When did Handel write his Water Music Suite?
Water Music
The Water Music is a collection of orchestral movements, often published as three suites, composed by George Frideric Handel. It premiered on 17 July 1717, in response to King George I's request for a concert on the River Thames.
Hercules (Handel)
Hercules (HWV 60) is a "Musical Drama" in three acts by George Frideric Handel, composed in July and August 1744. The English language libretto was by the Reverend Thomas Broughton, based on Sophocles's "Women of Trachis" and the ninth book of Ovid's Metamorphoses.
Rodelinda (opera)
Rodelinda, regina de' Longobardi (HWV 19) is an opera seria in three acts composed for the first Royal Academy of Music by George Frideric Handel. The libretto is by Nicola Francesco Haym, based on an earlier libretto by Antonio Salvi. "Rodelinda" has long been regarded as one of Handel's greatest works.
Beecham-Handel suites
Both at the time and in the present day, Beecham's arrangements of Handel have divided opinion. Some critics have found the 20th-century orchestration inappropriate; others have praised Beecham for unearthing long-forgotten music and bringing it before the public. Recordings of the suites, mostly conducted by Beecham between 1932 and 1959, remain in the current catalogues, but have dropped out of the general concert repertoire.
Halle (Saale)
Baroque composer Georg Friedrich Händel (later "George Frideric Handel") was born in Halle in 1685 and spent the first 17 years of his life in the city. The house where he lived is now a museum about his life. To celebrate his music, Halle has staged a Handel Festival since 1922, annually in June since 1952. The "Franckesche Stiftungen" (Francke Foundations) are home to the "", which was founded before the year 1116 and is one of the oldest boys' choirs in the world.
Nabal (Handel)
Nabal (no HWV number) is an oratorio pastiche. It was compiled from the works of Handel in 1764 by John Christopher Smith. It was first performed on 16 March 1764 at Covent Garden, London.
Ellastone
The ruined Calwich Abbey is also situated nearby. An abbey was first built on the site in 1148, however the latest hall, built in 1848, was demolished in 1935, leaving only the stable block which is visible today. The composer Handel was one of the abbey's guests on several occasions. As such it has been suggested that it may have inspired some of his most important pieces such as "Messiah" and the "Water Music".
Der Handschuh (Waterhouse)
Graham Waterhouse composed "Der Handschuh" in 2005, as a kind of melodrama in the tradition of spoken narrative to instrumental accompaniment, such as ballads by Robert Schumann and Richard Strauss, a crucial scene of Weber's opera "Der Freischütz" and 20th century settings by Schoenberg, William Walton, Henze and Poulenc's L'Histoire de Babar, le petit éléphant. It is the composer's first major work for the combination of Sprechstimme (speaking voice) and his instrument, the cello. Until then he had occasionally set texts to music for the unusual scoring. In 1995 he wrote "Vezza", a limerick on whether/weather as a German might pronounce it, recorded in 2002 with the composer speaking and playing. In 2001 he set "Flohlied" (Song of the Flea), the satirical song from Goethe's Faust I, to music, published by Heinrichshofen's Verlag. The final poem of his song cycle "Sechs späteste Lieder" (six latest songs, 2003) after Friedrich Hölderlin for mezzo-soprano and cello is spoken.
Concerti grossi, Op. 6 (Handel)
Handel's twelve grand concertos were already available to the public through Walsh's 1740 solo organ arrangements of four of them and through the various editions of the full Opus 6 produced during Handel's lifetime. Twenty-five years after Handel's death, a Handel Commemoration was initiated in London by George III in 1784, with five concerts in Westminster Abbey and the Pantheon. These concerts, repeated over the next few years and establishing an English tradition for Handel festivals in the nineteenth century and beyond, were on a grand scale, with huge choruses and instrumental forces, far beyond what Handel had at his disposal: apart from sackbuts and trombones, a special organ was installed in the Abbey with displaced keyboards. Nevertheless, excerpts from four of his grand concertos (Nos. 1, 5, 6 and 11), originally conceived for baroque chamber orchestra, were performed at the first commemoration; Op. 6, No. 1, was played in its entirety at the fourth concert in Westminster Abbey. They were described in detail by the contemporary musicologist and commentator Charles Burney in 1785. Three years later Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart incorporated the Musette from Op. 6, No. 6, and a short Largo from Op. 6, No. 7, into his reorchestration of "Acis and Galatea", K 566.
Water Music
In 1922, Hamilton Harty made a re-orchestrated arrangement of about 5 of the movements. The arrangement has also been recorded many times.
Oboe Concerto No. 2 (Handel)
The Oboe Concerto No. 2 in B flat major (HWV 302a) was composed by George Frideric Handel for oboe, orchestra and basso continuo. The work is also referred to as "Concerto grosso No. 9". It was first published in the fourth volume of "Select Harmony" by Walsh in 1740. Other catalogues of Handel's music have referred to the work as HG xxi,91; and HHA iv/12,47.
Lady in the Water
Having already formulated ideas for the score the previous year, James Newton Howard wrote it during the early part of 2006, and the orchestral score was recorded over a period of four days in May by the 91-piece Hollywood Studio Symphony.
Terpsicore
Terpsicore (HWV)(8b) is a prologue in the form of an opéra-ballet by George Frideric Handel. Handel composed it in 1734 for a revision of his opera "Il pastor fido" which had first been presented in 1712. The revision of "Il pastor fido" with "Terpsicore" as the prologue was first performed on 9 November 1734 at Covent Garden theatre in London, opening Handel's first season in that newly built theatre. "Terpsicore" mixes dance along with solo and choral singing and was patterned after models in French operas, a particular source being "Les festes grecques et romaines" by Louis Fuzelier and Colin de Blamont, first presented in Paris in 1723. The work featured the celebrated French dancer Marie Sallé as well as stars of Handel's Italian operas and was a success with audiences of the day.
Samuel Arnold (composer)
Arnold's best-known works include:He is also known for producing the first collected edition of the works of George Frideric Handel between 1787 and 1797, published in 180 parts. This was the most comprehensive collection of Handel's music prior to the appearance of the "Händel-Gesellschaft" edition in the next century.
Joshua (Handel)
Joshua (HWV 64) is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel. It was composed in a month, between 19 July 1747 and 19 August 1747, six months before the beginning of the oratorio season, and is Handel's fourth oratorio based on a libretto by Thomas Morell. The oratorio premiered on 9 March 1748 at the Covent Garden Theatre, London. " Joshua" is based on the Biblical story of Joshua as the leader of the Children of Israel. The story follows the Israelites from their passage over the Jordan River into Caanan and through the Battle of Jericho. The work also includes a love story elaborated from a few hints in the Biblical narrative between Achsah, Caleb's daughter and Othniel, a young soldier.
Water Music (Telemann)
Water Music ("), TWV 55:C3, is the common name of an orchestral suite by the German Baroque composer Georg Philipp Telemann, with the full title (Hamburg ebb and flood). Telemann composed the piece in ten movements to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the in a performance on 6 April 1723. The suite draws upon Hamburg's geographical location as an important and successful port on the river Elbe while Telemann illustrates the piece with mythological water deities and tone painting giving the nautical theme added depth. The overture begins by representing the physical movement of the ocean, followed by several dance movements: first, the sleeping sea goddess Thetis, the mother of Achilles, who then awakes; the sea god Neptune in love; playful water nymphs known as Naiads; Neptune's son and sea messenger Triton joking; Aeolus, ruler of the winds; and Zephir, god of the west wind. Two final pieces follow, one depicting the tides of Hamburg and finally, its happy sailors.
Messiah (Handel)
The 1749 revival at Covent Garden, under the proper title of "Messiah", saw the appearance of two female soloists who were henceforth closely associated with Handel's music: Giulia Frasi and Caterina Galli. In the following year these were joined by the male alto Gaetano Guadagni, for whom Handel composed new versions of "But who may abide" and "Thou art gone up on high". The year 1750 also saw the institution of the annual charity performances of "Messiah" at London's Foundling Hospital, which continued until Handel's death and beyond. The 1754 performance at the hospital is the first for which full details of the orchestral and vocal forces survive. The orchestra included fifteen violins, five violas, three cellos, two double-basses, four bassoons, four oboes, two trumpets, two horns and drums. In the chorus of nineteen were six trebles from the Chapel Royal; the remainder, all men, were altos, tenors and basses. Frasi, Galli and Beard led the five soloists, who were required to assist the chorus. For this performance the transposed Guadagni arias were restored to the soprano voice. By 1754 Handel was severely afflicted by the onset of blindness, and in 1755 he turned over the direction of the "Messiah" hospital performance to his pupil, J.C. Smith. He apparently resumed his duties in 1757 and may have continued thereafter. The final performance of the work at which Handel was present was at Covent Garden on 6 April 1759, eight days before his death.
Handel's lost Hamburg operas
The loss of much of Handel's early work was first noted by his earliest biographer, Mainwaring (1760), who refers to "a great quantity of music" from Hamburg and Italy, adding that it was not known how much of it still existed. On departing from Hamburg, Handel spent a further three years in Italy before settling in London, where he remained the dominant composer of Italianate opera for the following thirty years. After his Hamburg initiation, Handel composed more than forty operas, beginning with "Rodrigo" in 1707, and ending in 1740 with "Deidamia". These works were quickly forgotten after Handel's death; modern revivals did not begin until the 1920s. Dean and Knapp believe that, despite the years of relative neglect, Handel's achievements as a composer of opera entitle him to rank alongside Monteverdi, Mozart, Verdi, and Richard Wagner as one of the supreme masters of the genre.
Concerti grossi, Op. 6 (Handel)
The Concerti Grossi, Op. 6, or Twelve Grand Concertos, HWV 319–330, are 12 concerti grossi by George Frideric Handel for a concertino trio of two violins and violoncello and a ripieno four-part string orchestra with harpsichord continuo. First published by subscription in London by John Walsh in 1739, in the second edition of 1741 they became Handel's Opus 6. Taking the older concerto da chiesa and concerto da camera of Arcangelo Corelli as models, rather than the later three-movement Venetian concerto of Antonio Vivaldi favoured by Johann Sebastian Bach, they were written to be played during performances of Handel's oratorios and odes. Despite the conventional model, Handel incorporated in the movements the full range of his compositional styles, including trio sonatas, operatic arias, French overtures, Italian sinfonias, airs, fugues, themes and variations and a variety of dances. The concertos were largely composed of new material: they are amongst the finest examples in the genre of baroque concerto grosso.
In 1735 Handel had started to incorporate organ concertos into performances of his oratorios. By showcasing himself as composer-performer, he could provide an attraction to match the Italian castrati of the rival company, the Opera of the Nobility. These concertos formed the basis of the Handel organ concertos Op.4, published by John Walsh in 1738.
George Frideric Handel
Early chamber works do exist, but it is difficult to date any of them to Handel's time in Halle. Many historians until recently followed Chrysander and designated the six trio sonatas for two oboes and basso continuo as his first known composition, supposedly written in 1696 (when Handel was 11). Lang doubts the dating based on a handwritten date of a copy (1700) and stylistic considerations. Lang writes that the works "show thorough acquaintance with the distilled sonata style of the Corelli school" and are notable for "the formal security and the cleanness of the texture." Hogwood considers all of the oboe trio sonatas spurious and even suggests that some parts cannot be performed on oboe. That authentic manuscript sources do not exist and that Handel never recycled any material from these works make their authenticity doubtful. Other early chamber works were printed in Amsterdam in 1724 as opus 1, but it is impossible to tell which are early works in their original form, rather than later re-workings by Handel, a frequent practice of his.
Liquid sound
Remann performed initial experiments with light and sound technology in 1986 at the so-called "Frankfurt Underwater Concert" in what was at that time the Central Municipal Indoor Swimming Pool (today, the "Wave" in the Hilton Hotel in Frankfurt) as an artistic performance. One of the participating musicians, among others, was Alfred Harth.
This underwater concert won Remann an entry in the Guinness Book of Records.
The Harmonious Blacksmith
The Australian-born composer and pianist Percy Grainger based one of his most famous works on this melody. He first wrote his "Variations on Handel's ‘The Harmonious Blacksmith’" in 1911. Shortly after, he used the first sixteen bars of his set of variations to create one of his most beloved pieces, "Handel in the Strand". He wrote that the music “seemed to reflect both Handel and English musical comedy”, hence the title. The composer made various versions of the work, most notably, a piano solo version (1930).
Keyboard suite in D minor (HWV 437)
The Keyboard suite in D minor (HWV 437) was composed by George Frideric Handel, for solo keyboard (harpsichord), between 1703 and 1706. It is also referred to as " Vol. 2 No. 4". It was first published in 1733.
George Frideric Handel
In 1747 Handel wrote his oratorio "Alexander Balus". This work was produced at Covent Garden Theatre in London, on 23 March 1748, and to the aria "Hark! hark! He strikes the golden lyre", Handel wrote the accompaniment for mandolin, harp, violin, viola, and violoncello. Another of his English oratorios, "Solomon", was first performed on 17 March 1749 at the Covent Garden Theatre. "Solomon" contains a short and lively instrumental passage for two oboes and strings in act 3, known as "The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba".
Recorder Sonata in C major, HWV 365 (Handel)
The Sonata in C major (HWV 365), for recorder and harpsichord, was composed (probably before 1712) by George Frideric Handel. The work is also referred to as "Opus 1 No. 7", and was first published in or shortly after 1726—in a collection of twelve sonatas titled "Sonates pour un Traversiere un Violon ou Hautbois Con Basso Continuo Composées par G. F. Handel"—purportedly in Amsterdam by Jeanne Roger, but now shown to have been a forgery by the London publisher John Walsh. Walsh republished this sonata in 1731 or 1732 under his own imprint in a similar collection, containing ten of the earlier sonatas and two new ones, with the new title "Solos for a German Flute a Hoboy or Violin With a Thorough Bass for the Harpsichord or Bass Violin Compos'd by Mr. Handel". Other catalogues of Handel's music have referred to the work as HG xxvii,15; and HHA iv/3,33.
George Frideric Handel
Handel's father died on 11 February 1697. It was German custom for friends and family to compose funeral odes for a substantial burgher like Georg, and young Handel discharged his duty with a poem dated 18 February and signed with his name and (in deference to his father's wishes) "dedicated to the liberal arts." At the time Handel was studying either at Halle's Lutheran Gymnasium or the Latin School.
Handel solo sonatas (Walsh)
Solos for a German Flute a Hoboy or Violin with a Thorough Bass for the Harpsichord or Bass Violin Compos'd by Mr. Handel was published by John Walsh in 1732. It contains a set of twelve sonatas, for various instruments, composed by George Frideric Handel. The 63 page publication includes the sonatas that are generally known as Handel's "Opus 1" (three extra "Opus 1" sonatas were added in a later edition by Chrysander).
Solomon (Handel)
The German-born Handel had been resident in London since 1712 and had there enjoyed great success as a composer of Italian operas. His opportunities to set English texts to music had at first been more limited; he had spent the years 1717 to 1719 as composer in residence to the wealthy Duke of Chandos where he had written church anthems and two stage works, "Acis and Galatea" and "Esther"; and had composed vocal music to English words for various royal occasions, including a set of Coronation anthems for George II in 1727, which had made a huge impact. In 1731, a performance of the 1718 version of "Esther", a work in English based on a Biblical drama by Jean Racine, was given in London without Handel's participation and had proved popular, so Handel revised the work and planned to present it at the theatre where his Italian operas were being presented. However the Bishop of London would not permit a drama based on a Biblical story to be acted out on the stage, and therefore Handel presented "Esther" in concert form, thus giving birth to the English oratorio.
Such was the success of his oratorios in English that eventually Handel abandoned Italian opera, his last being Deidamia in 1741, and produced a string of masterpieces of oratorio in English.
Salve Regina (Handel)
Salve Regina (HWV 241) is an antiphon composed by George Friederic Handel around 1707. It is most likely that the work was first performed for Trinity Sunday in Vignanello on 19 July 1707 in the Church of Santa Maria in Montesanto, under the patronage of the Colonna family. Other catalogues of Handel's music have referred to the work as HG xxxviii,136 (there is no HHA designation of the work).
George Frideric Handel
In 1719 the Duke of Chandos became one of the composer's important patrons and main subscribers to his new opera company, the Royal Academy of Music, but his patronage declined after Chandos lost money in the South Sea bubble, which burst in 1720 in one of history's greatest financial cataclysms. Handel himself invested in South Sea stock in 1716, when prices were low and sold before 1720.
Handel at Cannons
Handel settled in England in 1712, but appears not to have maintained his own household in London until 1723. He attracted the patronage of noblemen such as Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, and he was based at Burlington House before becoming Cannons' resident composer from 1717 to 1718. It has been suggested that the move to Cannons was related to the fact that in 1717 there was reduced demand for his services in central London because operatic productions were experiencing a temporary downturn. At the end of Handel's stay at Cannons, the Duke and his friends helped him establish a new opera company in London, the so-called Royal Academy of Music.
Parnasso in festa
The German-born Handel had been resident in London since 1712 and had there achieved great success as a composer of Italian operas. He had also enjoyed the patronage of monarchs Queen Anne, George I and George II and other members of the royal family and had been commissioned by them to compose numerous pieces of music for worship services in the royal chapels as well as for other royal occasions. Handel enjoyed a particularly warm and close relationship with Anne, Princess Royal, eldest daughter of George II, who supported his opera seasons, was an accomplished musician herself, and to whom Handel even gave private lessons – although he did not enjoy teaching, he made an exception in her case. Handel composed the anthem for her wedding, "This is the day which the Lord hath made", to Biblical texts selected by Anne herself, which was performed at her marriage to William IV, Prince of Orange, at the French chapel in St James's Palace on 14 March 1734. The evening before the wedding, the princess, the rest of the royal family and all their court attended the first performance of "Parnasso in festa", specially composed by Handel for the occasion to an anonymous Italian text, at the King's Theatre in the Haymarket where he was presenting his seasons of Italian operas, and with the same star opera singers who were appearing in his current successful opera ""Arianna in Creta"".
Water Music (disambiguation)
Water Music is a 1717 composition by George Frideric Handel. It may also may refer to:
Handel and Haydn Society
The Society has performed Handel's "Messiah" annually since 1854. It gave the first United States performances of Verdi's "Requiem" in 1878, just four years after its world premiere, and of Handel's "Joshua" on Easter Sunday 1876. The first works by American composers appeared in the Society's 1874 programs: "St. Peter" by John Knowles Paine and the "Forty-sixth Psalm" by Dudley Buck. In 1892, the Society presented the premiere of the Mass in E flat by Amy Beach, a youthful work by the first important female American composer. Critics condemned the H+H performance of the Berlioz Te Deum in 1888 as the work of "a musical crank".
Handel Festival, Halle
The first Handel Festival in Halle was conducted in 1922, three years after the Handel Festival in Göttingen. It showed the oratorios "Semele" and "Susanna", the opera "Orlando furioso" arranged by Hans Joachim Moser, and smaller works by Handel and other Halle composers of the 16th, 17th and 18th century. A "Händel-Gesellschaft" (Handel Society) was founded in 1925 and staged a second festival in 1929, directed by Hermann Abert. The 250th anniversary of the composer in 1935 was the occasion for a third festival, termed "Reichs-Händelgedenktage" by the Nazis. After World War II Erich Neuß, Max Schneider, Herbert Koch and others founded a "Hallische Händel-Gesellschaft" (Halle Handel Society), which organized a fourth festival in 1948 in collaboration with the Landestheater, the Evangelische Kirchenmusikschule (Academy of Protestant Church Music) and the Musikhochschule. It took place in the , completed shortly before.
Ero e Leandro
"Ero e Leandro" comes from a period very early in Handel's career, when Handel, having travelled to Italy in 1706, was replacing his former Germanic style of composition with the Italian style that he would use for the rest of his life. Music from it would be reused by Handel in his later compositions: Themes taken from this opera appear in both Handel's Recorder Sonata Opus 1, No 2 and in his "Utrecht Te Deum" for the setting of "Vouchsafe, O Lord". In "Agrippina", Agrippina's aria "Non ho che cor amarti" was taken, almost entirely unadapted, from "Se la morte non vorrà".
Handel &amp; Hendrix in London
Handel made his home in London in 1712 and eventually became a British citizen in 1727. Handel was the first occupant of 25 Brook Street, which he rented from 1723 until his death there in 1759. Almost all his works after 1723, amongst them many of his best-known operas, oratorios and ceremonial music, were composed and partially rehearsed in the house, which contained a variety of keyboard instruments, including harpsichords, a clavichord and a small chamber organ.
George Frideric Handel
In 1736 Handel produced "Alexander's Feast". John Beard appeared for the first time as one of Handel's principal singers and became Handel's permanent tenor soloist for the rest of Handel's life. The piece was a great success and it encouraged Handel to make the transition from writing Italian operas to English choral works. In "Saul", Handel was collaborating with Charles Jennens and experimenting with three trombones, a carillon and extra-large military kettledrums (from the Tower of London), to be sure "...it will be most excessive noisy". "Saul" and "Israel in Egypt" both from 1739 head the list of great, mature oratorios, in which the da capo aria became the exception and not the rule. "Israel in Egypt" consists of little else but choruses, borrowing from the "Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline". In his next works Handel changed his course. In these works he laid greater stress on the effects of orchestra and soloists; the chorus retired into the background. "L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato" has a rather diverting character; the work is light and fresh.
Parnasso in festa
In "Parnasso in festa", Handel re-used much of the music he had composed for the English oratorio "Athalia", which had been presented in Oxford on 10 July 1733 "to immense applause". Re-using music in this way, especially for an audience in a different location than the one where it had been heard first, was a common practice of Handel's and of other composers of the time. 18th century musicologist Charles Burney observed of "Parnasso in festa" that the music "was new to the ears of the greatest part of a London audience; and Handel with all the riches of his genius and invention, was very economical, and as frequently turned and patched up his old productions, as if he had laboured under indigence of thought." However a substantial portion of the music of "Parnasso in festa" was newly composed for the piece.
Air (music)
By the 18th century, composers wrote airs for instrumental ensembles without voice. These were song-like, lyrical pieces, often movements in a larger composition. Johann Sebastian Bach composed two of the best known airs: the second movement of his "Suite No. 3 in D major", BWV 1068, which August Wilhelmj arranged for violin and piano as "Air on the G String"; and the theme of his "Goldberg Variations", BWV 988, the Air present also in Partitas BWV 825–830 harpsichord. The fifth movement of George Frideric Handel's "Suite in F Major", HWV 348, part of Handel's "Water Music" collection, is another frequently performed air.
Handel flute sonatas
Three sonatas attributed to Handel were published by Walsh in 1730 as part of a collection titled "Six Solos, Four for a German Flute and a Bass and two for a Violin with a Thorough Bass". It was supposed that they were early works composed by Handel before 1703 in Halle but their authenticity is now considered doubtful. The supposition of the date has been proven unfounded, at least for the second sonata, three movements of which are arrangements of music known to have been composed by Handel after 1712.
George Frideric Handel
In 1717 Handel became house composer at Cannons in Middlesex, where he laid the cornerstone for his future choral compositions in the twelve "Chandos Anthems". Romain Rolland wrote that these anthems (or Psalms) stood in relation to Handel's oratorios, much the same way that the Italian cantatas stood to his operas: "splendid sketches of the more monumental works." Another work, which he wrote for The 1st Duke of Chandos, the owner of Cannons, was "Acis and Galatea": during Handel's lifetime it was his most performed work. Winton Dean wrote, "the music catches breath and disturbs the memory".
The English Concert
Trevor Pinnock stepped down as director in 2003 to pursue solo and other conducting projects. Orchestra members decided to hand over to violinist Andrew Manze, who was at that time associate director of The Academy of Ancient Music. One of his first projects as director was a reconstruction of the first performance (in 1717) of Handel's "Water Music", sailing down the River Thames on a barge. This was filmed for the BBC and released on DVD. With Manze's leadership came a new series of recordings with Harmonia Mundi.
Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate
"Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate" was first published in full score during the 1730s. It was published by the Deutsche Händelgesellschaft in 1870 in Leipzig as HWV 278 and 279 in the attempted complete edition of Handel's works. Friedrich Chrysander edited it as volume 31 of "G.F. Händel's Werke: Ausgabe der Deutschen Händelgesellschaft", titled "Utrechter Te Deum und Jubilate", with the texts in both English and German. Chrysander mentions in his preface a score published in 1731 by John Walsh: "Te Deum and Jubilate, for Voices and Instruments performed before the Sons of the Clergy at the Cathedral-Church of St. Paul. Compos'd by George Frederick Handel. London. Printed for & sold by John Walsh".
Water Music
King George's companions in the royal barge included Anne Vaughan, the Duchess of Bolton, the Duchess of Newcastle, the Duke of Kingston, Madam Kielmansegg, the Countess of Godolphin, and the Earl of Orkney. Handel's orchestra is believed to have performed from about 8 p.m. until well after midnight, with only one break while the king went ashore at Chelsea.
Water Yam (artist's book)
The scores divide roughly into three sections; the earliest ones, 1959–62, describe events intended to be performed (such as "Solo for Violin, Viola, Cello or Contrabass" • Polish, July 1962); a second group of scores from '62-63 tend towards describing the temporary creation of assemblages; (such as "Chair Event" • on a white chair a grater, tape measure, alphabet, flag, black and spectral colours, April 1962). The third group, also 1962-63, are more personal and abstract; (such as "Thursday" • Thursday, March 1963). When originally published, Maciunas decided to emphasize 14 of the more musical scores (such as the famous "Drip Music"; A source of dripping water and an empty vessel are arranged so that the water falls into the vessel, January 1962) by printing them on orange cards, whilst the rest (such as "Keyhole" •Through either side) were printed on Brecht's more usual plain white card.
Chamber Music (poetry collection)
Chamber Music is a collection of poems by James Joyce, published by Elkin Mathews in May 1907. The collection originally comprised thirty-four love poems, but two further poems were added before publication ("All day I hear the noise of waters" and "I hear an army charging upon the land").
George Frideric Handel
In May 1719, The 1st Duke of Newcastle, the Lord Chamberlain, ordered Handel to look for new singers. Handel travelled to Dresden to attend the newly built opera. He saw "Teofane" by Antonio Lotti, and engaged members of the cast for the Royal Academy of Music, founded by a group of aristocrats to assure themselves a constant supply of baroque opera or opera seria. Handel may have invited John Smith, his fellow student in Halle, and his son Johann Christoph Schmidt, to become his secretary and amanuensis. By 1723 he had moved into a Georgian house at 25 Brook Street, which he rented for the rest of his life. This house, where he rehearsed, copied music and sold tickets, is now the Handel House Museum. During twelve months between 1724 and 1725, Handel wrote three outstanding and successful operas, "Giulio Cesare", "Tamerlano" and "Rodelinda". Handel's operas are filled with da capo arias, such as "Svegliatevi nel core". After composing "Silete venti", he concentrated on opera and stopped writing cantatas. "Scipio", from which the regimental slow march of the British Grenadier Guards is derived, was performed as a stopgap, waiting for the arrival of Faustina Bordoni.
An Wasserflüssen Babylon
Franz Tunder composed a setting of the hymn for soprano, strings and continuo. Organist at the Marienkirche in Lübeck from 1646–1668, Tunder initiated his "Abendmusik" there. Buxtehude later married Tunder's daughter and succeeded him as organist at Lübeck.
Bach also composed a number of four-part chorale harmonisations around 1735, including one setting of "An Wasserflüssen Babylon", BWV 267. The main copyist was Johann Ludwig Dietel, one of Bach's pupils from the Thomasschule zu Leipzig. Although considered to have been lost by Philipp Spitta, Dietel's manuscript (R.18)—containing one hundred and fifty chorales—was discovered recently in the Musikbibliothek der Stadt, Leipzig.
Water Music
The first performance of the "Water Music" suites is recorded in "The Daily Courant", the first British daily newspaper. At about 8 p.m. on Wednesday, 17 July 1717, King George I and several aristocrats boarded a royal barge at Whitehall Palace, for an excursion up the Thames toward Chelsea. The rising tide propelled the barge upstream without rowing. Another barge, provided by the City of London, contained about 50 musicians who performed Handel's music. Many other Londoners also took to the river to hear the concert. According to "The Courant", "the whole River in a manner was covered" with boats and barges. On arriving at Chelsea, the king left his barge, then returned to it at about 11 p.m. for the return trip. The king was so pleased with the "Water Music" that he ordered it to be repeated at least three times, both on the trip upstream to Chelsea and on the return, until he landed again at Whitehall.
George Frideric Handel
In 1861, using a theme from the second of Handel's harpsichord suites, Johannes Brahms wrote the "Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel", Op. 24, one of his most successful works (praised by Richard Wagner). Several works by the French composer Félix-Alexandre Guilmant use Handel's themes, for example his "March on a Theme by Handel" uses a theme from "Messiah". French composer and flautist Philippe Gaubert wrote his "Petite marche" for flute and piano based on the fourth movement of Handel's Trio Sonata, Op. 5, No. 2, HWV 397. Argentine composer Luis Gianneo composed his "Variations on a Theme by Handel" for piano. In 1911, Australian-born composer and pianist Percy Grainger based one of his most famous works on the final movement of Handel's Suite No. 5 in E major (just like Giuliani). He first wrote some variations on the theme, which he titled "Variations on Handel's 'The Harmonious Blacksmith' ". Then he used the first sixteen bars of his set of variations to create "Handel in the Strand", one of his most beloved pieces, of which he made several versions (for example, the piano solo version from 1930). Arnold Schoenberg's Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra in B-flat major (1933) was composed after Handel's Concerto Grosso, Op. 6/7.
Alceste (Handel)
Alceste ("Alcides"; HWV 45, HG 46b, HHA I/30) is a masque or semi-opera by George Frideric Handel. It was the only complete theatre project ever attempted by Handel, and he composed the music when he was nearly 65.
Beecham-Handel suites
The first Handel-Beecham arrangement was given simply as "Suite – Handel" at a concert in February 1924. In April of that year Beecham conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in a recording of the work. The suite consisted of four movements:
Amadigi di Gaula
Amadigi di Gaula (HWV 11) is a "magic" opera in three acts, with music by George Frideric Handel. It was the fifth Italian opera that Handel wrote for London and was composed during his stay at Burlington House in 1715. It is based on "Amadis de Grèce", a French tragédie-lyrique by André Cardinal Destouches and Antoine Houdar de la Motte. Charles Burney maintained near the end of the eighteenth century, "Amadigi" contained "...more invention, variety and good composition, than in any one of the musical dramas of Handel which I have yet carefully and critically examined.”
Violin sonata in G minor (HWV 364a)
The Violin sonata in G minor (HWV 364a) was composed (c. 1722–24) by George Frideric Handel for violin and keyboard (harpsichord). The work is also referred to as "Opus 1 No. 6", and was first published in 1732 by Walsh. Other catalogues of Handel's music have referred to the work as HG xxvii,22; and HHA iv/18,6. Also published in HG xlviii,118 (with an extra part for "Organo").
Gottlieb Muffat
It is not known with certainty whether Handel and Muffat had any personal knowledge of each other, but their positions as leading musicians in major European capitals might imply at least a mutual awareness. There is a copy, in Muffat's own hand, of Handels "Suites des pieces" (1720) which Muffat supplied with numerous ornaments along with a few variants of his own design. Modern edition by Hogwood 2007. Muffat as well did his own version of Handels "6 Fugues for Keyboard" (1735) HWV 605-610, first edition from the manuscript by Hogwood 2008. 
For his part, Handel seems to have borrowed extensively from Muffat's "Componimenti Musicali" with at least 18 of these pieces appearing 30 times in Handel's output. Handel's "Ode to St. Cecilia's Day" seems to owe the greatest debt to Muffat, with material from five pieces being reworked into the score. Not only were themes reused in their entirety, but also counter subjects and continuing phrases were put to use by Handel. More such examples appear in Handel's oratorios "Joshua", "Samson", and "Judas Maccabeus". The spirited fugue in the second movement of the Overture to "Samson" makes extensive use of a Muffat fugue from "Componimenti Musicali" and a similar borrowing occurs in the third movement of the Overture to "Judas Maccabeus". The March which begins Act II of "Joshua" is a reworking of a "Rigaudon" by Muffat.
List of operas by George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel's operas comprise 42 musical dramas that were written between 1705 and 1741 in various genres. He began composing operas in Germany and then for a brief time in Italy to modest success. It was not until he moved to England that he found great success in the genre. His first opera in England, "Rinaldo" (1711), was met with enthusiasm, and several more Italian operas soon followed. However, Handel's place as the central figure of opera in England during the eighteenth century was not solidified until, under the influence of Thomas Arne, he began composing large-scale works with English language texts. Though almost all his English language works are technically oratorios and not operas, several of them, such as "Semele" (1743), have become an important part of the opera repertoire. Handel's first opera (opera seria - serious Italian opera) was "Almira" (1705).
Music for the Royal Fireworks
There are many recordings. Handel's "Water Music", although it was composed more than thirty years earlier, is often paired with the "Music for the Royal Fireworks" as both were written for outdoor performance. Together, these works constitute Handel's most famous music for what we would now consider the orchestra. Older recordings tend to use arrangements of Handel's score for the modern orchestra, for example, the arrangements by Hamilton Harty and Leopold Stokowski. More recent recordings tend to use more historically informed performance methods appropriate for baroque music and often use authentic instruments.
George Frideric Handel
In 1703 he accepted a position as violinist and harpsichordist in the orchestra of the Hamburg Oper am Gänsemarkt. There he met the composers Johann Mattheson, Christoph Graupner and Reinhard Keiser. His first two operas, "Almira" and "Nero", were produced in 1705. He produced two other operas, "Daphne" and "Florindo", in 1708. It is unclear whether Handel directed these performances.
According to Mainwaring, in 1706 Handel travelled to Italy at the invitation of Ferdinando de' Medici. Other sources say Handel was invited by Gian Gastone de' Medici, whom Handel had met in 1703–1704 in Hamburg. De' Medici, who had a keen interest in opera, was trying to make Florence Italy's musical capital by attracting the leading talents of his day. In Italy Handel met librettist Antonio Salvi, with whom he later collaborated. Handel left for Rome and, since opera was (temporarily) banned in the Papal States, composed sacred music for the Roman clergy. His famous "Dixit Dominus" (1707) is from this era. He also composed cantatas in pastoral style for musical gatherings in the palaces of cardinals Pietro Ottoboni, Benedetto Pamphili and Carlo Colonna. Two oratorios, "La resurrezione" and "Il trionfo del tempo", were produced in a private setting for Ruspoli and Ottoboni in 1709 and 1710, respectively. "Rodrigo", his first all-Italian opera, was produced in the Cocomero theatre in Florence in 1707. "Agrippina" was first produced in 1709 at Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo, owned by the Grimanis. The opera, with a libretto by Cardinal Vincenzo Grimani, ran for 27 nights successively. The audience, thunderstruck with the grandeur and sublimity of his style, applauded for "Il caro Sassone" ("the dear Saxon" – referring to Handel's German origins).
Saul (Handel)
Saul (HWV 53) is a dramatic oratorio in three acts written by George Frideric Handel with a libretto by Charles Jennens. Taken from the First Book of Samuel, the story of "Saul" focuses on the first king of Israel's relationship with his eventual successor, David; one which turns from admiration to envy and hatred, ultimately leading to the downfall of the eponymous monarch. The work, which Handel composed in 1738, includes the famous "Dead March", a funeral anthem for Saul and his son Jonathan, and some of the composer's most dramatic choral pieces. "Saul" was first performed at the King's Theatre in London on 16 January 1739.
The work was a success at its London premiere and was revived by Handel in subsequent seasons. Notable modern-day performances of Saul include that at Glyndebourne in 2015.
Handel Reference Database
The Handel Reference Database (HRD) is the largest documentary collection on George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) and his times. It was launched in January 2008 on the server of the Center for Computer Assisted Research in the Humanities (CCARH) at Stanford University. Originally assembled by Ilias Chrissochoidis to support his PhD dissertation "Early Reception of Handel's Oratorios, 1732–1784: Narrative-Studies-Documents" (Stanford University, 2004), it now includes about 4,000 items and 800,000 words. HRD is organized chronologically, covering the period from 1685 to 1784 and focusing on Handel's British career and reception. It includes transcriptions of printed and manuscript sources, some of which remain unpublished ("The Academy of Vocal Music", British Library, Add. Ms. 11732; "The John Marsh Diaries, 1802–28", Huntington Library, HM 54457, vols. 23–37) and external links to early secondary literature on the composer. The project received financial support from Houghton Library, Harvard University (2010–11) and UCLA's William Andrews Clark Memorial Library (2011–12).
George Frideric Handel
Handel's compositions include 42 operas, 29 oratorios, more than 120 cantatas, trios and duets, numerous arias, chamber music, a large number of ecumenical pieces, odes and serenatas, and 16 organ concerti. His most famous work, the oratorio "Messiah" with its "Hallelujah" chorus, is among the most popular works in choral music and has become the centrepiece of the Christmas season. The Lobkowicz Palace in Prague holds Mozart's copy of "Messiah", complete with handwritten annotations. Among the works with opus numbers published and popularised in his lifetime are the Organ Concertos Op. 4 and Op. 7, together with the Opus 3 and Opus 6 concerti grossi; the latter incorporate an earlier organ concerto "The Cuckoo and the Nightingale" in which birdsong is imitated in the upper registers of the organ. Also notable are his sixteen keyboard suites, especially "The Harmonious Blacksmith".
Suite (music)
Handel wrote 22 keyboard suites; Bach produced multiple suites for lute, cello, violin, flute, and other instruments, as well as English suites, French suites and Partitas for keyboard. For Bach especially, the suite form was a base on which to spin more elaborate sequences. François Couperin's later suites often dispensed entirely with the standard dances and consisted entirely of character pieces with fanciful names.
Tolomeo
The German-born Handel, after spending some of his early career composing operas and other pieces in Italy, settled in London. Therein, in 1711, Handel composed the first opera specifically-written for the London stage, "Rinaldo". A tremendous success, "Rinaldo" intensified in London the enthusiasm for Italian "opera seria", a form that focused overwhelmingly on solo arias for the star virtuoso singers. In 1719, Handel was appointed music director of an organisation called the Royal Academy of Music (unconnected with the present day London conservatoire), a company under royal charter to produce Italian operas in London. Handel was not only to compose operas for the company but hire the star singers, supervise the orchestra and musicians, and adapt operas from Italy for London performance.
Aure soavi e lieti (Handel)
Aure soavi e liete (HWV 84) ("Soft and Delightful Breezes") is a Baroque dramatic secular cantata in the key of E-flat major composed by George Frideric Handel in 1707 while he was serving as Kapellmeister to the Ruspoli family in Rome. The author of the text is unknown. Other catalogues of Handel's music have referred to the work as HG l,12 (there is no HHA designation of the work). The cantata is scored for solo soprano voice and basso continuo. It is divided into four separate movements with a typical performance lasting approximately seven and a half minutes.
Recorder sonata in G minor (HWV 360)
The Sonata in G minor (HWV 360) was composed by George Frideric Handel for recorder and harpsichord (the autograph manuscript, a fair copy made most likely in 1712, gives this instrumentation in Italian: "flauto e cembalo"). The work is also referred to as "Opus 1 No. 2", and was first published in 1732 by Walsh. Other catalogues of Handel's music have referred to the work as HG xxvii,9; and HHA iv/3,16.
George Frideric Handel
In 1710, Handel became "Kapellmeister" to German prince George, the Elector of Hanover, who in 1714 would become King George I of Great Britain and Ireland. He visited Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici and her husband in Düsseldorf on his way to London in 1710. With his opera "Rinaldo", based on "La Gerusalemme Liberata" by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso, Handel enjoyed great success, although it was composed quickly, with many borrowings from his older Italian works. This work contains one of Handel's favourite arias, "Cara sposa, amante cara", and the famous Lascia ch'io pianga.
Hartmut Haenchen
• Water Music: Georg Friedrich Händel and Georg Philipp Telemann, 1992, BERLIN Classics 1051-2
Flute sonata in E minor (HWV 375)
The Flute sonata in E minor (HWV 375) is thought to have been composed by George Frideric Handel, for flute and keyboard (harpsichord). The date of composition of the work is unknown, but it was first published in 1730. Other catalogues of Handel's music have referred to the work as HG xlviii,134; and HHA iv/3,63.
Amadigi di Gaula
The opera received its first performance in London at the King's Theatre in the Haymarket on 25 May 1715. Handel made prominent use of wind instruments, so the score is unusually colorful, and at points resembles the Water Music, which he composed only a few years later. Exceptional care was lavished on the production. "Amadigi" employs no voices lower than alto and it ends in a minor key. The opera was a success and received a known minimum of 17 further performances in London through 1717.
Violin sonata in A major (HWV 372)
The Violin sonata in A major (HWV 372) is a work for violin and keyboard (harpsichord) that was originally thought to have been composed by George Frideric Handel. Modern scholars however believe it doubtful that the work was composed by Handel, and have labelled it as "spurious". The work was first published in 1730 by Walsh. Other catalogues of Handel's music have referred to the work as HG xxvii,51; and HHA iv/4,46.
Handel's lost Hamburg operas
Handel joined the Hamburg opera house when it was experiencing a period of considerable artistic success. This blossoming followed the arrival of Reinhard Keiser, who had become musical director at the Gänsemarkt in about 1697, and in 1703 succeeded Johann Kusser as the theatre's manager. Born in 1674, Keiser had studied under Johann Schelle and probably Johann Kuhnau at the Thomasschule zu Leipzig. In 1694 he was employed as a court composer at Brunswick, where in three years he composed seven operas, at least one of which ("Mahumeth") was performed in Hamburg. According to Handel's biographer Donald Burrows, Keiser was a good judge of popular taste, with a flair for writing Italian-style arias. Between 1697 and 1703, prior to Handel's arrival, about a dozen more Keiser operas had been staged at the Gänsemarkt. Despite his on-stage successes, Keiser was an unreliable general manager, with expensive private tastes and little financial acumen, often at odds with his creditors.
Aure soavi e lieti (Handel)
Handel composed "Aure soavi e lieti" while a guest of the Francesco Maria Marescotti Ruspoli during his sojourn in Italy. The copyist's bill to Ruspoli for the score is dated 16 May 1707. However, Burrows has proposed that its first performance may have been in March of that year at the Palazzo Ruspoli in Cerveteri. According to Mainwaring, Handel had traveled to Italy in 1706 at the invitation of Ferdinando de' Medici. Other sources say Handel was invited by Gian Gastone de' Medici, whom Handel had met in 1703–1704 in Hamburg. De' Medici, who had a keen interest in opera, was trying to make Florence Italy's musical capital by attracting the leading talents of his day. In 1707 Handel arrived in Rome where for two years he was a guest of Ruspoli, who made him his "Kapellmeister". During this period Handel also composed the antiphon "Salve Regina" (HWV 241) which was performed in the Ruspoli Castle in Vignanello and the secular cantata "Diana Cacciatrice" (HWV 79) which was performed at the Palazzo Ruspoli in Cerveteri. His 1707 oratorios "La Resurrezione" (HWV 47) and "Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno" (HWV 46a), both dedicated to Francesco Maria Marescotti Ruspoli, were performed in Rome at the palaces of the Ruspoli and Ottoboni families. Handel remained in Italy until 1710. Antonio Caldara succeeded him as "Kapellmeister" to the Ruspoli family in 1709.
Dixit Dominus (Handel)
The work was completed in April 1707 while Handel was living in Italy. It is Handel's earliest surviving autograph. The work was written in the baroque style and is scored for five vocal soloists (SSATB), five-part chorus, strings and continuo. It is most likely that the work was first performed on 16 July 1707 in the Church of Santa Maria in Montesanto, under the patronage of the Colonna family.
George Frideric Handel
Born the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach and Domenico Scarlatti, Handel is regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Baroque era, with works such as "Messiah", "Water Music", and "Music for the Royal Fireworks" remaining steadfastly popular. One of his four coronation anthems, "Zadok the Priest" (1727), composed for the coronation of George II, has been performed at every subsequent British coronation, traditionally during the sovereign's anointing. Another of his English oratorios, "Solomon" (1748), has also remained popular, with the Sinfonia that opens act 3 (known more commonly as "The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba") featuring at the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony. Handel composed more than forty operas in over thirty years, and since the late 1960s, with the revival of baroque music and historically informed musical performance, interest in Handel's operas has grown.
Belshazzar (Handel)
Handel composed "Belshazzar" in the late Summer of 1744 concurrently with "Hercules", during a time that Winton Dean calls "the peak of Handel's creative life". The work premiered the following Lenten season on 27 March 1745 at the King's Theatre, London. The work fell into neglect after Handel's death, with revivals of the work occurring in the United Kingdom in 1847, 1848 and 1873. With the revival of interest in Baroque music and historically informed musical performance since the 1960s, "Belsahzzar" receives performances in concert form today and is also sometimes fully staged as an opera. Among other performances, "Belshazzar" was staged at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2008.
Händel-Gesellschaft
Between 1858 and 1902, the Händel-Gesellschaft ("German Handel Society") produced a collected 105-volume edition of the works of George Frideric Handel. Even though the collection was initiated by the society, many of the volumes were published by Friedrich Chrysander working alone (Chrysander was the major contributor for almost all of the volumes). The wording on the title page of the volumes is ""Georg Friedrich Händel's Werke. Ausgabe der Deutschen Händelgesellschaft"" which translates as "Georg Friedrich Handel's works. Edition of the German Handel Society". Chrysander's work has been criticised, however the scale of his achievement is also praised. The collection's abbreviation of "HG" can be used to identify individual works by Handel; for example Handel's "Messiah" can be referred to as "HG xlv" (with the Roman numerals "xlv" indicating that the work is in volume 45). For practical use, the HG system has been superseded by the HWV numbering system. The 105 volumes do not contain the complete works of Handel—with at least 250 of his works unpublished in the collection.
Oboe Concerto No. 1 (Handel)
The Oboe Concerto No. 1 in B flat major (HWV 301) was composed by George Frideric Handel for oboe, orchestra and basso continuo. It was first published in the fourth volume of "Select Harmony" by Walsh in 1740. Other catalogues of Handel's music have referred to the work as HG xxi,85; and HHA iv/12,17.
Organ concertos, Op. 4 (Handel)
Handel's six organ concertos were published in 1738 by John Walsh as the composer's Opus 4. The four concertos HWV 290-293
had been written to be played in the intervals of performances of his oratorios "Esther", "Deborah" and "Athalia" in March and April 1735 in the newly opened theatre of John Rich in Covent Garden; the other two concertos HWV 289 and 294 served the same purpose in February and March of the following year for performances at the same venue of Alexander's Feast HWV 75, Handel's setting of John Dryden's ode.
Baroque music of the British Isles
The leading figure in British music of the early 18th century was a naturalized Briton, George Frideric Handel (1685–1759). Although he was born in Germany, he first visited England in 1710, later moving there and becoming a naturalised citizen, playing a defining role in the music of the British Isles. Handel drew heavily on the continental, particularly Italian, Baroque style, but was also highly influenced by English composers such as Purcell. He was a prolific composer, producing major orchestral works such as the "Water Music", and the "Music for the Royal Fireworks". His opera, including "Rinaldo" (1711, 1731), "Orlando" (1733), "Ariodante" (1735), "Alcina" (1735) and "Serse" (1738, also known as "Xerxes"), helped make Britain second only to Italy as a centre of operatic production. His sacred drama and choral music, particularly the coronation anthem "Zadok the Priest" (written for the inauguration of George II in 1727) which has remained part of the ceremony for British monarchs, and above all, the "Messiah", helped set the British taste in music for the next 200 years. He was a major influence on future classical composers including Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.
Syncopation
J.S. Bach and Handel used syncopated rhythms as an inherent part of their compositions. One of the best-known examples of syncopation in music from the Baroque era was the "Hornpipe" from Handel’s "Water Music" (1733). ]Christopher Hogwood (2005, p.37) describes the Hornpipe as “possibly the most memorable movement in the collection, combining instrumental brilliance and rhythmic vitality… Woven amongst the running quavers are the insistent off-beat syncopations that symbolise confidence for Handel.” Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 features striking deviations from the established rhythmic norm in its first and third movements. According to Malcolm Boyd (1993, p. 53), each ritornello section of the first movement, "is clinched with an "Epilog" of syncopated antiphony":] Boyd (1993, p. 85) also hears the coda to the third movement as "remarkable… for the way the rhythm of the initial phrase of the fugue subject is expressed… with the accent thrown on to the second of the two minims (now staccato).":]
Judas Maccabaeus (Handel)
Judas Maccabaeus (HWV 63) is an oratorio in three acts composed in 1746 by George Frideric Handel based on a libretto written by Thomas Morell. The oratorio was devised as a compliment to the victorious Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland upon his return from the Battle of Culloden (16 April 1746). Other catalogues of Handel's music have referred to the work as HG xxii; and HHA 1/24.
Adlington Hall
The composer Handel was a friend of the Legh family and played the organ in 1741 or 1742. He also composed the music for a hunting song, the words of which had been written by Charles Legh. There is a tradition that Handel composed "The Harmonious Blacksmith" at the hall, but it is not possible to confirm this.
Osborne Peasgood
Peasgood also composed two services and from Handel's Water Music he published an edition of a suite for the organ.
XV Handel solo sonatas (Chrysander)
XV Solos for a German Flute, Hoboy, or Violin with a Thorough Bass for the Harpsichord or Bass Violin was published by Friedrich Chrysander in 1879. The 72-page volume contains sonatas, for various instruments, composed by George Frideric Handel. The words on the cover of the publication are: "Sonate da Camera di G.F.Handel". The publication includes all the sonatas as published by Walsh in 1732; and those sonatas, as well as extras included by Chrysander, include the body of work that is known as Handel's "Opus 1".
Drexel 5856
Drexel 5856 dates from 1720-1721. Most of Handel's keyboard music was composed in the decade 1710-1720, an observation we know from a study of his handwriting and paper studies. John Christopher Smith became Handel's copyist beginning in the years 1716-1717. Along with two other manuscript, Terence Best surmises that Drexel 5856 was prepared for a patron who was a friend of the composer.
Gloria (Handel)
George Frideric Handel's Gloria is a sacred solo cantata, a setting of the Gloria, the liturgical part of the Mass, for soprano and strings. Handel may have composed it in Germany before departing for Italy in 1706. The composition was lost for many years and was attributed to Handel again only in 2001.
Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne
Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne (HWV 74) is a secular cantata composed by George Frideric Handel to a libretto by Ambrose Philips, of which the first line, "Eternal source of light divine", provides an alternative title for the work. It was probably composed during January 1713 for a performance on 6 February 1713, although there is no record of the performance having actually taken place. Other catalogues of Handel's music have referred to the work as HG xlviA; and HHA i/6.
Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate
Handel's composition was written to celebrate the Peace of Utrecht in 1713. It has been described as his first commission from the British royal family, although the "Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne" appears to be earlier. It was his first major sacred work to English texts. Handel followed the models of Henry Purcell's 1694 "Te Deum and Jubilate" with strings and trumpets, which was regularly performed for official functions in St Paul's even after the composer's death, and a 1709 setting by William Croft. As in these models, Handel composed a combination of two liturgical texts, the Ambrosian Hymn "Te Deum", "We praise thee, O God", and a setting of Psalm 100, "O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands", which is a regular canticle of the Anglican Morning Prayer. He followed the version of the Book of Common Prayer. Handel's work was first performed in a public dress rehearsal on 5 March 1713 in St Paul's Cathedral. The official premiere took place after the tedious peace negotiations had finished, in a solemn thanksgiving service on 7 July 1713.
Solomon (Handel)
Solomon, HWV 67, is an English oratorio by George Frideric Handel. The anonymous libretto – currently thought to have been penned by the English Jewish poet/playwright Moses Mendes (d.1758) – is based on the biblical stories of the wise king Solomon from the First Book of Kings and the Second Book of Chronicles, with additional material from "Antiquities of the Jews" by ancient historian Flavius Josephus. The music was composed between 5 May and 13 June 1748, and the first performance took place on 17 March 1749, with Caterina Galli in the title role at the Covent Garden Theatre in London, where it had two further performances. Handel revived the work in 1759.
Semele (Handel)
Handel's last Italian opera, "Deidamia", was performed in 1741. After this time, he concentrated on oratorio and musical dramas with English texts. Many of these, including "Semele", were premiered at the Covent Garden Theatre, beginning with "Alexander's Feast" in 1736 and finishing with "The Triumph of Time and Truth" in 1757. As a result, in the early 1740s, oratorios at the Covent Garden Theatre were George Frideric Handel's chief activity. While most works had sacred or religious texts, two stand out for being secular: "Hercules" and "Semele".
Beecham-Handel suites
The conductor Sir Thomas Beecham made several orchestral suites from neglected music by George Frideric Handel, mostly from the composer's 42 surviving operas. The best known of the suites are "The Gods Go a'Begging" (1928), "The Origin of Design" (1932), "The Faithful Shepherd" (1940), "Amaryllis" (1944) and "The Great Elopement" (1945, later expanded as "Love in Bath", 1956).
The Harmonious Blacksmith
Among the eight suites published for harpsichord in 1720, G. F. Handel published his Suite no. 5 in E Major, HWV 430. This suite consists of four movements: The Prelude, Allemande, Courante and Air and Variations; the first three movements having stylized dance rhythms. This suite was promulgated a year after Handel became Master of the Orchestra at the Royal Academy of Music, also known as the first Italian opera company in London. Handel lived the remainder of his life in London after leaving Germany to work as resident composer for Earl of Carnarvon.
Saul (Handel)
Handel composed the music of "Saul" between July and September 1738. He conceived "Saul" on the grandest scale and included a large orchestra with many instrumental effects which were unusual for the time including a carillon (a keyboard instrument which makes a sound like chiming bells); a specially constructed organ for himself to play during the course of the work; trombones, not standard orchestral instruments at that time, giving the work
a heavy brass component; large kettledrums specially borrowed from the Tower of London; extra woodwinds for the Witch of Endor scene; and a harp solo.
In the same letter in which Jennens complained that Handel wanted a chorus of "Hallelujahs" at a point of the drama the writer felt was inappropriate, he wrote of a meeting he had with Handel to discuss the work and the composer's delight in some of the unusual instruments he planned to use: Mr. Handel's head is more full of Maggots than ever: I found yesterday in His room a very queer Instrument which He calls Carillon (Anglice a Bell) & says some call it a Tubal-cain, I suppose because it is in the make and tone like a Hammer striking upon Anvils. 'Tis played upon with Keys like a Harpsichord, & with this Cyclopean Instrument he designs to make poor Saul stark mad. His second Maggot is an Organ of 500£ price, which (because he is overstock'd with Money) he has bespoke of one Moss of Barnet; this Organ, he says, is so contriv'd that as he sits at it he has a better command of his Performers than he us'd to have; & he is highly delighted to think with what exactness his Oratorio will be perform'd by the help of this Organ; so that for the future, instead of beating time at his Oratorio's, he is to sit as his Organ all the time with his back to the Audience ... I could tell you more of his Maggots: but it grows late, and I must defer the rest till I write next; by which time, I doubt not, more new ones will breed in his Brain.
Also of note in that letter is the fact that although Handel's London seasons of Italian opera had not been drawing the audiences they had in former years, Jennens makes an incidental remark that the composer was very wealthy ("overstock'd with money").
Water Music
Legend has it that Handel composed "Water Music" to regain the favour of King George I. Handel had been employed by the future king George while he was still Elector of Hanover, before he succeeded to the British throne. The composer supposedly fell out of favour for moving to London during Queen Anne's reign. This story was first related by Handel's early biographer John Mainwaring; although it may have some foundation in fact, the tale as told by Mainwaring has been doubted by some Handel scholars.
Occasional Oratorio
An Occasional Oratorio (HWV 62) is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel, based upon a libretto by Newburgh Hamilton after the poetry of John Milton and Edmund Spenser. The work was written in the midst of the Jacobite rising of 1745–1746, the attempt to overthrow Handel's patrons the Hanoverian monarchy under George II and replace them with a Stuart restoration under Charles Edward Stuart, "Bonnie Prince Charlie".The "Occasional Oratorio" is unique among Handel's works which he labelled "oratorio" in that it does not tell a story or contain elements of a drama, but was intended as a defiant and patriotic rallying piece. The Stuart armies, based in Scotland, had invaded England and got as far as Derby when the King's armies under the command of the King's son Prince William, Duke of Cumberland had driven them back to Scotland in December 1745. The fighting was at a hiatus due to winter weather and the Duke of Cumberland was in London in February 1746. Handel composed the Occasional Oratorio hastily in January and February 1746, "borrowing" and re-arranging some movements from previous compositions, and premiered it immediately on 14 February 1746 with Willem de Fesch, Élisabeth Duparc, Elisabetta de Gambarini, John Beard (tenor), and Thomas Reinhold at Covent Garden Theatre. It contains 44 movements split over three parts. Part One, generally speaking, concerns the miseries of war and the vengeance of a wrathful God, Part Two the blessings of peace, and Part Three a thanksgiving for victory. This was felt at the time by some to be premature as the rebels had not yet been defeated, Charles Jennens, Handel's friend and collaborator who wrote the text for "Saul" and others of Handel's oratorios called the piece "a triumph for a victory not yet gained." The festive four part overture, with trumpets and drums, is sometimes performed outside the context of the entire piece. The famous chorus "Prepare the Hymn" (a paraphrase of Psalm 81:1-2) is the 26th movement and appears in the second part. The second minuet from the "Music for the Royal Fireworks" was reused from this oratorio.
PART II
Messiah (Handel)
Messiah (HWV 56) is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible, and from the Coverdale Psalter, the version of the "Psalms" included with the "Book of Common Prayer". It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742 and received its London premiere nearly a year later. After an initially modest public reception, the oratorio gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music.
Hallische Händel-Ausgabe
The Hallische Händel-Ausgabe ("Halle Handel Edition") is a multi-volume collection of the works of George Frideric Handel. It was first published in the 1950s: initially as an adjunct to the HG edition, but by 1958 as a collected edition in its own right. The collection's abbreviation of "HHA" can be used to identify individual works by Handel, for example Handel's "Messiah" can be referred to as "HHA i/17" (with the Roman numeral "i" designating "series 1"). For practical use, the HHA numbering of Handel's works has been superseded by the HWV numbering system.
Semele
In the 18th century, the story of Semele formed the basis for three operas of the same name, the first by John Eccles (1707, to a libretto by William Congreve), another by Marin Marais (1709), and a third by George Frideric Handel (1742). Handel's work, based on Congreve's libretto but with additions, while an opera to its marrow, was originally given as an oratorio so that it could be performed in a Lenten concert series; it premiered on February 10, 1744. Victorian poet Constance Naden wrote a sonnet in the voice of Semele, first published in her 1881 collection "Songs and Sonnets of Springtime".
The Harmonious Blacksmith
Handel published his first eight harpsichord suites in 1720 with the following explanation:
Handel at Cannons
Handel published eight keyboard suites in 1720. It is possible, though unproven, that some of them were written at Cannons. Dating the music is difficult because it was written over a period of years and the composer had been happy to leave it in manuscript until he got wind of a forthcoming unauthorised publication. "The Harmonious Blacksmith" variations (concluding the 5th suite, in E major) is said to have been written at Cannons.