Handel’s Music Timeline


Meanwhile, Handel started experimenting with oratorio by the middle 1730’s which he took more seriously. The apex of his creative career was reached shortly after his physical recovery in Aix-la-Chapelle, when he produced his greatest music oratorios: Saul(first performed in London 1739) and Israel in Egypt (London 1739 and revised before their publication in April 1740);Ode for St.Cecilia’s day (London 1739); the set of 12 concerti grossi of 6 composed in four weeks in the autumn of 1739; and the sacred oratorio ‘Messaiah’, first performed in Dublin on April 13 1742. The growing popularity of the latter work firmly established Handel’s interest in oratorio, and during the following decade, all the great oratorios based mainly on heroic episodes of Biblical history were composed.

In 1749, Handel’s last and greatest contribution to orchestral music, the music for the Royal Fireworks was first performed to celebrate the peace of Aix-la- Chapelle. He paid his last visit to Germany in 1750 and in the following year completed his last oratorio, Jeptha. While he was composing the work, his eyesight began to fail. Medical treatment was of little avail, and by 1755, Handel was almost totally blind. 

He was now totally unable to write new works but with the help of his trusted amanuensis, Christopher Smith, he was able to revise older works, among them were his early Italian oratorio which now became, Tbe Triumph of Time and Truth (1757). He continued to preside at performances of  Messiah and to improvise at the organ and harpsichord; on the latter instrument he was a famous virtuoso. He died on April 14 1759, in London , eight days after the last Messiah performance under his direction, and was buried at Westminster Abbey.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Johannes Brahms

 Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), was one of the greatest German composers of the 19th century. He was born in Hamburg where his father was a double bass player in the civic orchestra. As a child, he revealed an outstanding genius and made his debut as a pianist at only age ten. He then left home at age 20, for a concert tour. Roeber Schumann was one who greatly believed in Brahms and was largely responsible for announcing his career as a ' man called forth to the ideal expression of the time'.  However, his words had a profound effect and Brahms became known, and the publication of his works was eagerly awaited. From 1857-1859, he served as pianist and chord conductor for part of each year at the court of Detmold, and during the remaining months, he was also conductor for a women's choir so as to gain recognition and eventually a permanent position in his hometown ( or native city). But this was not the case. When the position for the Philharmonic concerts was open, five years...
Read more

Handel’s Musical Style

Opera During his life time, Handel’s fame rested on his achievements as a composer of Italian opera. In this he followed Alessandro Scarlatti, but also absorbed elements of style from Jean Baptiste Lully and his followers. Apart from the few early operas composed in Hamburg on partly German librettos, and  with one exception of the Venetian Agrippina, Handel’s operas were all written for and produced at London opera houses.They employed castrati and prima donnnas and excelled in the beautiful contrapuntal texture of their da capo arias(arias with an ABA form). However, Handel had no confidence in the possibility of an English national opera. When his Neapolitan brand of opera finally failed, especially as it was satirized in “The Beggar’s opera” and in “The  Dragon of Wantley”, Handel’s creative interest shifted to oratorios. Oratorio The oratorios which had a strong popular appeal, encouraging the British audience to identify themselves with the heroic Jewish people of ...
Read more

Amadeus Mozart

In 1787, he was appointed imperial chamber composer at the meager salary of 800 florins, went to Prague for a performance of his opera, le nozze di figarro(The marriage of figaro) composed in 1786, and was commissioned to write Don Giovanni.  Three years later, at the Austrian emperor’s request, Mozart wrote the opera buffa cosipan tutte(Thus Do They All). In 1791, the year of his death, he created La Clemenza di Tito( The Clemency of Tito) for the coronation of  Emperor Leopold II in Prague. In this Opera, he was unable to rise to the heights of his previous dramatic creations. His genius is once again at its apex, however, in his German opera Die Zauberflote(The Magic Flute), composed in the same year for a Viennese suburban theater. This work is a mixture of comic elements.  As early as 1784, Mozart had joined the masons and a number of his compositions were written for them. His last important work was the Requiem which he was unable to complete.  The causes of M...
Read more