the success they deserved. In 1749 Handel composed Firework music (fireworks music) for the celebration of the conclusion of the peace treaty in Aachen, which put an end to the War of the Austrian Succession; the fireworks themselves were not very successful, but Handel's music was a great success.

Last years, blindness and death.

In the summer of 1750, Handel visited Germany for the last time. Returning to England, he began work on an oratorio Jewfay (Jephtha), but felt that his vision was failing him. He was operated on three times, but in January 1753 Handel became completely blind. However, he did not sit idly by, but with the help of a devoted friend J.K. Smita composed his last great pasticcio Triumph of Time and Truth (Triumph of Time and Truth, 1757), the material for which was borrowed mainly from Handel's early Italian oratorio Il Trionfo del Tempo(1708), as well as from other previously created works. Handel continued to play the organ and conduct concerts. So, April 6, 1759, a week before his death, he led the execution Messiah at the Covent Garden Theatre. Handel died on 14 April and was buried on 20 April in Westminster Abbey; his coffin was accompanied by about three thousand people, and the combined choir of the abbey, the Cathedral of St. Paul and the Royal Chapel.

CREATION

Opera.

Handel's most valuable contribution to the treasury of world art is his English oratorios, but nevertheless it is necessary first of all to turn to his Italian operas. From 1705 to 1738 the composer devoted the vast majority of his creative energy to this genre.

Handel's operas are not mere concerts in costume, composed only so that the fashionable castrato singers (male sopranos and altos) and prima donnas of the time could demonstrate their virtuosity. It is true that Handel's operas are dominated by da capo arias in the traditional three-part form (A-B-A) and many of these arias are monuments of the golden age of Italian music and written in the style of A. Scarlatti, whose direct successor was Handel. But Handel's arias are rarely "pure" music: each aria draws an individual character in a given situation, and the sum of the arias creates an integral dramatic image. Handel had an amazing knack for creating dramatic character within a single aria (for example, Poppea's lament Bel piacere in Agrippina) and achieved brilliant results by breaking conventional form, for example, by introducing Caesar's recitative scene before Cleopatra's da capo aria. V"adoro pupille in Julia Caesar. The same form of the aria gives room for a picturesque and extraordinary orchestration, including both ordinary and stage orchestras. Handel's harmonic writing can also be quite expressive and original. Sometimes in climactic moments - such as the scene of Bayazet's death in Tamerlane or a crazy scene Orlando, - Handel moves away from a simple alternation of recitative dialogues with arias and composes a real dramatic scene.

Oratorios.

The dramatic techniques developed in the opera, Handel transferred to his oratorios. They differ from his operas in their lack of acting and scenery; using English instead of Italian; free introduction of choirs. Most often, religious subjects from the Old Testament are used in oratorios, but the music here is more dramatic than church, and in some cases (for example, in Semele and Hercules) plots are not connected with Christianity at all.

Messiah at first glance, it fully corresponds to the popular idea of ​​Handel's oratorio as a series of recitatives, arias, choirs, etc., and yet this work stands apart, which is already due to the plot: Messiah tells about the Nativity, the Passion and the Resurrection of Jesus, but not by means of a direct retelling of gospel events, but by various allusions. By unanimous opinion, Messiah- one of the masterpieces of world music, and yet it is hardly worth, as is often done, to extol this work, forgetting about other Handelian oratorios. Israel in Egypt- another outstanding oratorio: its peculiarity is the exceptional predominance of choirs and an equally exceptional number of "borrowings" from the music of other authors. In general, Handel's "borrowings" and adaptations of foreign material - from individual themes to entire parts - have repeatedly become the subject of discussion. Sometimes Handel takes someone else's theme in order to give impetus to his own imagination, and he certainly makes beneficial changes to it. However, the case Israel in Egypt(and it is not unique) requires a special explanation, since there are so many borrowings here that it comes almost to accusations of plagiarism. E.J. Dent suggested that the increased use of other people's materials in the writings of the late 1730s was the result of a mental illness that haunted Handel during these years.

Other choral genres.

The genre range of Handel's choral music is very wide: from two cycles of German passions (where Handel most closely touches the style of J.S. Bach) and English serenades (a genre close to opera) and odes (delightful pastoral Acis and Galatea, brilliant and picturesque Feast of Alexander, Alexander's Feast, etc.) to Italian chamber cantatas for solo voices, duets and trios (one or two numbers from this music later became very popular pieces Messiah – His yoke is easy and For unto us). It makes sense to divide the composer's church music into three categories, which differ greatly in style. The first category is a few early Catholic psalms, mostly composed in Italy; among them the best is Psalm 110 Dixit Dominus. The second category is the music of the Anglican Church, created on the occasion of major historical events: these are the "Dettingen" Te Deum, four magnificent anthems for the coronation of George II and a deeply felt funerary anthem The ways of Zion do mourn for the death of the queen. The third category consists of eleven less monumental so-called. Chandos anthems(named after the Duke of Chandos) more reminiscent in form of German church cantatas than any of the types of English anthems.

Instrumental works.

Instrumental works of Handel have numerous advantages, but still inferior in quality to his choral opuses. The peaks of the composer's chamber-instrumental creativity are his sonatas op. 1 for solo instruments (flute, oboe or violin with basso continuo) and trio sonata (op. 2), made in the Italian style, but undoubtedly Handelian in spirit. The trio sonatas (op. 5) are more superficial and largely consist of borrowings from early music. Similarly, the second cycle of organ concertos is mainly transcriptions; there are also many transcriptions in the excellent first cycle of organ concertos and in the third cycle, which were printed, respectively, under opuses 2 and 7. These concertos, performed by the author himself as interludes during the presentation of oratorios, appeared under the title Concertos for harpsichord or organ, and indeed, it is even more convenient to play them on a harpsichord than on an organ of a modern design (i.e., a harpsichord is preferable if a baroque organ is not available). The early concertos for orchestra (op. 3) are also uneven in quality. The main masterpiece of the composer's instrumental creativity is the monumental cycle of 12 concerti grossi for strings (published in 1740, op. 6); next to it you can put only some fragments Music on the water.

The weakest part of Handel's instrumental legacy is his harpsichord music. Eight suites ( Suites de pieces pour la Clavecin), published in 1720, and Six fugues or fantasies for organ or harpsichord (Six Fugues or Voluntarys for the Organ or Harpsicord), which appeared in 1735, are certainly worthy of the name of their author, although Handel’s “free”, quasi-improvisational fugues are still inferior to J.S. Bach’s chased fugues. Late suites and numerous small pieces in general are on the periphery of the composer's work.

Like Bach, Handel was distinguished by conservatism. Thus, his operas belong entirely to the genre of the Neapolitan opera of the early 18th century. Handel lived to see an era in which the Mannheim symphonists, K.F.E. –1760), who first wrote baroque operas for the Hamburg theater, by the middle of the 18th century. became the author of numerous symphonies of a new type. The new in Handel, like in Bach, was always brightly individual and had nothing to do with musical fashion trends. For example, the unique English oratorio is the creation of Handel in full measure. Handel's style, already obsolete during the composer's lifetime, did not have a direct impact on the musical process. Thirty years passed before Mozart discovered Handel and reorchestrated Messiah, and about forty years before Haydn took the Handelian path in the oratorio world creation.

Georg Friedrich Handel was born on February 23, 1685 in Halle (Saxony). The father, already a middle-aged surgeon, was at first against his son's musical studies, but when the boy was eight years old, he allowed him to study the organ for three years under the guidance of a local organist. In January 1702, after the death of his father, Handel entered the law faculty of the university of his native city, but a month later he was appointed organist at the cathedral. The following year, he said goodbye to Halle and went to Hamburg, where he became first a violinist and then a harpsichordist at the Hamburg Opera, at that time the only opera house in Germany. In Hamburg, Handel composed Passion for the Gospel of John (Passion nach dem Evangelium Johannes), in 1705 his first opera Almira (Almira) was staged there. She was soon followed by Nero (Nero), Florindo (Florindo) and Daphne (Dafne). In 1706 he left for Italy and remained there until the spring of 1710, living in Florence, Rome, Naples and Venice and composing Italian cantatas and oratorios, Catholic church music and operas. Handel met A. Corelli, A. and D. Scarlatti and other leading Italian composers, surprising them with his virtuoso playing on various instruments; a stay in Italy reinforced Handel's earlier inclination towards an Italian musical style.

Trips to England.

In June 1710, Handel replaced A.Steffany as court bandmaster of the Elector of Hanover, George, having previously asked for leave to travel to England. In the autumn of the same year, he went to London, where, immediately upon arrival, within fourteen days he composed the opera Rinaldo (Rinaldo), staged on February 24, 1711.

Six months later, Handel returned to Hanover, but in the spring of 1712 he again ended up in England, where he wrote several more operas and dedicated Queen Anna Oda for her birthday, and wrote Te Deum (1713) in honor of the conclusion of the Utrecht Peace. However, in 1714 the queen died, and she was succeeded by George of Hanover, who was very angry with Handel for his arbitrary delay in England.

Forgiveness was granted after the performance of Water Music, a surprise prepared by Handel for the king's boat trip down the Thames from Whitehall to Limehouse one August evening in 1715. (The story of Handel's forgiveness is considered by some to be a legend, since Handel's music is known to have during another royal voyage in July 1717.) The king approved an annual pension of 200 pounds, granted to the composer by Queen Anne, and in January 1716 Handel accompanied the monarch on his visit to Hanover; at the same time, the last work of the composer in German text was created - a poem about the Passion of the Lord by B.H. Brokkes, also used by J.S. Bach in his Passion according to John.

Upon his return to London (1717), Handel entered the service of the Duke of Chandos and directed concerts at the Duke's palace of Cannons near London; a number of Anglican anthems (chants), the pastoral Acis and Galatea (Acis and Galatea) and the mask (entertainment performance) Haman and Mordechai (Haman and Mordechai, the first edition of the oratorio Esther, Esther) were also created there.

Opera composer and manager.

Handel's service with the duke coincided with the period when the Italian opera was not given in London, but in 1720 opera performances were resumed in the so-called. The Royal Academy of Music, which was founded a year earlier with the participation of representatives of the English nobility and under the leadership of Handel, G. M. Bononchini and A. Ariosti. Handel went to Europe in search of singers and returned with a new opera, Radamisto. The Academy lasted nine seasons, during which Handel staged some of his best operas - for example, Floridante (Floridante), Ottone (Ottone), Julius Caesar (Giulio Cesare), Rodelinda (Rodelinda). In February 1726 Handel became a British citizen. After the death of King George I (1727), he composed 4 coronation anthems for his heir. In 1728, the Academy of Music went bankrupt, unable to compete with the original, sharply satirical Opera of the Beggar Gay and Pepush, which had just been staged in London and had a tremendous success. Nevertheless, Handel did not want to admit defeat and, together with his business partner Heidegger, began the struggle: he gathered a new opera troupe and staged performances, first at the Royal Theater, then at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theater in Covent Garden. Since he had to perform Esther without a stage performance during Lent (1732), the next year he composed the oratorio Deborah especially for the Lenten period, when it was impossible to give an opera. Handel's entreprise had a strong rival in the person of the opera troupe, which, in defiance of the father-king, was patronized by the Prince of Wales. During this period, the composer's health deteriorated, and in 1737 rheumatism, overwork and a deplorable financial situation finished off Handel, who was also abandoned by his companion. The composer made a truce with creditors and went to take hot baths in Aachen.

Oratorio. 1737 is a turning point in Handel's life. He returned from the resort cheerful and strengthened. But although he renewed his partnership with Heidegger and from 1738 to 1741 the entreprise staged several more of Handel's operas at the Royal Theater (in particular, Deidamia, Deidamia, the composer's last opera), Handel's attention from now on turned to another genre - the English oratorio, which did not require a stage. , nor expensive Italian singers.

Best of the day

On March 28, 1738, Handel showed a program at the Haymarket Theater that he called the Oratorio (actually it was a mixed program of works from different genres), and it brought the composer an income of about a thousand pounds, which allowed him to pay all his debts. By this time, Esther, Deborah and Athalia already existed, but so far these were only scattered examples of the new genre. From now on, starting with Saul (Saul) and Israel in Egypt (Israel in Egypt, 1739), Handel began to compose oratorios with the same regularity with which he had previously created Italian operas. The most famous oratorio - The Messiah (1741) was composed in three weeks and was first performed on April 13, 1742 in Dublin. She was followed by Samson, Semele, Joseph and Belshazzar. In the summer of 1745, Handel experienced a second serious crisis, both financial and related to declining health, but managed to recover from it and marked the suppression of the Jacobite uprising with the creation of a pasticcio called the Oratorio for the occasion (Occasional Oratorio). Another oratorio associated with the Jacobite uprising was Judas Maccabaeus (Judas Maccabaeus, 1747), which contemporaries perceived as a laudatory ode to the savior of England, the “butcher” of Cumberland (William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland), slightly covered by a biblical story. Judas Maccabee - Handel's best oratorio; at the very first performance, the work turned out to be so in tune with the general mood that Handel immediately became a national hero, and a hero of the whole people, including not only the nobility, but also the middle class. In 1748-1750, he pleased his fans with a whole series of masterpieces - Alexander Balus (Alexander Balus), Joshua (Joshua), Susanna (Susanna), Solomon (Solomon) and Theodora (Theodora), of which not all passed with the success that deserved. In 1749, Handel composed Fireworks Music for the celebration of the peace treaty in Aachen that ended the War of the Austrian Succession; the fireworks themselves were not very successful, but Handel's music was a great success.

Last years, blindness and death.

In the summer of 1750, Handel visited Germany for the last time. Returning to England, he began work on the oratorio Jephtha, but felt that his eyesight was failing him. He was operated on three times, but in January 1753 Handel became completely blind. However, he did not sit idly by, but with the help of a devoted friend J.K. Smith composed his last great pasticcio Triumph of Time and Truth (1757), the material for which was borrowed mainly from Handel's early Italian oratorio Il Trionfo del Tempo (1708), as well as from other previously created works. Handel continued to play the organ and conduct concerts. So, on April 6, 1759, a week before his death, he directed the performance of the Messiah at the Covent Garden Theatre. Handel died on 14 April and was buried on 20 April in Westminster Abbey; his coffin was accompanied by about three thousand people, and the combined choir of the abbey, the Cathedral of St. Paul and the Royal Chapel.

my opinion
Arina 09.11.2006 08:03:05

I think that this text is too boring. Especially for essays. In schools, children simply will not listen to this. If you listen to your readers, then I really hope that you will listen to my opinion!

2. Characteristics of Handel's creative style.

1. Life and creative path of Mr. F. Handel.

G. F. Handel (1685 - 1759) - German baroque composer. Born in Halle near Leipzig, he lived the first half of his life in Germany, and the second half - from 1716 - in England. Handel died in London and was buried in Westminster Abbey (the tomb of English kings, statesmen, famous people: Newton, Darwin, Dickens). In England, Handel is considered the English national composer.

At an early age, Handel shows great musical ability. Already at the age of 7, Handel conquers the Duke of Saxony with his playing on the organ. However, the child's musical hobbies run into opposition from his father, who dreamed of his son's legal career. Therefore, Handel enters the university at the Faculty of Law and at the same time serves as an organist in the church.

At the age of 18, Handel moved to Hamburg, the city with the first opera house in Germany, competing with theaters in France and Italy. It was the opera that attracted Handel. In Hamburg, Handel's first oratorio, The Passion According to the Gospel of John, appeared, the first operas - Almira, Nero.

In 1705, Handel went to Italy, where his stay was of great importance for the formation of Handel's style. In Italy, the composer's creative direction, his commitment to the Italian opera seria, was finally determined. Handel's operas receive enthusiastic recognition from Italians ("Rodrigo", "Agrippina"). Handel also writes oratorios, secular cantatas, in which he hones his vocal skills on Italian texts.

In 1710 the composer went to London, where from 1716 he finally settled down. In London, he devotes a lot of time to studying the choral art of England. As a result, 12 anthems appear - English psalms for choir, soloists and orchestra to biblical texts. In 1717, Handel wrote "Music on the Water" - 3 orchestral suites to be performed during the parade of the Royal Navy on the Thames.

In 1720, the Royal Academy of Music Opera House (since 1732 - Covent Garden) was opened in London, with Handel becoming its musical director. Period from 1720 to 1727 is the culmination of Handel's activity as an opera composer. Handel created several operas a year. Nevertheless, the Italian opera began to experience more and more crisis phenomena. English society began to experience an urgent need for national art. And although Handel's London operas were distributed throughout Europe as masterpieces, the decline in the prestige of Italian opera is reflected in his work. In 1728 the "Royal Academy of Music" had to be closed. However, Handel, without despair, travels to Italy, recruits a new troupe and opens the season of the Second Opera Academy. New operas appear: Roland, Ariodant, Alcina, etc., in which Handel updates the interpretation of the opera-seria - introduces ballet, strengthens the role of the choir, makes the musical language simpler and more expressive. However, the struggle for the opera house ends in defeat - the Second Opera Academy closes in 1737. The composer takes the collapse of the Academy hard, falls ill (depression, paralysis) and does not work for almost 8 months.

After the failure of the opera Deidalia (1741), Handel abandoned composing operas and focused on oratorios. In the period from 1738 to 1740. his biblical oratorios were written: “Saul”, “Israel in Egypt”, “Samson”, “Messiah”, etc. The oratorio “Messiah” after the premiere in Dublin met with sharp criticism from the clergy.

At the end of his life, Handel achieves lasting fame. Among the works written in recent years, "Music for Fireworks" stands out, intended for outdoor performance. In 1750, Handel took up the composition of the new oratorio "Jephthae". But here misfortune strikes him - he goes blind. Blind, he finishes the oratorio. In 1759 Handel dies.