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[Illustration: GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL

(_From a Portrait by Mercier in the possession of the Earl of
Malmesbury._)

_Frontispiece._]]




HANDEL

BY

ROMAIN ROLLAND

TRANSLATED BY
A. EAGLEFIELD HULL

MUS. DOC. (OXON.)

_WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR_

_17 MUSICAL ILLUSTRATIONS AND 4 PLATES_

[Illustration: colophon]

NEW YORK
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
1916




PREFACE


For a proper appreciation of the colossal work of Handel many years of
study and a book of some two hundred pages are very insufficient. To
treat at all adequately of Handel's life and work needs a whole lifetime
in itself, and even the indefatigable and enthusiastic Chrysander, who
devoted his life to this subject, has hardly encompassed the task.... I
have done what I could; my faults must be excused. This little book does
not pretend to be anything more than a very brief sketch of the life and
technique of Handel. I hope to study his character, his work, and his
times, more in detail in another volume.

ROMAIN ROLLAND.




CONTENTS


                                                 PAGE

HIS LIFE                                            1

HIS TECHNIQUE AND WORKS                           111

  (1) THE OPERAS                                  122

  (2) THE ORATORIOS                               134

  (3) THE CLAVIER COMPOSITIONS                    143

  (4) THE CHAMBER MUSIC (SONATAS AND TRIOS)       154

  (5) THE ORCHESTRAL WORKS                        158


APPENDICES--

  LIST OF HANDEL'S WORKS                          193

  BIBLIOGRAPHY                                    201

INDEX                                             204




PLATES


PORTRAIT BY THORNHILL                       _frontispiece_

GEORGE I AND HANDEL'S WATER MUSIC _to face page_       69

HANDEL'S MONUMENT IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY                107

HANDEL DIRECTING AN ORATORIO                          165




INTRODUCTION

BY THE EDITOR


Here in England we are supposed to know our Handel by heart, but it is
doubtful whether we do. Who can say from memory the titles of even six
of his thirty-nine operas, from whence may be culled many of his
choicest flowers of melody? M. Rolland rightly emphasises the importance
of the operas of Handel in the long chain of musical evolution, and it
seems impossible for anyone to lay down his book without having a more
all-round impression than heretofore of this giant among composers.

M. Saint-Saens once compared the position of a conductor in front of the
score of a Handel oratorio to that of a man who sought to settle with
his family in some old mansion which has been uninhabited for centuries.
The music was different altogether from that to which he was accustomed.
No nuances, no bowing, frequently no indication of rate, and often
merely a "sketched-in" bass.... Tradition only could guide him, and the
English, who alone could have preserved this, he considers, have lost
it.

Can it be recovered to any extent, and, if so, how?

Behind each towering figure of genius are to be found numbers of
eloquent men who prepared the way for him; and amongst these precursors
there is frequently discovered one who exercised a dominating influence
over the young budding genius. Such an influence was exercised by Zachau
on Handel, and M. Rolland rightly gives due importance to the
consideration of this old master's teachings and compositions, a careful
study of which should go far to supplying the right key to Handel's
music. One of the great shortcomings in the general musical listener is
a lack of the historical view of music. It is a long cry from Bach and
Handel to Debussy and Scriabin, but we shall be all the better for
looking well at both ends of the long musical chain which connects the
unvoiced expression of the past with the vague yet certain hopes of the
future.

No doubt we have hardly yet recovered from the false position into which
we have all helped to place Handel. He was never the great Church
composer which has been assumed for so long. Perhaps, rather, he leaned
to the pagan side of life in his art. As Mr. Streatfeild says, "You can
no more call the _Messiah_ a work of art than you can call the _Book of
Common Prayer_ popular as a masterpiece of literature.... Handel the
preacher is laid for ever in the tomb, but Handel the artist with his
all-em