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 ancient times were more often than not dramatically constructed and sometimes unashamedly operatic as in the case of Esther, London 1732, which was formerly the masque, Haman and Mordecai.
Instrumental Music
As an instrumental composer, Handel successfully almagamated the opposing violin styles of Arcangelo Corelli and Lully. His two great collections of music for massed strings are the six concerti grossi, also known as the hautboy (Oboe) concertos (Op.3, 1734), and, the 12 concerti grossI (Op.6 1739-40), four of which have obligatory Oboes which are uncountably left out in the first set of printed parts. These works represent the climax of concerto grosso music originally emerging from central Italy in the 1680’s. The retrospective attitude indicating a general preference for archaic style, is also noticeable in Handel’s suites de pieces of 1720 and 1733, the greatest collections of his pieces for the harpsichord.
Editions of Handel’s works
The most famous and complete collection of Handel’s works is that of Friedrich Chrysander(105 volumes, 1859-94). In 1953, a new critical edition of complete works was begun in Halle by the Handel Society.
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 ancient times were more often than not dramatically constructed and sometimes unashamedly operatic as in the case of Esther, London 1732, which was formerly the masque, Haman and Mordecai.
Instrumental Music
As an instrumental composer, Handel successfully almagamated the opposing violin styles of Arcangelo Corelli and Lully. His two great collections of music for massed strings are the six concerti grossi, also known as the hautboy (Oboe) concertos (Op.3, 1734), and, the 12 concerti grossI (Op.6 1739-40), four of which have obligatory Oboes which are uncountably left out in the first set of printed parts. These works represent the climax of concerto grosso music originally emerging from central Italy in the 1680’s. The retrospective attitude indicating a general preference for archaic style, is also noticeable in Handel’s suites de pieces of 1720 and 1733, the greatest collections of his pieces for the harpsichord.
Editions of Handel’s works
The most famous and complete collection of Handel’s works is that of Friedrich Chrysander(105 volumes, 1859-94). In 1953, a new critical edition of complete works was begun in Halle by the Handel Society.
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