Welcome back to another edition of my blog! This week, we will focus on George Frideric Handel, truly one of the greats, and not just because of his luscious locks.

I mean come on, that must’ve taken hours.

 

Handel was born in Germany in 1685, the same year as Bach, interestingly enough. As a boy, Handel had to stealthily creep to the attic to play the clavichord (another precursor to the piano) in secret, away from his disapproving father. Also like Bach, Handel challenged another composer, Johann Mattheson, to a duel, although this was a real one with swords instead of pianos. Handel survived solely because Mattheson’s sword glanced off one of Handel’s shirt buttons instead of striking him through the chest. That’s some crazy luck right there!

 

When Handel was 27, he took a job in London composing for Queen Anne for quite the generous salary. Even though Handel was German, the British claimed him as one of their own. The Brits even restored Handel’s house as a museum, lovingly arranging the furniture just as he did.

 

Handel composed many operas for the London stage – right now you’re probably thinking, ew, operas. But his operas actually led to catfights between the leading ladies! Because Handel was so esteemed, he had the privilege of choosing his own lead singers, leading to an on-stage brawl between two Italian opera women during a performance; “they both had to be dragged off stage to stop them pulling bits off each other’s costumes,” according to Classic FM.

 

To give you an idea of how truly talented Handel was, here’s an interesting fact: Beethoven praised Handel so highly that he advised, “Go to him to learn how to achieve great effects, by such simple means;” then Beethoven painstakingly wrote 12 Variations on Handel’s “See, the Conqu’ring Hero Comes!” You know you’re doing something right when Beethoven compliments you.

 

Like I said in my last post, we all know that Beethoven suffered from hearing loss, and now you know that Bach struggled with vision. Turns out that misfortune befell Handel as well – he had a stroke in 1737, survived a stagecoach crash in 1750, and went blind from a failed eye surgery in 1751. It is even more impressive to consider that most of his best works were written amid these tragedies.

 

Alright, I know you’re all here to listen to me talk about the Messiah. If not… well… you should be. If you are Christian, it is very likely that at some point you have heard or seen a performance of Handel’s Messiah, probably the Hallelujah chorus, the crown jewel of a Christmas service.

 

But what you might not know is that Handel’s Messiah was originally intended for Lent! According to Robert Harris of CBC News, after Handel’s death, the Victorians decided to use his masterpiece to revive interest in Christmas, which had become a neglected holiday. (I know, I’m thinking too, how could anyone ever neglect Christmas?!)

 

Even more surprising is the fact that Handel’s first performance of his Messiah was a disaster. The British were appalled by the fact that the religious piece was performed in a theater, not a church. Only after Handel donated all the profit to charity did London society finally forgive him.

 

Eighteen days. Normally that’s how much time we give ourselves to prepare for a big essay or important presentation. But no, Handel decided to write THE ENTIRE THREE-HOUR MESSIAH in eighteen days. That’s like the equivalent of writing your senior thesis paper in, say, about a week. Personally, I’m flabbergasted. Maybe the angels he claimed to see while composing encouraged him to finish the project in such a short amount of time.

 

While the Messiah tells the story of Jesus, all the text for the songs originates in the Old Testament of the Bible, written centuries before Jesus lived. The man who compiled the text for the Messiah, Charles Jennens (Handel was apparently too busy composing it), was locked in religious battle with the Deists, a group who did not believe in the prophecy of the Old Testament. By taking prophecies from the older section of the Bible that applied to Jesus and incorporating them into one of the most famous religious works ever, I think Jennens might have proved his point.

 

Legend has it that during one of the performances of the Messiah, King George II, for whatever reason, felt the need to stand for the Hallelujah chorus, igniting the tradition of standing during it that carries on today.

 

FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT: click here to see a flash mob singing the entire Hallelujah chorus in the middle of an Ontario mall!

ALSO FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT: This “Completely Mad Handbell Arrangement of The Hallelujah Chorus” is pure gold. 10/10 would recommend.

 

While Handel is probably most known for his Messiah, he also had many other amazing works. One of his best works for solo piano (originally written for harpsichord) is Air and Variations No. 5, “The Harmonious Blacksmith.” No one really knows how it got that name – Handel certainly didn’t name it that – but it stuck and stayed popular through the centuries. Listen here.

 

Music for the Royal Fireworks was, you guessed it, music for King George II’s fireworks. The first performance was a dud; there was bad weather, most of the fireworks wouldn’t light, and those that did caught the stage on fire! Luckily, Handel was given the opportunity to redo the performance inside with great success. Click here to listen to La Rejouissance.

 

For further listening, check out Handel’s Water Music! My personal favorite is the Hornpipe section. Click here to listen!

 

I hope you realized today that there is so much more to Handel than just his Messiah. An incredibly talented composer, he influenced many who came after him, and he lives on through performances of his music today.

 

And of course, our musical meme for the week!

From https://ballmemes.com/t/handel-it

 

Here are my references:

Harris, Robert. “6 Surprising Facts About Handel’s Messiah.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 6 Dec. 2015, www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/handel-s-messiah-6-surprising-facts-1.3351122.

Hopkin, Owen. “Handel – Music for the Royal Fireworks.” Classic FM, Global, 17 Apr. 2012, www.classicfm.com/composers/handel/music/george-frideric-handel-music-royal-fireworks/.

Predota, Georg. “At the Center of the Universe: George Frideric Handel.” Interlude, Interlude, 8 Jan. 2018, interlude.hk/center-musical-universe-george-frideric-handel/.

Ross, Daniel. “Handel: 15 Facts About the Great Composer.” Classic FM, Global, 20 Feb. 2018, www.classicfm.com/composers/handel/guides/handel-facts-composer/.