Composer Georg Friedrich Handel: biography, creativity

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Composer G. Handel - one of the outstanding people of the Enlightenment. It was thanks to him that such genres as opera and oratorio appeared in music. We can say that this man was a musical visionary, because he anticipated the emergence of operatic drama and civil pathos, ideas inherent in Gluck and Beethoven. Composer Handel was an extremely interesting and stubborn man.

Nationality

It so happened that two countries can claim the title of Handel's homeland at once. By birth and blood affiliation, he is German. Born and raised in Germany, where he began his career. But England appeared in his life suddenly and remained there forever. It was there that his view of music was formed, new genres and directions appeared. England became the place where the composer Handel took place, where he became famous and popular.

Childhood and youth

The future composer was born in Halle in the family of a doctor. The boy began to show musical abilities early, and his father sent him to study with the best musician in the city. The mentor was able to instill in Handel a good musical taste, to achieve a pure technique of performance and introduced him to allmusical styles and genres of the time. Composer Handel, whose biography is somewhat similar to the life story of Mozart, by the age of 11 was an excellent writer and performer, known throughout Germany.

Following the last will of his father, Handel studied law at the university, but did not give up music. Constantly honing his playing skills, he leaves for Hamburg in search of inspiration. The opera house (one of the first in the country) attracts the musician. Handel, an opera composer, worked there as a violinist and harpsichordist. But even such an occupation did not prevent him from taking the best of the time spent within the walls of the theater. Unfortunately, the bankruptcy of the head of the opera leads to its closure.

Travel time

Leaving Germany, the composer Handel moves to Italy, his plans include visiting Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples. There he again acquires knowledge, absorbs, like a sponge, the experience of the masters of the old school. He succeeds with such brilliance that in a few months his first Italian opera is published, which receives well-deserved recognition from the public. Shortly thereafter, the composer began to receive private commissions from rich and eminent Italians.

England

First appearing on Misty Island in 1710 at the invitation of friends, the composer Handel, whose work will be inextricably linked in this country, finally crosses the English Channel only by 1716. Ten years later he took English citizenship. Here he was able to quickly conquer the audienceonly in the manner of his playing, and the operas were a resounding success. The new, fresh wave brought by Handel, a composer from the continent, completely alien to the British in spirit, stirred up the listeners who were bored and returned their interest in music.

Features of British style

Composing music in England, Handel goes far beyond traditional Italian opera. His works amaze with the drama, depth, and brightness of the characters. This helped to raise the musical creativity of Foggy Albion to a new level, to carry out such necessary reforms in the approach to writing works. The composer Handel even falls out of favor with the public for a while because of his too outstanding abilities. In England, reforms are coming in all areas, the self-consciousness of the people is growing, hence the negative attitude towards everything foreign.

Even after the disturbing events and disgrace, Handel's authority in the bohemian environment has not decreased. The order of King George II helped to strengthen it even more. Without stopping attempts to revive the opera, the composer travels to Italy for new artists. But the long, exhausting and partly political struggle for a new genre ends in defeat. This undermines Handel's he alth, and he spends almost 8 months in bed. Having written two more operas, he finishes work on this genre altogether.

Sacred music

In 1738, two oratorios were presented to the high society, later recognized as brilliant. But the composer does not stop there, but continues to write church music. For a shorta period of time at the peak of inspiration and fame, Handel writes four more amazing oratorios one after another. However, the aristocracy is trying to "throw" him off his creative pedestal. And for a while, they actually succeed. The writer is severely depressed. But the imminent war with Scotland changes the mood in the country, and the British again ex alt Handel among other composers. His works, written in honor of the victory of England, became the anthems of a new era and the final stage of a long creative journey.

End of life

In 1751, blindness puts Handel back in his hospital bed. It is already, unfortunately, irreversible, and this makes the composer fall into despair. A few years ago, everyone loved and revered, now he was left behind these celebrations alone with difficulties. But, despite this, he continues to stubbornly play his works in public. According to the wishes of the composer, after his death he was buried in Westminster.

Especial reverence for the creative genius of Handel experienced all the composers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, especially Beethoven. Even three centuries later, in our modern age, Handel's strong and deep music resonates with listeners. It makes you take a fresh look at old stories, acquires a different meaning, closer to contemporaries. Every year in Germany and England there are holidays and festivals dedicated to this great composer. They attract a huge number of both professional musicians and just tourists fromdifferent parts of the planet. And this means that his work is not forgotten, it will glorify the memory of its creator for many more years, perhaps even centuries. And the spirit of Handel will invisibly and incorporeally support the creators of operas and oratorios, like a guardian angel.