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Dent + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Handel, by Edward J. Dent + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Handel + +Author: Edward J. Dent + + +Release Date: October, 2005 [EBook #9089] +This file was first posted on September 4, 2003 +Last Updated: May 8, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HANDEL *** + + + + +Text file produced by Stan Goodman, and Distributed Proofreaders + +HTML file produced by David Widger + + + +</pre> + + + +<table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto" cellpadding="4" border="3"> +<tr> +<td> +THERE IS AN IMPROVED EDITION OF THIS TITLE WHICH MAY VIEWED AT EBOOK <big><b><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39671"> +[# 39671 ]</a></b></big> +</td> +</tr> +</table> + + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + HANDEL + </h1> + <h2> + By Edward J. Dent + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <div class="middle"> + <p> + {Illustration: G. F. HANDEL <i>from a woodcut by Eric King</i> (not + available)} + </p> + </div> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <p> + <b>CONTENTS</b> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_TOC"> DETAILED CONTENTS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> CHRONOLOGY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_BIBL"> BIBLIOGRAPHY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> HANDEL'S WORKS </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_TOC" id="link2H_TOC"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + DETAILED CONTENTS + </h2> + <p> + <i>Chapter</i> I <br /> Birth and parentage—studies under Zachow at + Halle—Hamburg—friendship and <br /> duel with Mattheson—<i>Almira</i>—departure + for Italy. <br /> <i>Chapter</i> II <br /> Arrival in Italy—<i>Rodrigo</i>—Rome: + Cardinal Ottoboni and the <br /> Scarlattis—Naples: Venice: <i>Agrippina</i>—appointment + at Hanover—London: <br /> <i>Rinaldo</i>. <br /> <i>Chapter</i> III + <br /> Second visit to London—Italian opera—George I and the <i>Water + <br /> Music</i>—visit to Germany—Canons and the Duke of + Chandos—establishment of <br /> the Royal Academy of Music. <br /> <i>Chapter</i> + IV <br /> Buononcini—Cuzzoni, Faustina, and Senesino—death of + George I—<i>The <br /> Beggar's Opera</i>—collapse of the + Academy. <br /> <i>Chapter</i> V <br /> Handel naturalized—partnership + with Heidegger—<i>Esther</i>—the Opera of <br /> the Nobility—visit + to Oxford—opera season at Covent Garden—Charles <br /> Jennens—collapse + of both opera-houses. <br /> <i>Chapter</i> VI <br /> Bankruptcy and + paralysis—visit to Aix-la-Chapelle—the last <br /> operas—Vauxhall + Gardens—Handel's "borrowings"—visit to <br /> Ireland—<i>Messiah</i> + and other oratorios. <br /> <i>Chapter</i> VII <br /> <i>Judas Maccabaeus</i>—Gluck—Thomas + Morell—incipient blindness—Telemann and <br /> his garden—last + oratorios—death—character and personality. <br /> <i>Bibliography + and List of Works</i> <br /> <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHRONOLOGY + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 1685.... Birth at Halle. + 1702.... Entered University; organist of the Cathedral. + 1703.... Went to Hamburg. + 1705.... First opera: <i>Almira</i> (Hamburg). + 1707.... Arrival in Italy. + 1710.... Appointment at Hanover; first visit to London. + 1711.... First London opera: <i>Rinaldo</i>. + 1712.... Second visit to London. + 1717.... Appointment to the Duke of Chandos. + 1720.... Opening of Royal Academy of Music (Opera). + 1726.... Naturalized as a British subject. + 1728.... <i>The Beggar's Opera</i>. Collapse of the Academy. + 1732.... First public oratorio: <i>Esther</i>. + 1733.... Festival at Oxford. + 1737.... Collapse of Opera; Handel bankrupt and paralysed. + 1741.... Last opera: <i>Deidamia</i>. + 1742.... <i>Messiah</i> at Dublin. + 1751.... First signs of blindness. Last oratorio <i>Jeptha</i>. + 1759.... Death in London. +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I + </h2> + <p> + Birth and parentage—studies under Zachow at Halle—Hamburg—friendship + and duel with Mattheson—Almira—departure for Italy. + </p> + <p> + The name of Handel suggests to most people the sound of music unsurpassed + in massiveness and dignity, and the familiar portraits of the composer + present us with a man whose external appearance was no less massive and + dignified than his music. Countless anecdotes point him out to us as a + well-known figure in the life of London during the reigns of Queen Anne + and the first two Georges. He lies buried in Westminster Abbey. One would + expect every detail of his life to be known and recorded, his every + private thought to be revealed with the pellucid clarity of his immortal + strains. It is not so; to assemble the bare facts of Handel's life is a + problem which has baffled the most laborious of his biographers, and his + inward personality is more mysterious than that of any other great + musician of the last two centuries. + </p> + <p> + The <i>Memoirs of the Life of the late George Frederic Handel</i>, written + by the Rev. John Mainwaring in 1760, a year after his death, is the first + example of a whole book devoted to the biography of a musician. The author + had never known Handel himself; he obtained his material chiefly from + Handel's secretary, John Christopher Smith the younger. Mainwaring is our + only authority for the story of Handel's early life. Many of his + statements have been proved to be untrue, but there is undoubtedly a + foundation of truth beneath most of them, however misleading either + Smith's memory or Mainwaring's imagination may have been. The rest of our + knowledge has to be built up from scattered documents of various kinds, + helped out by the reminiscences of Dr. Burney and Sir John Hawkins. For + the inner life of Mozart and Beethoven we can turn to copious letters and + other personal writings; Handel's extant letters do not amount to more + than about twenty in all, and it is only rarely that they throw much light + on the workings of his mind. + </p> + <p> + The family of Handel belonged originally to Breslau. The name is found in + various forms; it seems originally to have been <i>Händeler</i> signifying + trader, but by the time the composer was born the spelling <i>Händel</i> + had been adopted. This is the correct German form of his name; in Italy he + wrote his name <i>Hendel</i>, in order to ensure its proper pronunciation, + and in England he was known, for the same reason, as Handel. The Handels + of Breslau had for several generations been coppersmiths. Valentine + Handel, the composer's grandfather, born in 1582, migrated to Halle, where + two of his sons followed the same trade. His third son, George, born 1622, + became a barber-surgeon. At the age of twenty he married the widow of the + barber to whom he had been apprenticed; she was twelve years older than he + was. In 1682 she died, and George Handel, although sixty years of age, + married a second wife within half a year. Her name was Dorothea Taust; her + father, like most of his ancestors, was a clergyman. Her age was + thirty-two. Her first child, born in 1684, died at birth; her second, born + February 23, 1685, was baptised the following day with the name of George + Frederic. + </p> + <p> + The town of Halle had originally belonged to the Dukes of Saxony, but + after the Thirty Years' War it was assigned to the Elector of Brandenburg. + George Frederic Handel was therefore born a Prussian. But Duke Augustus of + Saxony was allowed to keep his court at the Moritzburg in Halle, and it + was this prince who made George Handel his personal surgeon. After Duke + Augustus's death in 1680, Halle was definitely transferred to Brandenburg, + and the new Duke, Johann Adolf, took up his residence at Weissenfels, + twenty-five miles to the south-west of Halle. At the time of George + Frederic's birth, Halle had relapsed into being a quiet provincial town. + The musical life of Germany in those days was chiefly centred in the + numerous small courts, each of which did its best to imitate the + magnificence of Louis XIV at Paris and Versailles. But the seventeenth + century, although it produced very few musicians of outstanding greatness, + was a century of restless musical activity throughout Europe, especially + in the more private and domestic branches of the art. The Reformation had + made music the vehicle of personal devotion, and the enormous output of a + peculiarly intimate type of sacred music, both in Germany and in England, + shows that there must have been a keen demand for it in Protestant home + life. + </p> + <p> + George Handel, the surgeon, seems to have hated music. There is no + evidence that either his wife or her sister, who shared their home after + her father's death in 1685, was musically gifted, but the mere fact of + their being the daughters of a Lutheran pastor makes it probable that they + had had some education in the art. We may safely guess that the composer + inherited his musical talents from the Taust family. He showed his + inclination for music at a very early age, with such insistence indeed + that his father forbade him to touch any musical instrument. There is a + well-known story of his contriving to smuggle a clavichord into a garret + without his father's knowledge in order to practise on it while the rest + of the family were asleep, but for this tale Mainwaring is our only + authority. It is very probable that old Handel was irritated by the sound + of his son's early efforts and regarded music as a waste of time; his wife + may perhaps have encouraged the child's obvious abilities, taking care + that he made music only in some part of the house where he would not + disturb his father. + </p> + <p> + At the age of seven he was sent to the Lutheran Grammar School, and he may + very likely have had some instruction in singing while there. In any case + there can be no doubt that he was taught more than the mere rudiments of + music in childhood, however severe his father's opposition may have been. + He was between seven and nine when his father took him to Weissenfels, + where he was required to attend on the Duke. It is quite probable that the + child may have been taken there several times, especially as a relative of + his was in regular service in the Duke's establishment. One day he was + allowed to play on the organ in the palace chapel; the Duke happened to + hear him, made enquiries as to who the player was, and at once urged on + the father the duty of having him properly trained for a musical career. + </p> + <p> + Old Handel remained obstinate; he was determined that his son should have + a liberal education and become a lawyer. By his own efforts he had raised + himself to a position of some distinction and affluence; it was only + natural that he should wish his son to enter on life with better + advantages than he himself had enjoyed. He at any rate followed the advice + of the Duke so far as to place the boy under the musical tuition of + Friedrich Zachow, the organist of the Lutheran church at Halle. + </p> + <p> + The next episode in George Frederic's career has considerably puzzled his + biographers. Mainwaring asserts that in 1698 he went to Berlin, where he + was presented to the Electress Sophia Charlotte and made the acquaintance + of Ariosti and Giovanni Battista Buononcini, two famous Italian opera + composers whom he was to encounter again, in London, many years later. But + it is known that Ariosti did not arrive in Berlin until the spring of + 1697, and Buononcini not until 1702. And as old Handel died in February + 1697, his son cannot have been in Berlin later than about the end of 1696, + if it is true (as Mainwaring says) that the Elector offered to send him to + Italy, an offer which the father firmly refused to accept for him. If, on + the other hand, Mainwaring is right in saying that young Handel went to + Berlin with a view to obtaining a musical post there, it is hardly likely + that he should have made the journey at ten years of age, and while his + father was still living. It seems much more probable that if he ever did + visit Berlin it was when he was of an age to form his own judgments as to + his future career. + </p> + <p> + Three days before his seventeenth birthday he matriculated as a law + student of the University of Halle, but music must have been the chief + occupation of his time. The composer Telemann, four years his senior, + spoke of him as being already a musician of importance at Halle when he + first met him there, probably in 1700. In March 1702 he was appointed + organist at the Cathedral, although he belonged to the Lutheran Church, + whereas the Cathedral was Calvinist; considerable scandal had been caused + by the intemperance of the Cathedral organist, one Leporin, who was + finally dismissed. That Handel should have been given the post at so early + an age points to his ability and trustworthiness of character; it also + suggests that efficient organists were rare among the Calvinist musicians. + </p> + <p> + Mainwaring unjustly credited Zachow with Leporin's love of a cheerful + glass, and other biographers have perhaps for this reason greatly + underrated Zachow's musicianship. Zachow cannot indeed be classed as a + great composer, but he was considerably more than merely a sound average + teacher. For one thing, he possessed a large library of music. Handel was + not only made to master the arts of counterpoint and fugue, but he was + also set to study the works of other composers, and to train his sense of + style by writing music in direct imitation of them. In those days there + was no possibility of buying all sorts of music ready printed. Printing + was expensive, and generally clumsy in execution as well; most music was + copied by hand, and a musician who wished to acquire a library of music + generally did so by borrowing it and copying it. Zachow employed Handel to + copy music for him, and no doubt he copied a great deal for himself. + Although the opportunities for hearing music would not be very liberal in + a town like Halle, Handel, under Zachow, became a well-read musician as + well as an accomplished one. + </p> + <p> + During the seventeenth century the chief contribution of Germany to the + art of music was religious, just as the German hymns were her chief + contribution to poetry. In Italy, on the other hand, sacred music was of + minor importance as compared with the development of opera. But in all + music Italy led the way, and German sacred music was constantly influenced + by the Italians, with the result that Italian dramatic methods were often + used by German composers of sacred music, not with any loss of seriousness + and dignity to its character, but rather to the intenser expression of + that deep personal religious feeling which characterised both the poetry + and the music of the Protestant nations. + </p> + <p> + Zachow was well acquainted with the Italian masters, and his own Church + music shows a vivid dramatic sense; it is easy to see how much Handel + learned from him. But although Church cantatas and organ music may have + sufficed for the majority of the innumerable worthy German musicians of + those days, the form of music which excited the curiosity and interest of + the livelier spirits was certainly opera. By 1700, opera had established + itself all over Italy, supported mainly by the great princes, but at + Venice maintained on a commercial basis by the citizens themselves since + 1637. The first attempt at a German opera was made by Heinrich Schütz, at + Torgau, ten years earlier. Vienna introduced Italian opera in 1631, and, + generally speaking, the Catholic princes of Germany, who one after another + followed the example of Vienna, preferred opera in Italian. Protestant + Germany inclined more to opera in its own language, though towards the end + of the century Italian gradually gained the upper hand at the more + important courts. Native German opera owed its origin partly to the visit + of the English comedians early in the century, and partly to the musical + plays acted by school-boys; from the English "jigs" came the use of short + popular songs, and from the school plays the tendency of the early German + operas to be of a more or less sacred or edifying character. + </p> + <p> + Handel's friend, the composer Telemann, tells us that it was not unusual + for students from the University of Leipzig to go to Berlin to hear the + Italian opera, which had been established by the Electress Sophia + Charlotte in 1700, and this suggests that Handel's visit to Berlin may + have taken place in 1703 rather than in his childhood. But he certainly + had opportunities for seeing operas nearer home. There had been many + German operas performed at Halle itself during the twenty years before + Handel's birth, and Duke Johann Adolf opened an opera-house at Weissenfels + in 1685, in which Philipp Krieger produced German operas regularly for the + next thirty years. There was thus every reason for young Handel's growing + ambitious to become a composer for the stage, although we have no evidence + of his having ever attempted dramatic composition until he left Halle in + 1703. + </p> + <p> + The most important of all the north German opera-houses was that of + Hamburg, where the opera did not depend on the patronage of a court, but + was organised, as at Venice, as a public entertainment. Hamburg had + attempted German opera as early as 1648, and it is interesting to note + that the English composer William Brade was one of those who provided the + music; but the real history of the Hamburg opera may be said to begin with + the performance of Theile's <i>Adam and Eve</i> in the newly built theatre + in the Goose-Market in 1678. When Handel arrived in Hamburg in the summer + of 1703 the biblical operas had long come to an end, and the theatre was + under the management of Reinhold Keiser. + </p> + <p> + Keiser was a musician of remarkable genius. His father was a disreputable + organist, and his mother a young lady of noble family who had been hastily + married at the age of sixteen. Born near Weissenfels in 1674, he had begun + his operatic career at Brunswick at the age of eighteen; three years later + he took over the direction of the opera at Hamburg, where he produced a + large number of operas composed by himself. As a composer, Keiser had a + singular fluency of melody in a style that hovers between those of Germany + and Italy; had he been a man of more solid character he might have + accomplished greater things. But he had inherited from his parents a love + of pleasure and debauchery; extravagant in his private life, he was no + less extravagant in his theatrical management, and was ready to provide + his audiences with anything in the way of startling sensation. One of his + most famous operas was on the subject of Störtebeker, a notorious + highwayman (1704), in which murders were represented with the most + disgusting realism. + </p> + <p> + Hamburg was the Venice of the north and, like Venice, a city of pleasure; + but its pleasures were often of a coarse and licentious description. Life + in Hamburg was probably not much unlike that of Restoration London; but + though Keiser may well be set beside Purcell, Hamburg had no dramatists to + compare with Congreve, hardly even with Shadwell. Jeremy Collier, however, + was far outdone in vituperation by the puritan clergy who, not altogether + without reason, castigated the immorality of the Hamburg stage. + </p> + <p> + Handel seems to have arrived in Hamburg in early summer of 1703, for we + first hear of him there on July 2, when he met Johann Mattheson in the + church of St. Mary Magdalen. It seems to have been a chance acquaintance, + to judge from Mattheson's account; it stuck in Mattheson's memory for many + years and he remembered especially the pastry-cook's boy who blew the + organ for Handel and himself. Mattheson was four years older than Handel; + he was one of those precociously gifted, versatile, attractive, and rather + vain young men who are endowed with so many talents that they never + achieve distinction in any branch of art. He is remembered now only by the + literary work of his later life, in which he shows himself as a voluminous + pedant and an embittered critic. He made friends with Handel on the spot, + and took him under his own protection, providing him with almost daily + free meals at his father's house. He evidently regarded him as a very + simple and provincial young musician, a notable organist indeed, and a + master of such learned devices as counterpoint and fugue, but a dull + composer, turning out endless arias and cantatas with no sense of the + fashionable Italian taste. + </p> + <p> + It was Mattheson, by his own account, who introduced Handel to the musical + life of Hamburg. The opera was closed for the summer, and Keiser's + celebrated winter concerts, at which the wealthy society of Hamburg + listened to the most famous singers and regaled themselves with tokay, had + not yet begun; but there was no lack of social distractions, in which + music no doubt played its part. In August the two friends made a journey + to Lubeck, to compete for the post of organist at the Marienkirche in + succession to Dietrich Buxtehude, who was nearly seventy and ready to + retire. But both Buxtehude and the town council insisted that the new + organist should marry his predecessor's daughter, in order to save the + town the necessity of providing for her; she was considerably older than + the two youthful candidates, and they both withdrew in haste. Late in life + Mattheson married the daughter of an English clergyman; Handel remained a + bachelor to the end of his days. + </p> + <p> + It was no doubt through Mattheson that Handel, in the autumn, entered the + opera band as a humble second violinist. He seems to have been of a very + retiring and quiet disposition, although of a dry humour. Opera management + at Hamburg was no less precarious than it was in London; Keiser could not + afford the Italian singers patronised by the German princes, and his + performances had often to be helped out by amateurs of all classes. On one + occasion the harpsichord-player failed him; Handel took his place at short + notice, and his musicianship was at once recognised. Unfortunately + Mattheson, whose chronology is always rather uncertain, does not tell us + when this occurred. In addition to his duties in the orchestra, Handel + earned a living by teaching private pupils, and through Mattheson he was + engaged by Mr. John Wyche, the English Envoy, as music-master to his small + son Cyril. + </p> + <p> + Early in 1704 Mattheson went to Holland, where he had some success in + organising concerts at Amsterdam, and was offered the post of organist at + Haarlem. He seems to have had some idea of seeking his fortune in England; + he spoke English well, and may have had useful connexions in England + through Mr. John Wyche. But in March Handel wrote to him that the Hamburg + opera could not get on without him, and to Hamburg he returned. It soon + must have become clear to him that Handel was rapidly outgrowing any need + of his condescending patronage. A <i>Passion according to St. John</i>, + the words of which had been written by Postel, an opera-poet turned + pietist, had been set to music by Handel, and performed on Good Friday + with marked success. Mattheson arrived too late to hear it, but it is + significant that twenty years later he published a scathing criticism of + it, although it is a work of little importance in relation to Handel's + complete career, and can seldom have been performed. A Passion oratorio by + Keiser was produced at the same time, it may well have been that Handel's + work, youthful and conventional as it is, was enough to arouse the + jealousy of both Keiser and Mattheson. + </p> + <p> + Shortly after Easter, Keiser began the composition of a new opera, <i>Almira</i>, + on a libretto by the local poet Feustking, but for some reason or other he + found it necessary to call in Handel's assistance, and eventually left the + whole work to Handel to compose. It was to be produced in the autumn. + Handel seems to have consulted Mattheson over every detail of the opera; + there exists a complete score in Mattheson's handwriting, with corrections + and additions by Handel. Mattheson spent the summer enjoying a country + holiday in Mecklenburg; Handel probably went on with his opera, at + Hamburg. In October, just as the opera season was reopening, Mattheson + contrived to get himself engaged by Sir Cyril Wych as tutor to his son; he + also took over the boy's musical education, hinting that Handel was + dismissed for neglect of his duties. In view of Handel's strictly + honourable character it is difficult to believe that he was guilty of + neglect, and we may naturally suppose him to have resented the loss of a + lucrative appointment. + </p> + <p> + The first opera of the autumn was not Handel's <i>Almira</i>, but an opera + by Mattheson, called <i>Cleopatra</i>. Mattheson, always eager to exhibit + his versatility, sang the part of Antony himself, and, not content with + that, came into the orchestra as soon as Antony had died on the stage and + kept himself in view of the audience by conducting at the harpsichord. For + several performances Handel made no objection and gave up his seat to + Mattheson when the moment came, but on December 5, for some reason or + other, he refused, to the surprise and indignation of the composer. German + musicians in those days were a quarrelsome crew; at the court of Stuttgart + the musicians were so much given to knocking each other on the head with + their instruments, even in the august presence of His Serene Highness, + that there was hardly one left undamaged. It was only to be expected that + the friends of Handel and Mattheson should egg them on to fight a duel in + the street; luckily Mattheson's sword broke on a button of Handel's coat, + and the duel ended. On December 30 a town councillor effected a + reconciliation; the rivals dined together at Mattheson's house and went on + to the rehearsal of <i>Almira</i>, which was brought out on January 8, + 1705, with Mattheson as the principal tenor. + </p> + <p> + <i>Almira</i>, the libretto of which was partly in German and partly in + Italian, ran continuously for about twenty performances until February 25, + when it was succeeded by <i>Nero</i>, another opera which Handel had + hastily composed for the occasion. <i>Nero</i>, in which Mattheson sang + the title part, was a failure. The music is lost, but the libretto + survives, and that is enough to account for the collapse. The opera had + three performances only. In the very same season Keiser re-set <i>Nero</i> + to music himself, and brought it out under the title of <i>Octavia</i>; + shortly afterwards he did the same with <i>Almira</i>, which was performed + in August of the same year. Although Keiser's operas were no more + successful than Handel's, and his extravagance and mismanagement forced + him to leave Hamburg for three years in order to avoid imprisonment, it is + evident that he had made Handel's position in the theatre impossible. + Handel withdrew into private life and devoted himself to earning a living + by teaching. Mattheson says that Handel remained in Hamburg until 1709, + and that he still worked in the theatre, but the first of these statements + is certainly untrue, and the second probably so. Mattheson himself left + the theatre after the failure of Handel's <i>Nero</i>, and his friendship + with Handel seems to have come to an end. About Handel's subsequent life + in Hamburg we know nothing, until the theatre was taken over by one + Saurbrey in the autumn of 1706. Saurbrey commissioned an opera from + Handel, but, owing to the confusion in which Keiser had left the affairs + of the theatre, it could not be brought out until January 1708, when it + was found to be so long that it had to be divided into two operas, <i>Florindo</i> + and <i>Daphne</i>, both of which were put on the stage successively. By + that time Handel had left Hamburg for Italy; he evidently took little + interest in the production of these works, neither of which has survived. + </p> + <p> + It was during the run of <i>Almira</i>, says Mainwaring, that Handel made + the acquaintance of Prince Gian Gastone de' Medici, son of the Grand Duke + Cosmo III of Tuscany. Mainwaring's date is wrong, for it is known that + Gian Gastone at that time was in Bohemia with his wife, a German princess, + to whom he had been married against his will. But it is also known that he + was in Hamburg for a few months during the winter of 1703-04, and, if he + met Handel at that time, the rest of Mainwaring's story becomes much more + credible than subsequent biographers have been willing to admit. According + to Mainwaring, Handel became almost an intimate friend of the Prince; they + often discussed music together, and the Prince lamented that Handel was + unacquainted with the music and musical life of Italy. "Handel confessed + that he could see nothing in Italian music which answered the high + character His Highness had given it. On the contrary, he thought it so + very indifferent, that the singers, he said, must be angels to recommend + it." Gian Gastone urged him to come to Italy and hear for himself, + intimating "that if he chose to return with him, no conveniences should be + wanting." Handel declined the invitation, but resolved to go to Italy as + soon as he could do so "on his own bottom." + </p> + <p> + Gian Gastone was a spendthrift and a profligate; his moral reputation was + of the worst, and he was chronically in debt. That, however, would not + make it unthinkable that after a glass of wine he should invite Handel to + come to Italy with him, but Handel may well have known enough about the + Prince even then to reply to the proposal with tactful evasiveness. From + what Mattheson says of Handel on his first arrival in Hamburg, it is quite + likely that he was contemptuous of Italian opera music, and it is equally + likely that after the success of <i>Almira</i> his views on Italian opera + underwent a change. It is obvious that Hamburg had no further chances to + offer him, and the attraction of Italy was at that time so vivid to all + young German musicians that not one of them would have refused an + opportunity of making the journey. + </p> + <p> + The date of Handel's departure from Hamburg is unknown, nor have we the + slightest information as to his whereabouts until we hear of him at Rome + in January 1707. Chrysander's statement that he spent Christmas 1706 with + his mother at Halle is manifestly untrue. Mattheson says that he travelled + to Rome with a Herr von Binitz, but nothing is known of this gentleman. + His most natural route into Italy would be by the Brenner, the historic + road of all German pilgrims. + </p> + <p> + Handel may well have been glad to leave Hamburg, but Hamburg did not + forget him. He is mentioned in a theatrical manifesto of 1708 as being + already "beloved and celebrated in Italy"; Barthold Feind, one of the + Hamburg librettists, who in 1715 translated Handel's <i>Rinaldo</i>, + called him "the incomparable Handel, the Orpheus of our time"; and from + 1715 to 1734 almost all of Handel's London operas were represented on the + Hamburg stage. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II + </h2> + <p> + Arrival in Italy—<i>Rodrigo</i>—Rome: Cardinal Ottoboni and + the Scarlattis—Naples: Venice: <i>Agrippina</i>—appointment at + Hanover—London: <i>Rinaldo</i>. + </p> + <p> + Handel spent three years in Italy. The known facts about his life there + are singularly few, and his biographers have often had to draw copiously + on their imagination. They may perhaps be forgiven for doing so, since + they rightly sought to emphasise the fact that these three years were the + most formative period of Handel's personality as a composer. Handel came + to Italy as a German; he left Italy an Italian, as far as his music was + concerned, and, despite all other influences, Italian was the foundation + of his musical language until the end of his life. + </p> + <p> + On January 14, 1707, a Roman chronicler noted the arrival of "a Saxon, an + excellent player on the harpsichord and a composer of music, who has + to-day displayed his ability in playing the organ in the church of St. + John [Lateran] to the amazement of everyone." This can hardly refer to + anyone else than Handel, who throughout his sojourn in Italy was always + known as "the Saxon" (<i>il Sassone</i>). We owe the discovery of this + important document to Mr. Newman Flower. The next date known to us is that + of April 11—on the manuscript of Handel's <i>Dixit Dominus</i>, + composed in Rome. + </p> + <p> + Most biographers have, however, assumed that Handel's first halt in Italy + would have been made at Florence, in view of the fact that Gian Gastone + de' Medici is known to have been at Florence from June 1705 to November + 1706. The eldest son of the Grand Duke, Prince Ferdinand, was an + enthusiastic patron of music, who employed the best musicians of the day + to perform operas in his magnificent country palace at Pratolino, some + twelve miles north of Florence. It has been suggested that Handel's first + Italian opera, <i>Rodrigo</i>, was composed for Ferdinand and performed + early in 1707, but, in view of Mr. Flower's discovery, this seems + unlikely. Mr. Flower suggests, indeed, that Ferdinand did not take much + interest in Handel, otherwise he would not have allowed him to go to Rome + so soon. This is not impossible, for we know that Ferdinand found the + operas of Alessandro Scarlatti too serious for his taste, and he may well + have thought even less of Handel's music, which (as we can see from the + score of <i>Rodrigo</i>) was still very German in style. + </p> + <p> + Rome could offer Handel no opportunities either for composing operas or + even for hearing them. Pope Clement X had permitted the opening of a + public opera-house (the Teatro Tordinona) in 1671, but it was closed five + years later by Innocent XI, who made every effort he could to suppress + opera both in public and in private. Innocent XII, who became Pope in + 1691, seems to have been, at first, less intolerant, for the theatre was + rebuilt, and a few performances were given; but in 1697 he ordered its + destruction on grounds of public morality. Except for a few performances + of opera in private in 1701 and 1702 no operas were produced in Rome until + 1709. + </p> + <p> + Deprived of opera, the Romans devoted themselves to oratorio—which + in musical style was much the same thing—and to chamber music. The + most generous patron of music in Rome was the young Cardinal Ottoboni, who + had been raised to the purple in his early twenties, in 1690. He had + indeed composed an opera himself, which was performed in 1692, but he was + more competent as a poet than as a musician; in 1690 Alessandro Scarlatti + had set a libretto of his, <i>La Statira</i>. + </p> + <p> + Handel was no doubt recommended to him by Ferdinand de' Medici, and at the + Cardinal's weekly musical parties he soon came into contact with Domenico + Scarlatti, as well as with Corelli and Pasquini. Alessandro Scarlatti had + left Naples, probably for political reasons, in 1702, and at the end of + 1703 Ottoboni had secured him a subordinate post at the church of Santa + Maria Maggiore, at the same time appointing him his private director of + music. Domenico was a young man of Handel's own age—"a young eagle" + as his father called him—brilliantly gifted, and (to judge from + Thomas Roseingrave's impression of him) possessed of a singular personal + fascination. "Handel," says Mainwaring, "used often to speak of this + person with great satisfaction; and indeed there was reason for it; for + besides his great talents as an artist, he had the sweetest temper, and + the genteelest behaviour." We may indeed regard his friendship with Handel + as safely authenticated. It is just possible that Handel may have met + Alessandro Scarlatti at Pratolino in the previous autumn, as his opera <i>Il + Gran Tamerlano</i> was produced there in September; he may well have met + him between January and April of 1707. From April to September Alessandro + Scarlatti was in Urbino. + </p> + <p> + Handel's movements now become very difficult to follow. It seems probable + that his opera <i>Rodrigo</i> was performed at Florence in the autumn of + 1707; Mainwaring says that it was composed for Ferdinand de' Medici, but + there is no record of any performance at Pratolino. As Handel is said to + have been presented to Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover at Venice, he + must have been there in October or November, as the Prince is known to + have spent only those two months in that city. Whether Handel remained at + Venice over Christmas, or whether he returned to Rome, is uncertain. + Domenico Scarlatti is said to have identified him at Venice at a + masquerade by his playing of the harpsichord. It would be most natural to + suppose then that Handel and the two Scarlattis were in Venice together + for the production of Alessandro's two operas, <i>Mitridate Eupatore</i> + and <i>Il Trionfo della Libertà</i>, both of which were brought out at + Venice in 1707, but, as it is not known whether this took place at the + beginning or at the end of the year, there is not sufficient evidence to + support such a conjecture. + </p> + <p> + During March and April 1708, Handel was the guest of Prince Ruspoli in + Rome; this has been definitely ascertained by Mr. Flower. Prince Ruspoli + was another great Roman patron of music, and Scarlatti frequently composed + works for him; his <i>Annunciation Oratorio</i> was performed under his + auspices on March 25. On Easter Sunday, April 8, Handel made a triumphal + appearance with <i>La Resurrezione</i>, which was given on a sumptuous + scale, at Ruspoli's expense, in the Palazzo Bonelli, which he was + occupying at the time. Corelli led the orchestra. + </p> + <p> + After <i>La Resurrezione</i>, Handel seems to have returned to the + patronage of Cardinal Ottoboni, in whose palace he produced a <i>serenata</i> + (i.e. an allegorical cantata) called <i>Il Trionfa del Tempo e del + Disinganno</i>, which he remodelled fifty years afterwards as <i>The + Triumph of Time and Truth</i>. The libretto was by Cardinal Pamphilij. It + was the overture to this work which caused so much difficulty to Corelli. + Handel, irritated at his lack of understanding, snatched the violin from + his hand and played the passage himself, to show how it should be + executed; Corelli, gentlest of souls, took no offence, although thirty-two + years his senior and the greatest violinist living, but merely observed, + "My dear Saxon, this music is in the French style, of which I have no + knowledge." + </p> + <p> + It has been assumed by many biographers that Handel attended the meetings + of the Arcadian Academy, and since Prince Ruspoli was a great, benefactor + to the Academy, this is extremely probable, although there is no evidence + for it. Handel was not a member of the Academy, and various reasons for + this have been suggested, such as that he was a foreigner and also too + young to be admitted. It is more probable that his admission to that + exclusive society was never even contemplated; musicians were generally + engaged professionally for the concerts of the Italian academies, but very + seldom admitted to the honour of membership. Corelli, Pasquini and + Alessandro Scarlatti were all admitted together in 1705; they were the + three senior and most distinguished composers of the time, and as no other + musicians were then members, it may be assumed that these elections + constituted an exceptional honour. + </p> + <p> + Mainwaring relates that Cardinal Pamphili; on one occasion wrote a poem in + honour of Handel and desired him to set it to music himself; in this poem + "he was compared to Orpheus, and exalted above the rank of mortals." Later + biographers, being unable to trace any music of Handel to this poem, + assumed that Handel was too modest to sing his own praises; but he was + not, for the original manuscript of the cantata was found by the present + writer in the University Library at Münster in Westphalia. As Mainwaring + informs us, Handel is compared by the poet (whose name is not given) to + Orpheus and indeed exalted above him. "Orpheus," says the Cardinal, "could + move rocks and trees, but he could not make them sing; therefore thou art + greater than Orpheus, for thou compellest my aged Muse to song." The style + of both words and music suggests that the whole cantata was thrown off, as + Mainwaring suggests, on the spur of the moment, and this improvisation may + well have taken place at one of the Arcadians' garden parties, for there + is a well-known account of a similar improvisation by the poet Zappi and + the composer Alessandro Scarlatti. + </p> + <p> + Handel was by this time fully accepted as one of the leading musicians in + Italy, for in June he composed a pastoral, <i>Aci, Galatea e Polifemo</i>, + for the marriage of the Duke of Alvito at Naples on July 19. It was in + July 1708 that the Austrian Viceroy of Naples, Count Daun, was succeeded + by Cardinal Grimani, who, towards the end of the year, persuaded + Alessandro Scarlatti to return to the service of the royal chapel. As a + good friend to Scarlatti, the Cardinal was sure to interest himself in + Handel, and it was probably through him that Handel was commissioned to + write an opera for Venice, as the Grimani were a great Venetian family and + owned the principal opera-house there. How long Handel stayed at Naples we + do not know; all that Mainwaring tells us is that he was taken up by a + Spanish princess, but, as Naples had belonged to Spain for a hundred and + fifty years, Spanish princesses can have been no rarities there, and it is + impossible to identify this lady. + </p> + <p> + From July 1708 until December 1709 we lose sight of Handel entirely. On + December 26, the first night of the carnival season, his opera <i>Agrippina</i> + was produced at Venice. The libretto was by Cardinal Grimani, who had + already written other dramas for music, all produced, like Handel's, at + the Teatro San Giovanni Crisostomo in Venice. Venice was the first city + which had undertaken opera on a commercial basis, open to the public on + payment, whereas in other places it depended for many years on the + munificence of princes and nobles. At Venice there existed not one + theatre, but several, devoted to opera, each called after the name of the + parish in which it was situated, and, of these, the theatre of St. John + Chrysostom, built by the Grimani family and still standing (though much + remodelled) under the name of Teatro Malibran, was the largest and most + important. The Inquisition took a more tolerant view of opera than the + Pope; a Venetian preacher admonished actors and singers to remember that + they "were abominated of God, but tolerated by the Government by desire of + those who took delight in their iniquities." + </p> + <p> + <i>Agrippina</i> aroused an extraordinary enthusiasm. "The theatre, at + almost every pause, resounded with shouts and acclamations of <i>viva il + taro Sassone!</i> and other expressions of approbation too extravagant to + be mentioned" (Mainwaring). The title part was sung by Margherita + Durastanti, and another singer who appeared in the opera was Boschi, the + famous bass; both of them were to sing for Handel in London later on. It + is fairly certain that Boschi must have sung the part of Polyphemus in + Handel's Italian <i>Aci e Galatea</i> at Naples, for it bears a striking + resemblance to other songs written for Boschi, whose voice was of + exceptional range. The opera ran for twenty-seven nights. + </p> + <p> + After this unprecedented triumph it seems surprising that Handel did not + remain in Italy, where he had so many friends who could ensure his + success. It is probable that by the time <i>Agrippina</i> was performed, + if not indeed long before, he had been promised the post of Kapellmeister + to the court of Hanover. The actual appointment is dated June 16, 1710. + But no sooner was Handel appointed than he at once obtained leave of + absence, and went on, first to Düsseldorf, and then to London. It was + probably the Elector's intention that he should spend some time in foreign + travel before taking up regular duty. + </p> + <p> + The three years which Handel spent in Italy at the most impressionable + period of his life fixed the characteristics of his style as a composer, + and we may well suppose that they exercised a decisive influence on his + personality and character. His youth had been spent in the respectable + middle-class environment of his home at Halle; then came the three years + at Hamburg, fantastic and exciting, yet, despite all the artistic stimulus + of Keiser's opera-house, inevitably sordid and provincial. Italy + introduced him to an entirely different atmosphere—to a life of + dignity and serenity in which a classical culture, both literary and + artistic, was the matured fruit of wealth, leisure, and good breeding. + That exquisite life found its highest musical expression in Alessandro + Scarlatti, who at that period was incontestably the greatest of living + musicians. On his style Handel formed his own, and it is interesting to + note that of all Scarlatti's operas the one which most strikingly + foreshadows the genius of Handel is <i>Mitridate</i>, which Handel may + possibly have seen at Venice in the winter of 1707-08. The musical library + of Handel's English friend Charles Jennens contained a large collection of + Scarlatti's manuscripts, and there can be little doubt that it was Handel + who brought them with him from Italy. + </p> + <p> + In Venice, Handel had made the acquaintance of Prince Ernest of Hanover, + younger brother of the Elector Georg Ludwig who was eventually to become + King of England as George I. With Prince Ernest was Baron Kielmansegge, + who for many years afterwards remained a firm supporter of Handel, and + another Venetian acquaintance was the Duke of Manchester, English + Ambassador to the Republic of Venice. Through Prince Ernest, and + Kielmansegge, Handel was recommended to the court of Hanover; the Duke of + Manchester gave him a pressing invitation to England. Music in Hanover was + under the direction of an Italian, Agostino Steffani, who was not only a + musician but priest and diplomatist as well. Born at Castelfranco in 1654, + he was taken as a boy to Munich, where he studied music, and, in 1680 + entered the priesthood; he produced several operas there, and about 1689 + became Kapellmeister to the court of Hanover. Here he was employed on + important diplomatic business; Pope Innocent XI made him titular Bishop of + Spiga in the West Indies, and in 1698 he was Ambassador at Brussels. In + 1709 he became the Pope's representative for North Germany, and it was + doubtless owing to his heavy ecclesiastical duties that he resigned his + musical post in favour of Handel, although Hanover remained his chief + place of residence until his death in 1728. He was in Rome in 1708 and + 1709, and it has been suggested that he made Handel's acquaintance there, + but this hardly seems consistent with Handel's own statement, recorded by + Hawkins in his <i>History of Music</i>: "When I first arrived at Hanover I + was a young man under twenty; I was acquainted with the merits of Steffani + and he had heard of me. I understood somewhat of music, and could play + pretty well on the organ; he received me with great kindness, and took an + early opportunity to introduce me to the Princess Sophia and the Elector's + son, giving them to understand that I was what he was pleased to call a + virtuoso in music; he obliged me with instructions for my conduct and + behaviour during my residence at Hanover; and being called from the city + to attend to matters of a public concern, he left me in possession of that + favour and patronage which himself had enjoyed for a series of years." + These statements of Handel seem, in fact, to point to his having visited + Hanover before he went to Italy, possibly before he went to Hamburg, or, + more probably, during the course of his Hamburg period, in which case one + might conclude that the Electress Sophia had defrayed the cost of Handel's + Italian journey. Even if Handel made a mistake as to his age, he clearly + implies that his first meeting with Steffani took place in Hanover. + </p> + <p> + At Düsseldorf, Handel was sure of a warm welcome, for the Elector Johann + Wilhelm was a close friend of Steffani, and his wife was a sister of + Ferdinand and Gian Gastone de' Medici; he was a man of extravagant tastes, + and his opera-house was maintained on the most magnificent scale. But + Handel did not stay there long; England was a greater attraction, and he + arrived in London for the first time in the autumn of 1710. + </p> + <p> + Nothing is known of Handel's early days in London, but it may be safely + assumed that he was provided with letters of introduction to persons of + influence. We meet him first in the company of Heidegger, a Swiss + adventurer who achieved notoriety through his incredible ugliness, and + from 1709 onwards was concerned in the management of the opera at the + Queen's Theatre in the Haymarket. Through Heidegger, Handel was introduced + to Mary Granville, then a little girl of ten, whom he delighted by his + performance on her own spinet. Her uncle, Sir John Stanley, asked her if + she thought she should ever play as well as Mr. Handel. "If I did not + think I should," she cried, "I would burn my instrument!" Mary Granville, + who, seven years later, married a Mr. Pendarves, and in 1743 became the + wife of Dr. Delany, was for many years one of Handel's most faithful + friends and supporters. + </p> + <p> + In the reign of Queen Anne the musical life of London was developing in a + new fashion as compared with what it was in the last twenty years of the + previous century. The type of English opera which Purcell and Dryden had + created came to an end with Purcell's death in 1695. Italian music, + especially when sung by Italian singers, was gradually becoming more and + more popular with London concert-audiences, and in 1705 Thomas Clayton + produced at Drury Lane an opera called <i>Arsinoe, Queen of Cyprus</i>. + Clayton had visited Italy, and had brought back with him a collection of + Italian songs; he got Peter Motteux to translate for him an old Italian + opera libretto, and adapted these songs to it. How much of <i>Arsinoe</i> + was Clayton's own work is not known; Burney speaks of the opera with + nothing but contempt. Yet it seems to have had some fair success, and was + even revived the following year; but Clayton's <i>Rosamond</i>, to a + libretto by Addison, did not survive three performances. It was followed + by a series of Italian operas composed by Buononcini, Scarlatti, and + others; at first the operas were in English, and sung by English singers, + but gradually Italian was introduced, as at Hamburg, and in 1710 an opera + called <i>Almahide</i>, the music of which Burney ascribes conjecturally + to Buononcini, was given in Italian with an entirely Italian company. The + victory of the Italians was due mainly to the marvellous singing and + acting of Nicola Grimaldi, known as Nicolini, who first appeared in London + in Scarlatti's <i>Pyrrhus and Demetrius</i>. Nicolini was not the first <i>castrato</i> + who had been heard in England; the famous Siface had been brought over by + Queen Mary of Modena in 1687. But Nicolini was the first who appeared on + the English stage, and it was he who paved the way for Senesino, + Farinelli, and the rest, and established that annual season of Italian + opera which is not yet extinct. + </p> + <p> + At the time when Handel arrived in London the opera company had migrated + from Drury Lane to Vanbrugh's new theatre in the Haymarket, where it was + under the management of Aaron Hill, an enterprising young man of Handel's + own age who was ready to pursue any sort of career that chance might offer + him, whether in literature, music, or business adventure. We may safely + hazard a guess that it was Boschi who persuaded Hill to invite Handel to + compose an opera for the Queen's Theatre, as Boschi had already sung, in + November 1710, in <i>Hydaspes</i>, an opera by Francesco Mancini, in which + Nicolini delighted his audience in a fight with a lion. Hill sketched a + plot based on Tasso's <i>Jerusalem Delivered</i>, and an Italian libretto + was hastily provided by Giacomo Rossi, Handel composing the music at the + same time, and often overtaking the poet. The music, in fact, was + completed in a fortnight, and the opera of <i>Rinaldo</i> was first + produced on the stage on February 24, 1711. To judge from Burney's account + of the preceding weeks of the season, coupled with this astonishingly + rapid collaboration, it is probable that Hill was in a difficult + situation, from which only a new and strikingly successful opera could + save him. <i>Rinaldo</i> achieved the desired success; it did more, it + established Handel's reputation in England as a dramatic composer, and set + London a new standard in Italian opera. The previous Italian operas had + been works of little distinction, and some of them had even been <i>pasticcio</i> + operas, as they were called, put together from songs by various composers. + Even Scarlatti's <i>Pyrrhus and Demetrius</i> paled beside the new opera + of Handel, for it had been written as far back as 1694, and was in a style + which Scarlatti himself had long abandoned. + </p> + <p> + <i>Rinaldo</i> had fifteen performances in the course of the season. It + provoked bitter attacks from Addison in the <i>Spectator</i> and from + Steele in the <i>Tatler</i>, but everybody knew that Addison's vanity was + wounded by the grotesque failure of <i>Rosamond</i>, and that Steele had + interests in the playhouse. It was useless at that particular moment to + champion the cause of English opera, for England happened to possess not a + single composer who was equal to the task of writing one. + </p> + <p> + The opera season came to an end in June, and Handel left London for + Germany. He did not go straight back to Hanover, but stayed at Düsseldorf + again, where the Elector was evidently desirous of keeping him as long as + possible, for the Elector himself wrote more than once to Hanover to make + excuses for Handel's prolonged absence from his official duties. Handel + may well have felt that Hanover was a dull place as compared with London. + There was no opera, and his chief function was to compose Italian chamber + duets for the Princess Caroline of Ansbach; afterwards Queen of England. + But he may well have taken pleasure in her service, for she was an + excellent musician and no mean singer. In November 1711 Handel paid a + visit to Halle, in order to stand godfather to his niece, Johanna + Friderica Michaelsen, the daughter of his surviving sister, who eventually + inherited the bulk of his fortune. Some biographers have stated that + Handel had already revisited his birthplace in 1710 before going to + London. Mainwaring is their authority for this, but Mainwaring habitually + confused dates and more probably referred to the visit of 1711, for which + we have the certain evidence of Friderica Michaelsen's baptismal register. + It is clear that the alleged visit of 1710 was suggested merely by a + desire to make the most of Handel's affection for his mother, which + Mainwaring had already emphasised. Mainwaring, however, went beyond the + truth in saying that she had become blind; she did eventually lose her + sight, but not until some twenty years later. + </p> + <p> + Handel appears to have remained at Hanover until the autumn of 1712, when + he obtained permission to go to London again "on condition that he engaged + to return within a reasonable time" (Mainwaring). What period was to be + considered reasonable we do not know. Handel had certainly been planning + this London visit for some time, as he was corresponding with friends in + England, and was also taking some trouble to improve his knowledge of the + English language. It is not surprising that he hankered after London, for + London offered him a society which bore more resemblance to the world + which he had known at Rome. The tradition of Italian culture had for + generations been more firmly implanted in England than anywhere in + Germany, except perhaps in Vienna, and, since those three years in Italy, + Handel's musical outlook had become completely Italian, as his music + shows. The few attempts which he made at German Church music present a + curious contrast of style; one could hardly believe them to be the work of + that Handel whom we have adopted as our own. German music at that date was + provincial; Italian music was the music of the great world, because it was + the music of the theatre. It was to the theatre that Handel looked + forward, and London had what even Rome had not—an opera, and an + Italian opera. The success of <i>Rinaldo</i> had shown him that London was + the place where he might launch out into a triumphal career as a composer + for the stage. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III + </h2> + <p> + Second visit to London—Italian opera—George I and the <i>Water + Music</i>—visit to Germany—Canons and the Duke of Chandos—establishment + of the Royal Academy of Music. + </p> + <p> + For the greater part of the nineteenth century the Handelian type of opera + was the laughingstock of musical critics; they wondered how any audiences + could have endured to sit through it, and why the fashionable society of + London should have neglected native music for what Dr. Johnson defined as + "an exotic and irrational entertainment." The modern reader's impression + of an Italian opera of Handel's days is a story about some ancient or + mediaeval hero whose very name is often to most people unknown; if he + happens to be someone as famous as Julius Caesar, the familiar episodes of + his life are sacrificed to some imaginary and complicated intrigue + presented in the form of long and elaborate songs, thinly accompanied, and + separated by stretches of dreary recitative. But in those days persons of + culture, in England as well as in Italy, were perhaps more interested in + ancient history and in the history of the later Roman Empire than they are + now; it is significant that Gibbon's <i>Decline and Fall</i> made its + appearance just when the fashion for operas on subjects which might have + been taken from its pages was coming to an end. + </p> + <p> + The conventional treatment of those subjects, which makes all the operas + seem exactly alike, was the result of a certain literary reform which had + tended to standardise opera libretti under the influence of Racine, and it + was really a movement towards dignity and dramatic unity after the + monstrous confusion of the earlier Venetian operas. As to the + conventionality of the music, and its forms of air and recitative, it can + only be said that all serious Italian music was written in these forms; it + was simply the normal musical style of the period, and must have been as + natural to its own audiences as the style of Puccini or Richard Strauss at + the present day. Handelian opera has often been described as a concert in + costume, and Dr. Burney, writing as late as 1789, both admits this + description and defends it. + </p> + <p> + "An opera, at the worst, is still better than a concert merely for the + ear, or a pantomime entertainment for the eye. Supposing the articulation + to be wholly unintelligible, we have an excellent union of melody and + harmony, vocal as well as instrumental, for the ear. And, according to Sir + Richard Steele's account of Nicolini's action, 'it was so significant, + that a deaf man might go along with him in the sense of the part he + acted.' + </p> + <p> + "No one will dispute but that understanding Italian would render our + entertainment at an opera more rational and more complete; but without + that advantage, let it be remembered by the lovers of Music, that an opera + is the <i>completest concert</i> to which they can go; with this advantage + over those in still life, that to the most perfect singing, and effects of + a powerful and well-disciplined band, are frequently added excellent + acting, splendid scenes and decorations, with such dancing as a playhouse, + from its inferior prices, is seldom able to furnish." + </p> + <p> + Orchestral concerts in those days did not exist; concerts of any kind were + rare, and the best were to be heard in that historic room over Thomas + Britton's small coal shop, in Clerkenwell, where Handel himself sometimes + played on a chamber-organ for the genuine musical enthusiasts of London + society. It was no wonder that Italian opera became fashionable. Italian + singers have always been unrivalled in popular favour, and in Handel's + days they were not only something new to England, but were the exponents + of a vocal art which admittedly has never been surpassed. The theatre was + new and sumptuous; society was wealthy and at the same time exclusive; at + the opera the great world met together as in a sort of club. People went + to talk and to be seen as well as to see and hear; they do so in certain + opera-houses still. And the Queen's Theatre in the Haymarket possessed the + greatest opera-composer living, a greater even than Scarlatti himself. + </p> + <p> + It was a period when there was still a considerable tradition of + musicianship among the amateurs of English society. Old Countess + Granville, known to her younger relatives as "the Dragon," who had lived + all through the age of Locke and Purcell, wrote, at the age of eighty, to + her cousin Mrs. Pendarves—Handel's child friend Mary Granville—in + 1734: "There is, I think, no accomplishment so great for a lady as music, + for it tunes the mind." There were plenty of people in the great houses + capable of appreciating the merits of Handel, or at any rate of + constituting themselves his enemies. + </p> + <p> + Handel must have arrived in England at least as early as the beginning of + October 1712, for the manuscript of <i>Il Pastor Fido</i>, the first new + opera which he produced, is dated, at the end, "Londres, ce 24 Octobre." + The opera-house was now under the management of Owen MacSwiney, who seems + to have been both incompetent and unreliable. <i>Il Pastor Fido</i> did + not attract the public, and was withdrawn after six performances, but + Handel soon had another opera ready to take its place. <i>Teseo</i> was + finished on December 19, and brought out on January 10, 1713; it was a + romantic-heroic opera, closely modelled on <i>Rinaldo</i>, with an + abundance of scenic effects. After the second performance MacSwiney + disappeared, leaving the singers unpaid as well as the scene-painters and + costume-makers. The company carried on the season undeterred, and the + management was taken over by Heidegger. Handel's opera was performed + twelve times—on the last night for the composer's benefit; between + the acts he gave a performance himself on the harpsichord. + </p> + <p> + For the moment, however, the operatic situation was not encouraging, and + Handel turned his thoughts in other directions. He had stayed first at the + London house of a Mr. Andrews of Barn Elms in Surrey, but he soon + transferred himself to the house of Lord Burlington in Piccadilly. Lord + Burlington was only seventeen years of age, but he and his mother made + Burlington House an artistic and literary centre comparable with the + palaces of Cardinal Ottoboni and Prince Ruspoli at Rome. As the libretto + of <i>Teseo</i> is dedicated to him, he must have taken Handel under his + patronage soon after his arrival in England, but the precise date at which + Handel went to live with him is uncertain. According to Hawkins, he stayed + at Burlington House for three years, meeting Pope, Gay, and Dr. Arbuthnot, + as well as many other "men of the first eminence for genius." But Gay does + not seem to have met Lord Burlington until 1715, and Pope mentions him + first in 1718. It is thought that Handel's little opera, <i>Silla</i>, may + have been written for a private performance at Burlington House in 1714, + and the dedication of <i>Amadigi</i>, Handel's next opera (1715), + indicates that the music was composed within his patron's own walls. + </p> + <p> + One of Handel's favourite haunts in London was St. Paul's Cathedral, where + Brind the organist often persuaded him to play the organ after evening + service, to the great delight of the congregation. He appears to have made + Brind's acquaintance first through young Maurice Greene, then aged + seventeen, who had been a chorister of St. Paul's, and, after his voice + broke in 1710, was articled to Brind as a pupil. After service was over, + Handel, Greene, and some of the members of the choir would repair to the + Queen's Arms Tavern close by for an evening of music and musical + conversation. + </p> + <p> + This friendly association with St. Paul's was no doubt of great value to + Handel in his next musical undertakings—the <i>Birthday Ode</i> for + Queen Anne, and the <i>Te Deum</i> which celebrated the Peace of Utrecht + in 1713. The Queen's patronage may very likely have been obtained for him + by Lady Burlington, as she was one of the Ladies of the Bedchamber. These + two works are important landmarks in Handel's career, as they were his + first compositions to English words, and his first compositions for + English ceremonial occasions. They marked him out as the natural successor + to Purcell, and it is evident that in each case he took Purcell's similar + composition as his model. Up till now he had been a foreigner engaged to + provide Italian opera for the amusement of fashionable society; with the + <i>Birthday Ode</i> he became a court musician to the Queen of England, + and with the <i>Te Deum</i> his music entered St. Paul's. + </p> + <p> + The practical result of the <i>Ode</i> was a pension of £200 a year + conferred on him by Queen Anne. It is clear that he now regarded England + as his permanent home, regardless of the fact that he was officially the + servant of the Elector of Hanover and had undertaken to return thither + "within a reasonable time." But on August 1, 1714, the Queen died, and the + Elector was proclaimed King of England. When George I came over to his new + country, Handel did not dare to show himself at court, and all efforts on + the part of his friends to effect a reconciliation with the King were in + vain. The King went to see his new opera, <i>Amadigi</i>, which came out + late in the season of 1715, but refused to pardon him, until Handel's old + Venetian acquaintance, Baron Kielmansegge, now Master of the Horse, + devised an ingenious expedient for surprising the King into clemency. + </p> + <p> + One of the favourite amusements of London society was to make up a + water-party on the Thames, with a band of musicians in attendance. Mrs. + Pendarves describes a party of this kind in July 1722; they rowed up to + Richmond, where they had supper, and "were entertained all the time by + very good music [for wind instruments] in another barge." Baron + Kielmansegge arranged that the King should go for an excursion of this + kind, and that, without his knowledge, Handel should conduct appropriate + music of his own in a barge that followed the King's. As the Baron was + often in charge of the music for such occasions, this can have been a + matter of no great difficulty; in any case it achieved the desired result. + The King was enchanted with the music, and restored Handel to favour. As + Mainwaring tells this story just before speaking of <i>Amadigi</i>, it has + generally been assumed that this episode took place in the summer of 1715, + but more recently it has been ascribed to 1717, on the strength of a long + account of a royal water-party, with music by Handel, given in the <i>Daily + Courant</i>, a newspaper of the period. This account was copied by the + Envoy of Brandenburg at the court of St. James's and despatched by him to + Berlin; the discovery of this document has led certain writers to cast + doubt on Mainwaring's story. Streatfeild is probably right in suggesting + that Mainwaring's story refers to an earlier water-party, and that Handel + contributed music frequently for such occasions. He also points out that + the celebrated <i>Water Music</i> was not published until 1740, and that + it may quite well have been collected from various aquatic programmes. + </p> + <p> + Hawkins relates the story of the <i>Water Music</i>, evidently copying + from Mainwaring; but Hawkins had known Handel personally, and had been + supplied by him with certain reminiscences, one of which was unknown to + Mainwaring. According to this anecdote, recorded by Hawkins, the + reconciliation with George I was due to the violinist Geminiani, who had + composed a set of sonatas dedicated to Baron Kielmansegge; Geminiani was a + notoriously difficult player to accompany, and insisted on Handel, and no + other, taking the harpsichord when he went to play the sonatas to the + King. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Flower, in his life of Handel, refuses all credit to Mainwaring's + well-known tale, and takes the view that the King never had any quarrel + with Handel at all. In any case it seems certain that he confirmed the + pension granted to him by Queen Anne, and added a further £200 a year of + his own. A few years later, Handel received yet another £200 a year—from + Caroline of Ansbach, now Princess of Wales, for teaching her daughters the + harpsichord, so that he enjoyed a settled income of £600 a year for the + rest of his life. + </p> + <p> + <i>Amadigi</i>, produced May 25, 1715, did not have many performances, as + the season ended on July 9, but it attracted considerable attention, + partly because that old favourite, Nicolini, sang in it again, and also on + account of its elaborate staging. "There is more enchantment and machinery + in this opera," says Dr. Burney, "than I have ever found to be announced + in any other musical drama performed in England." + </p> + <p> + During the following season, which did not begin until February 1716, both + <i>Rinaldo</i> and <i>Amadigi</i> were revived, but Handel produced no new + opera. The King seems to have wished to see Nicolini in his older parts; + <i>Pyrrhus and Demetrius</i> was revived, as well as other operas of the + days before Handel's first arrival in England. In July, at the end of the + season, George I returned to Hanover, where he remained until the end of + the year. Handel accompanied him, but seems to have had freedom to travel, + for he visited Hamburg, where he avoided meeting his old friend Mattheson, + though he corresponded with him from a safe distance. He also went to + Halle, where his mother was still living; Zachow, however, was dead, and + had left his widow in straitened circumstances, with an idle and + intemperate son. Handel helped the widow, and continued to send her money + in later years, but he eventually came to the conclusion that it was + useless to do anything for the son. From Halle he went on to Ansbach, no + doubt on some commission from the Princess of Wales. At Ansbach he found + an old friend from the University of Halle, Johann Christoph Schmidt, who + was established in a woollen business. Although Schmidt was married and + had a family, he was persuaded by Handel to leave these behind at Ansbach + and to travel with him to London, where he spent the rest of his life as + Handel's faithful secretary and copyist. His son came over later on, and, + after Handel had provided for his education, assisted his father in + looking after Handel during his old age. + </p> + <p> + During these six months in Germany, Handel reverted for a moment to German + music; he set what is known as the <i>Brockes Passion</i>, a sacred + cantata in verse by the Hamburg poet Brockes, which had already been set + once by Keiser. Later on it was set to music again by two of Handel's + former friends, first by Telemann, and then by Mattheson. Little is known + about the composition of this work; Handel apparently had a copy made + after his return to England and sent this to Mattheson, and it was + performed at Hamburg in 1717. Handel does not seem to have had it + performed in England; he used up the music afterwards for other works. + Chrysander attributed to 1716 a set of nine German songs with violin <i>obbligato</i> + to semi-sacred words by Brockes; but there is some difficulty about + accepting this date, for, although eight of the poems had already been + printed by Brockes, there is one which is found only in the second edition + of the book, printed in 1724. + </p> + <p> + The King came back to London in January 1717, and it is supposed that + Handel came with him. The opera was on the verge of collapse. <i>Rinaldo</i> + and <i>Amadigi</i> were once more revived for Nicolini, but Handel + contributed no new work, and, after the season came to an end in July, + there was no more Italian opera in London until 1720. It was during this + period that Handel became musical director to the Duke of Chandos, for + whom he composed works of a character new both to England and to himself. + </p> + <p> + James Brydges, first Duke of Chandos, had built himself an Italian palace + at Canons, near Edgware, in which he must have outdone even the + magnificent Lord Burlington in sumptuousness and ostentation. Like a + German princeling, he kept his choir and his band of musicians, though + there seems to be no evidence that he was himself genuinely musical. The + chapel of the house, a florid Italian baroque building with frescoes in + the appropriate style by Italian painters, was opened in 1720, and the + anthem for the occasion was no doubt one of Handel's. It is not known what + music of Handel's was performed at the Duke's private concerts, but for + the services of the chapel he composed the famous <i>Chandos Te Deum</i> + and the twelve <i>Chandos Anthems</i>. Here again Purcell was his model, + but the style was Handel's own, a style indeed so appropriate to the + formal stateliness of the Duke's establishment that these works have never + become part of the ordinary cathedral repertory. It was to Purcell, and to + some extent to Scarlatti too, that Handel owed the general plan of the + anthems with their orchestral accompaniments, but even Purcell's anthems + with orchestra had by that time been found too elaborate for general use. + </p> + <p> + To the Chandos period belongs also a work which is still one of Handel's + most popular compositions, the English <i>Acis and Galatea</i>, to words + by John Gay. It was not a revision of the <i>serenata</i> which he wrote + at Naples, but an entirely new work. More important as a landmark in + Handel's development is the masque of <i>Esther</i>, originally called <i>Haman + and Mordecai</i>. About the early history of these works little is known; + both were intended to be acted on the stage, and they were very probably + performed in this way at Canons. The words of <i>Esther</i> were adapted + from Racine's play of the same name, and it has been suggested that Pope + was the author. + </p> + <p> + Handel's residence at Canons gave rise to two legends about him which are + still so often repeated that their absurdity must be mentioned here, + although they have been known for many years to be baseless. One is + perpetuated by an inscription on the organ in the church at Whitchurch, to + the effect that Handel composed the oratorio of <i>Esther</i> on this + instrument. Handel was never organist at Whitchurch; the church existed in + his day, but it was an entirely separate building from the private chapel + of the Duke of Chandos which was pulled down with the house. The organ of + that chapel is now at Gosport. It need hardly be said that in any case it + was not Handel's practice to compose his works on an organ. The other, and + even more popular, legend is that of "The Harmonious Blacksmith." It was + during the Canons period that Handel published his <i>Suites de Pièces + pour le Clavecin</i> (1720) which had probably been composed for the + daughters of the Princess of Wales, and one of these suites contains the + air and variations known by that familiar title. But the air was never + called by this name before 1820; about that time a young music-seller at + Bath, who had previously been a blacksmith's apprentice, earned the + nickname of "the harmonious blacksmith" because he was always singing that + particular tune. Somehow the name got transferred from the singer to the + song, and in 1835 the story of Handel's having been inspired to compose + the tune after hearing a blacksmith at Edgware produce musical notes from + his anvil was first put into print in a letter to <i>The Times</i>. Not + long afterwards an imaginary blacksmith of Edgware was invented, and his + alleged anvil sold by auction. + </p> + <p> + Whether the air is Handel's own composition at all is a matter of + uncertainty; there would be nothing in the least unusual about any + composer taking another man's air as a theme for variations, and it has + been suggested, with some plausibility, that the tune is that of an old + French song. + </p> + <p> + On August 8, 1718, Handel's sister Dorothea Sophia died of consumption at + Halle. She was not more than thirty years of age; the other sister, + Johanna, had died in 1709. The sermon preached at Dorothea's funeral on + August 11, 1718, has been preserved, and tells us that one of her + favourite texts from the Bible, which she was often in the habit of + quoting, was, "I know that my Redeemer liveth." Chrysander suggested, and + we may well believe, that the setting of these words in <i>Messiah</i>, + given to a female voice, owed its inspiration to the memory of Dorothea + Sophia. Handel was evidently much attached to her. To attend her funeral + was impossible, and it was some months before Handel could visit Halle + again; but on February 20, 1719, he wrote a letter to his brother-in-law, + thanking him for all the kindness which he had shown to his sister, and + promising to come to Halle as soon as his engagements permitted. + </p> + <p> + Handel's inability to leave London before February 1719 was due to the + fact that a new scheme for the promotion of opera in London was on foot. + The first idea was probably suggested in the circle of the Duke of Chandos + towards the end of 1718. It was the moment of the South Sea Bubble, and + speculation had become the universal fashion. To revive the Italian opera + a company was formed among members of the nobility; a capital of £50,000 + was raised in shares of £100 each, and the King himself contributed + £1,000. The new venture was called the Royal Academy of Music, in + imitation of the <i>Académie Royale de Musique</i>, under which name the + Paris opera was officially known. The French designation was obviously + suggested by the Italian "academies," or literary and musical societies of + the period; the expression <i>accademia di musica</i> is still + occasionally used in Italy to signify a concert. The directors engaged + Nicolo Haym and Paolo Rolli as poets to provide libretti; for the music + they naturally secured Handel, but also invited Buononcini over from Rome, + and Attilio Ariosti from Berlin. Handel was sent at once to Dresden to + select singers; on February 21 he is stated to have left London for that + purpose, but it is possible that he may actually have started later, for + in his letter to his brother-in-law, dated February 20, he says, "I beg + you will not judge of my desire to see you by the delay of my departure, + for to my great regret I find myself detained here by important business + on which I may say my fortune depends, and it has dragged on longer than I + expected.... I hope I shall be at the end of it in a month from now." + </p> + <p> + Handel's exact itinerary is difficult to establish. We know that he went + to Düsseldorf, where he engaged the singer Baldassari, but whether this + was on the outward journey or later in the year is uncertain. From the + letter to Michaelsen we should imagine that he went to Halle as soon as + possible; the only authentic document which gives us any date is a letter + from Count Flemming, a court functionary at Dresden, to Melusine von + Schulenburg, daughter of George I's mistress the Duchess of Kendal, who in + 1733 married Lord Chesterfield. Melusine was a pupil of Handel in London. + The letter is dated from Dresden, October 6, 1719; the Count seems to have + been much offended by Handel's behaviour, and suggests that he was "a + little mad" (<i>un peu fol</i>). Count Flemming was evidently vain of his + own musicianship, and this made him feel all the more hurt at Handel's + obstinate refusal to accept his invitations. The Electoral Prince of + Saxony was married about this time to an Austrian Archduchess, and the + Elector had invited several of the most famous Italian singers, headed by + the composer Lotti, to Dresden to grace the occasion, hoping to make + contracts with them for the winter season. Handel's object in Dresden was + to tempt these celebrities to London by the offer of English guineas, so + that he was naturally obliged to be extremely discreet in his relations + with the officials of the court. + </p> + <p> + He certainly played the harpsichord at court, for in the following + February (1720) a sum of 100 ducats was paid to him; this however cannot + indicate that he was actually in Dresden at that date, and may easily have + been a delayed payment for earlier services. Handel's negotiations with + the singers were only moderately successful, for he was unable to secure + anyone except Signora Durastanti for the opening of the London opera, even + though that was delayed until April 1720. The others remained at Dresden, + but it is probable that Handel's offers had not been without their + attractions, for the Italian singers at Dresden gave so much trouble to + the management that the Elector suddenly dismissed the whole crew in + February 1720; none of them, however, appeared in London before the autumn + season. + </p> + <p> + Handel's visit to Halle this year is of peculiar interest because of the + attempt made by J. S. Bach to become acquainted with him. Forkel's + biography of Bach (1802) is the only authority for this story. Bach in + 1719 was in the service of the Prince of Anhalt-Cöthen; hearing that + Handel was in the neighbourhood, he went over to Halle, a distance of + about twenty miles, but found that Handel had already departed for London. + The exact date of Handel's return is not known, but as there was a meeting + of the shareholders of the opera on November 6, 1719, he may have been in + England by that time. He was not himself one of the actual directors of + the company; the only professional member of the board was Heidegger. + Burney suggests that the affairs of the company were none too prosperous + even before the season began; and it is strange that so long a delay took + place between the first initiation of the scheme in the winter of 1718 and + the first rise of the curtain on April 2, 1720. Handel, at any rate, must + have felt his own position to be secure, for it was about this time that + he took the house at what was then 57 Lower Brook Street, Grosvenor + Square, where he resided for the rest of his life. His name appears first + in 1725 among the ratepayers of the parish of St. George's, Hanover + Square, but not long ago a lead cistern was found in the house, bearing + his initials and the date 1721. On what terms he took the house is not + known; it is not mentioned in his will. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV + </h2> + <p> + Buononcini—Cuzzoni, Faustina, and Senesino—death of George I—<i>The + Beggar's Opera</i>—collapse of the Academy. + </p> + <p> + The opening performance of the Royal Academy of Music was undistinguished; + it is hard to understand why the noble directors should have begun their + season with <i>Numitor</i>, an opera by Porta, a Venetian composer, who is + described in the book of words as "Servant to His Grace the Duke of + Wharton." The Duke of Wharton was not one of the directors. The company, + moreover, was more English than Italian; it included Baldassari, + Durastanti, and a second woman called Galerati, together with Anastasia + Robinson, who afterwards became Countess of Peterborough, Mrs. Turner + Robinson, wife of the organist of Westminster Abbey, Mrs. Dennis, and Mr. + Gordon. <i>Numitor</i> ran for five performances; on April 27 it was + succeeded by Handel's new opera <i>Radamisto</i>, in which the same + singers took part, except that Mrs. Dennis did not appear, and Mr. La + Garde sang the part of Farasmane. It is interesting to note that two of + the male parts were taken by women—Radamisto (Durastanti) and + Tigrane (Galerati). This looks as if the management had found it + impossible to secure a sufficient number of Italian <i>castrati</i>, who + probably demanded exorbitant fees. + </p> + <p> + <i>Radamisto</i> fared little better than <i>Numitor</i>; an enormous + crowd came to the first night, and many were turned away, but the opera + was not performed more than ten times in the season. It was probably above + the heads of the audience, for it is one of Handel's finest works for the + stage and a great advance on any of his previous operas. The only other + opera performed was <i>Narciso</i>, by Domenico Scarlatti, which was even + less successful than the others. Chrysander seems to suggest that + Scarlatti came to London with the idea of being a rival to Handel, but it + is much more likely that Handel himself persuaded the Academy to invite + the friend of his youth. + </p> + <p> + The season ended on June 25. <i>Radamisto</i> was printed, and was + published by Handel himself at his own house. + </p> + <p> + A really serious rival to Handel appeared in the autumn. Lord Burlington + had made the acquaintance in Rome of Giovanni Buononcini, and had heard + his opera <i>Astarto</i>. Perhaps he had had enough of Handel after three + years of his close company in Burlington House; in any case he probably + thought himself a better judge of music than Handel. He secured Buononcini + for the Academy, and the season opened on November 19 with <i>Astarto</i>. + The dedication to the Earl of Burlington is signed by Paolo Rolli, and no + other author's name is mentioned; but the libretto was really by Apostolo + Zeno (1708). <i>Astarto</i> had ten performances before Christmas, and + twenty afterwards; <i>Radamisto</i> was revived again, but Buononcini + established himself firmly in the favour of a large party. Although Burney + speaks very disparagingly of the music, it is not in the least surprising + that the opera attracted the public. In the first place, it had the + advantage of a magnificent cast of singers—Senesino, Boschi, + Berenstadt, Berselli, Durastanti, Salvai, and Galerati, and this sudden + blaze of vocal splendour would in itself have made the success of any + opera, especially of one which opened the season. Besides, Buononcini's + music was pleasing and, after a far longer stage experience than Handel's, + he naturally wrote what singers enjoyed singing. It must further be added + that Buononcini himself was a striking personality; he had produced operas + at Berlin and Vienna, as well as in various Italian cities, and was a man + of the world, accustomed to the society of courts. Besides, Buononcini was + a stranger and a novelty; Handel was becoming an established institution—indeed, + he was well on the way to becoming an English composer. + </p> + <p> + The same singers, with the addition of Anastasia Robinson, appeared in the + season of 1721-22. A curious experiment was tried in <i>Muzio Scevola</i>, + of which the first act was composed by Filippo Mattei, the second by + Buononcini and the third by Handel, each act having an overture and + concluding chorus. Some biographers have supposed that this was intended + to be a trial of strength, and that the contest resulted in the + acknowledged triumph of Handel; but Burney is probably right in saying + that the collaboration was merely a device to save time in getting the + opera ready, and Burney further points out that Buononcini's position + remained as strong as ever. It was in fact due to Buononcinci's next two + operas, and not to Handel's, that the Academy was able to declare a + dividend of seven per cent. + </p> + <p> + Handel's <i>Floridante</i> (December 9, 1721) had a moderate success only, + and against Handel's one opera (except for a few performances of <i>Radamisto</i> + at the very beginning of the season) Buononcini had three works to his + credit. The following season brought Handel better fortune, and a decline + in the popularity of Buononcini. In November and December, <i>Muzio + Sceaola</i> and <i>Floridante</i> were revived; on January 12, Handel + produced a new opera, <i>Ottone</i>, with a new singer, Francesca Cuzzoni, + who eclipsed all the other women singers completely, until after some + years she herself was driven into eclipse by her historic rival Faustina + Bordoni. + </p> + <p> + <i>Ottone</i> contains one number at least which is familiar to everyone + who knows the name of Handel—the gavotte at the end of the overture. + This spirited piece of music won popularity at the outset, and even to-day + it is probably the best known melody of Handel, after the "Harmonious + Blacksmith." But the real success of <i>Ottone</i> was made by Cuzzoni. + </p> + <p> + How Cuzzoni came to be engaged at the opera is not clear. Handel cannot + possibly have ever heard her sing; it has been suggested that she was + engaged by Heidegger. She was about twenty-two, and had made her first + appearance at Venice in 1719, after which she sang in various Italian + theatres. She had a voice of extraordinary range, beauty, and agility; she + was equally accomplished both in florid music and in airs of a sustained + and pathetic character, and she was never known to sing out of tune. In + appearance she was anything but attractive: she was short, squat, and + excessively plain-featured. She was uneducated and ill-mannered, impulsive + and quarrelsome. Her arrival in London was delayed for some reason, so the + management sent Sandoni, the second harpsichord-player, to meet her, + probably at Dover. On the way to London they were married; Sandoni + doubtless had an eye to the money which she was to earn. + </p> + <p> + Her first air in <i>Ottone</i>, "Falsa imagine," fixed her reputation as + an expressive and pathetic singer (Burney); she had at first refused to + sing it, on which Handel remarked to her, "Madame, je sais que vous êtes + une véritable diablesse, mais je vous ferai savoir, moi, que je suis + Béelzebub, le chef des diables," seized her round and waist, and + threatened to throw her out of the window. Handel had similar trouble with + Gordon, the English singer who came in for a small part in <i>Flavio</i>, + which was given on May 14. Gordon found fault with Handel's method of + accompanying, and threatened to jump on the harpsichord. + </p> + <p> + "Oh," replied Handel, "let me know when you will do that, and I will + advertise it; for I am sure more people will come to see you jump than to + hear you sing." + </p> + <p> + Two more operas by Buononcini were given, but his relations with the + Academy were not very cordial. He had been taken up by the Marlborough + family, and was commissioned to compose the funeral anthem for the burial + of the great Duke in June 1722. On May 16, 1723, Mrs. Pendarves informed + her sister that the young Duchess had settled £500 a year for life on + Buononcini, "provided he will <i>not</i> compose any more for the + ungrateful Academy, who do not deserve he should entertain them, since + they don't know how to value his works as they ought." The contract, + however, seems not to have been carried out by the composer. Mrs. + Pendarves evidently took the news from the day's issue of a weekly + journal, adding only the name of the Duchess, which the paper had + suppressed. What the paper tells us is that the Academy had not engaged + Buononcini for the coming season. + </p> + <p> + Senesino and Cuzzoni had made life impossible for the other singers. + Durastanti retired to the Continent; Anastasia Robinson left the stage, + and married her old admirer Lord Peterborough. Senesino and Cuzzoni, + however, were indispensable to the success of the opera, and probably the + ridiculous affectations of the one and the abominable manners of the other + were not without their attraction to a public which could enjoy all the + pleasure of gossiping about them without having to put up with them at + close quarters. + </p> + <p> + The season of 1723 began in November with Buononcini's <i>Farnace</i> and + Handel's <i>Ottone</i>; in January 1724 a new opera, <i>Vespasiano</i>, by + Attilio Ariosti, was given, and ran for nine successive nights. Ariosti + was never a very troublesome rival to Handel; he was a man of amiable + character, and apparently quite content to remain aloof from the party + politics of the opera-house. On February 14, Handel produced his <i>Giulio + Cesare</i>, one of his finest dramatic works; it has been revived with + considerable success in recent years, partly owing to the fact that modern + audiences are more familiar with the episode of Caesar and Cleopatra than + with the subjects of Handel's other operas. <i>Giulio Cesare</i> had the + advantage of a strong cast; Senesino sang the title part, with Berenstadt + and Boschi to support him, and the women included Cuzzoni, as well as + Durastanti and Mrs. Robinson, who had not yet quitted the opera company. + </p> + <p> + Another masterpiece of Handel's, <i>Tamerlano</i>, inaugurated the autumn + season of 1724 in October; in December appeared Ariosti's <i>Artaserse</i>, + in January <i>Giulio Cesare</i> held the stage till the production of + another Handel opera, <i>Rodelinda</i>, which came out on February 13, and + ran for thirteen nights. Two more operas, by Ariosti and Leonardo Vinci of + Naples, completed the season, but it was evidently Handel who scored the + greatest triumphs, unless the honours should more properly go to Cuzzoni, + as Rodelinda, and her brown silk gown trimmed with silver. All the old + ladies, says Burney, were scandalised with its vulgarity and indecorum, + "but the young adopted it as a fashion so universally, that it seemed a + national uniform for youth and beauty." + </p> + <p> + Cuzzoni created a further sensation in the summer by giving birth to a + daughter. Mrs. Pendarves made much fun of the event. "It is a mighty + mortification it was not a son. Sons and heirs ought to be out of fashion + when such scrubs shall pretend to be dissatisfied at having a daughter; + 'tis pity, indeed, that the noble name and family of the Sandonis should + be extinct! The minute she was brought to bed she sang' La speranza,' a + song in <i>Otho</i>." + </p> + <p> + Revivals of <i>Rodelinda</i> and <i>Ottone</i> took place in the following + season, and, in March 1726, Handel produced <i>Scipio</i>, in which the + famous march was heard for the first time on the rise of the curtain. + </p> + <p> + But Cuzzoni's throne was soon to be sharply contested. Ever since 1723 the + directors of the opera had been trying to secure Faustina Bordoni, and at + last, with a promise of £2,500 for the season (Cuzzoni received £2,000), + they succeeded. Faustina was born of a patrician family at Venice in 1700; + she had been brought up under the protection of Alessandro Marcello, + brother of the well-known composer, and had made her debut at Venice at + the age of sixteen. She sang mostly at Venice for several years, and in + 1718 she appeared there in Pollaroli's <i>Ariodante</i>, along with + Cuzzoni herself. She sang at Munich in 1723, and in the summer of 1725 she + went to Vienna, where she stayed six months, enjoying an extraordinary + success. Nearly forty years afterwards the Empress Maria Theresa recalled + with pride how she herself, at the age of seven, had sung in an opera with + Faustina. At the end of March 1726 she left Vienna for London, where she + made her first appearance, on May 5, in Handel's new opera <i>Alessandro</i>, + which had been designed especially to show off both Faustina and Cuzzoni + in parts of exactly equal importance and difficulty. The immediate result + was to divide London society into two parties: young Lady Burlington and + her friends supported Faustina; Cuzzoni's admirers were led by Lady + Pembroke. Lady Walpole succeeded in getting both to sing at her house; + neither would sing in the presence of the other, but the hostess tactfully + managed to draw first one and then the other out of the music-room while + her rival enchanted the guests. Mrs. Pendarves also contrived to be on + good terms with both. She heard Cuzzoni in November privately, or perhaps + at a rehearsal, and writes, "my senses were ravished with harmony." The + opera was expected to begin about the middle of December, "but I think + Faustina and Madame Sandoni [i.e. Cuzzoni] are not perfectly agreed about + their parts." The opening, however, was delayed by the absence of + Senesino, who had gone to Italy and did not return until fairly late in + December. + </p> + <p> + It was probably owing to this fact that opera in English was offered at + the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, where Marcantonio Buononcini's <i>Camilla</i>, + first given in London in 1706, was revived by a mainly English cast of + singers. Mrs. Pendarves went to see it, and her criticisms are significant + for the taste of the time. "I can't say I was much pleased with it, I + liked it for old acquaintance sake, but there is not many of the songs + better than ballads." + </p> + <p> + Faustina—"the most agreeable creature in the world in company"—dined + with Mrs. Pendarves for a small musical party on January 26. On the + previous day there was the first rehearsal of Handel's <i>Admeto</i>. It + was the moment, says Burney, of Handel's greatest prosperity and English + patronage. <i>Admeto</i> exhibited conspicuously what Dr. Burney called + Handel's "science "; it was evidently considered to be complicated in + style, though at the same time both pathetic and passionate. "Music," says + Burney, "was no longer regarded as a mere soother of affliction, or + incitement to hilarity; it could now paint the passions in all their + various attitudes; and those tones which said nothing intelligible to the + heart began to be thought as; insipid as those of 'sounding brass or + tinkling cymbals.'" These words of Burney make one realise that Handel's + London operas must have affected their audiences almost in the way in + which the operas of Wagner startled the audiences of the nineteenth + century. Handel himself, like Wagner, was steadily developing his own + dramatic powers, and it is important to bear in mind that it was only + those marvellous singers of Handel's day, such as Senesino, Cuzzoni, + Faustina, and Boschi, who could inspire him to the creation of such music + as they only were competent to interpret. + </p> + <p> + <i>Admeto</i> was received with respect, and although the partisans of the + "rival queens" were noisy in their applause, no actual disturbance took + place until Admeto was followed by Buononcini's <i>Astyanax</i> on May 6. + On the first night of the new opera each side did its best to drown the + opposite party's favourite with a chorus of catcalls. The behaviour of the + audience became more and more disgraceful as the opera was repeated, until + on the last night (June 6), when the Princess of Wales was present, + Cuzzoni and Faustina delighted the sporting instincts of the nobility and + gentry of England by indulging in a free fight on the stage. + </p> + <p> + Five days later George I died suddenly at Osnabruck. George II was crowned + on October 11, to the music of Handel's Coronation Anthems. The opera + season reopened a month later. Apparently the quarrel between Cuzzoni and + Faustina had been patched up; probably neither of them wanted to lose + their English contracts. They appeared together in Handel's <i>Riccardo + Primo</i>, and again in <i>Siroe</i> (February 5, 1728), as well as in <i>Tolomeo</i> + (April 30), but the battle seems to have been won by Cuzzoni, who obtained + the more important parts. We hear of no more disturbances; the fact was + that the audiences were too thin to be noisy. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Pendarves, always a devoted supporter of Handel, was pessimistic from + the beginning of the season. "I doubt operas will not survive longer than + this winter," she wrote on November 25; "they are now at their last gasp; + the subscription is expired and nobody will renew it. The directors are + always squabbling, and they have so many divisions among themselves that I + wonder they have not broke up before; Senesino goes away next winter, and + I believe Faustina, so you see harmony is almost out of fashion."<i>Admeto</i> + was revived on June 1, 1728; this was Faustina's last appearance, and the + last night of the Royal Academy of Music. The opera was announced for June + 11, but Faustina declared herself indisposed. The opera was shut up and + the company disbanded. Faustina went with Senesino to Paris, and thence to + Venice, where Cuzzoni also made her appearance, and continued in the local + dialect the campaign of slander against Faustina's alleged immoralities. + </p> + <p> + There were many reasons for the collapse of the opera. It had been carried + on with reckless extravagance, and the noble directors were in all + probability not very expert men of business. The scandalous behaviour of + all concerned in <i>Astyanax</i> may well have caused a falling-off in the + subscriptions. Mrs. Pendarves, who was a lady of unimpeachable conduct, + continued to go to the opera, but she was a serious lover of music and a + personal friend of Handel. The failure of the Academy is generally + attributed to the success of <i>The Beggar's Opera</i>, which had been + brought out at Lincoln's Inn Fields on January 29, 1728, and at once took + London by storm. A letter of Mrs. Pendarves, dated January 19, but + evidently continued later, tells us that she went to a rehearsal of <i>Siroe</i>: + "I like it extremely, but the taste of the town is so depraved, that + nothing will be approved of but the burlesque. The <i>Beggar's Opera</i> + entirely triumphs over the Italian one." Even Mrs. Pendarves could not + help enjoying it, once she had seen it. + </p> + <p> + It is probable that Handel himself had contributed to the downfall of the + Academy. Out of the 487 performances given between 1720 and 1728, Handel's + works obtained 245, Buononcini's 108, and Ariosti's 55. The great singers + had drawn the public to listen to Handel's operas, but it is clear from + many contemporary allusions that Handel's music was too severe to be an + attraction in itself, except to cultivated musicians like Mrs. Pendarves. + The same accusations were made against Handel that were made in later + years against Mozart and Wagner—that his operas were noisy and + overloaded with learned accompaniments. The Italian opera was killed, not + so much by the fact that <i>The Beggar's Opera</i> made its conventions + ridiculous (for its conventions could at that time have been ridiculous + only to quite unmusical people), as by the incontestable attraction of the + new work itself. It was witty and outspoken, with abundance of topical + satire; its music consisted of the tunes that everybody knew, and it + presented the public with the irresistible fascinations of Lavinia Fenton, + who was soon to become the Duchess of Bolton. + </p> + <p> + Handel may well have resented the success of <i>The Beggar's Opera</i>, + but the collapse of the Academy was in reality no great disaster for his + own interests. In the first place, he had done very well out of it from a + financial point of view; the noble directors might have lost their money, + but he had been only their paid servant, in which capacity he had + accumulated enough to invest no less than £10,000 of his own in the next + operatic venture. He obviously realised the strength of the position which + he had built up for himself both as a composer and as a man of business. + The most important result of the Academy's career had been to provide + Handel with the opportunity of consolidating his own style as a composer + of musical drama. Like all the court composers of his age he had provided + whatever his patrons required—chamber music, water music, minuets + for court balls, Church music for royal ceremonial; but the music on which + his own heart was set was that of the theatre. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V + </h2> + <p> + Handel naturalized—partnership with Heidegger—<i>Esther</i>—the + Opera of the Nobility—visit to Oxford—opera season at Covent + Garden—Charles Jennens—collapse of both opera-houses. + </p> + <p> + Handel had by this time definitely decided to make England his home; on + February 13, 1726, he had been naturalised as an English subject. He had + every reason to regard England as the best place in which to live. He + enjoyed the protection of the German court; George II and Queen Caroline + gave him indeed a good deal more encouragement than George I. The + appointments of composer to the Chapel Royal and composer to the court + were purely honorary, but they strengthened his position. As to the + opera-house, he must by now have felt that he was its unquestioned + autocrat, and he could not help being aware that he was without a rival in + Europe as far as the stage was concerned, for old Scarlatti had gone to + his grave, and the younger generation had produced no composer of such + outstanding eminence. And in England music was generously rewarded from a + material point of view; high fees were paid, not only to singers, but to + teachers as well, and England was also one of the few countries where + music-printing was a flourishing business. A good proportion of Handel's + savings must have come from the sale of his published compositions; among + Handel's contemporaries no other composer in Europe had so many of his + works printed during his lifetime. English society seemed always ready to + subscribe for a new musical work, and neither in Paris nor in Amsterdam + was music so admirably engraved as in London. + </p> + <p> + Encouraged by the Princess Royal, Handel went into partnership with + Heidegger, who had also made his own profits out of the opera, as well as + out of his notorious masquerades; they leased the King's Theatre for a + period of five years. The first thing to do was to secure new singers, and + for this purpose Handel went to Italy, probably in the autumn of 1728. + Heidegger had already tried to bring back Senesino and the two "costly + canary-birds," as Colley Cibber called them, but they had had enough of + London, and probably of Handel too. Little is known of the details of this + Italian journey; it has been said that Handel travelled with Steffani, but + this is impossible, as Steffani died at Frankfurt early in the year. + Mainwaring tells us that, at Rome, Cardinal Colonna invited him to his + palace, but that Handel, hearing that the Pretender was staying there, + prudently declined the invitation. In engaging singers he seems to have + been perhaps more prudent than was desirable, for his new company did not + contain any very distinguished names. In place of Senesino he obtained the + <i>castrato</i> Bernacchi; his new first woman was Signora Strada del Po', + who was a fine singer, but so unattractive in appearance that London + nicknamed her "The Pig." It is interesting to note that he also engaged a + tenor, Annibale Fabri, although in those; days tenors were considered only + fit for old men's parts of minor importance, and at Naples were generally + given the parts of comic old women. Fabri's wife and another woman were + announced as good actresses of male parts. "Fabri has a tenor voice," + wrote Mrs. Pendarves, "sweet, clear and firm, but not strong enough, I + doubt, for the stage. He sings like a gentleman, without making faces, and + his manner is particularly agreeable." Perhaps Handel's friendship with + Mrs. Pendarves had given him a sure insight into the taste of English + gentlewomen. + </p> + <p> + In the summer of 1729 Handel paid a visit to his mother at Halle; she was + then blind and half paralysed. Bach sent his son Friedemann over from + Leipzig to beg Handel to come and see him, as he was himself too ill to + make the journey, but Handel not unnaturally declined. Towards the end of + June he passed through Hanover, and also went to Hamburg, where he engaged + a German bass Riemschneider. + </p> + <p> + The opera season began on December 2, with Handel's <i>Lothario</i>, but + it had only a moderate success. After a few revivals of <i>Giulio Cesare</i>, + he brought out a second new opera, <i>Partenope</i>, on February 24. + Despite its many beauties, it was even less successful than <i>Lothario</i>. + Handel's audience did not go to the theatre to listen to his music; they + went to hear the singers, and Bernacchi, who was no longer a young man, + was a poor substitute for Senesino. Strada was the only member of the + company who interested the audience. For the next season something better + had to be found, and through Francis Colman, the English Envoy at + Florence, Senesino was persuaded to accept 1,400 guineas instead of the + 2,000 that he had received before. He opened the season of 1730 on + November 3, with his former rôle of Scipio. For the moment Handel remained + in the background; the next opera was a <i>pasticcio</i>, that is, an + opera made up of favourite songs from various operas stuck into any + convenient libretto. On February 2 there came out the new opera of Handel, + <i>Poro</i>, which turned the tide once more in the composer's favour. + Later on, <i>Rinaldo</i> and <i>Rodelinda</i> were revived, but the season + came to an early end on May 29. For the following winter some changes were + made in the cast. Senesino and Strada were of course indispensable, and + the most important new acquisition was Montagnana, the bass, for whom + Handel was to write some of his most celebrated songs. + </p> + <p> + After revivals of <i>Tamerlano</i> and <i>Admeto</i>, Handel brought out + <i>Ezio</i> on January 15, 1732; it had only five performances. <i>Sosarme</i> + (February 19) had ten; it is remembered now by the exquisite song, "Rendi + 'l sereno al ciglio," which was sung by Strada. The remainder of the + season presented nothing of any special interest until on the last night + Handel offered his subscribers a new type of entertainment in the shape of + <i>Acis and Galatea</i>. + </p> + <p> + On Handel's birthday, February 23, Bernard Gates, the master of the + children of the Chapel Royal, arranged a private performance of <i>Esther</i>, + which had been neglected since its first performance at Canons some twelve + years before. Among the boys who sang and acted in the "masque" were + Beard, who afterwards became Handel's favourite tenor, and Randall, + eventually Professor of Music in Cambridge, who took the part of Esther. + The performance was repeated twice before a paying public at the Crown and + Anchor Tavern, where concerts were often held, and on April 20 a rival + organisation advertised a further performance of Esther at the + concert-room in Villiers Street. On this occasion it was described as "an + oratorio or sacred drama," and was evidently sung without action. Princess + Anne wished to see it on the stage of the opera-house but the Bishop of + London forbade a dramatic performance. As the bishop's ban was ultimately + the cause of Handel's turning his attention to oratorio in preference to + opera, it has sometimes been suggested that Handel might have created a + new type of national English opera on biblical subjects if only his + lordship had not interfered. In justice to the bishop it has to be pointed + out that his objection seems to have been raised, not against the dramatic + presentation of Bible stories (for he did not discountenance Gates' + performances by the choristers at the Crown and Anchor), but against their + presentation in a regular theatre by professional opera singers. Such + prejudice may be difficult to understand at the present day, but even well + into the middle of the nineteenth century persons of severe morality + regarded the theatre and all who belonged thereto with stern disapproval, + and the notorious scandals associated with Cuzzoni and Faustina, to say + nothing of Heidegger, were not likely to have washed out the memory of + Jeremy Collier's denunciations. + </p> + <p> + "The sacred story of <i>Esther</i>, an oratorio in English," was + accordingly announced for May 2, with the information that "there will be + no acting on the stage, but the house will be fitted up in a decent manner + for the audience; the Musick [i.e. the orchestra] to be disposed after the + manner of the coronation service." Within a fortnight, Thomas Arne, father + of the composer, advertised a performance of <i>Acis and Galatea</i> at + the Little Theatre in the Haymarket "with all the choruses, scenes, + machines, and other decorations, being the first time it was performed in + a theatrical way." The laws of the time gave no protection to musical and + dramatic copyright. Handel could only reply by giving a performance of the + work himself; his one advantage was that as composer he could remodel the + score and make several new additions to it. But he did not have the work + acted; it was sung in costume with a background of appropriate scenery. + Even in this form it obtained four performances; Senesino and Strada took + part in it, singing in English. + </p> + <p> + Such a setting may appear strange to modern readers, but, even if it was a + new idea for England at the time, it was a fairly well established + tradition on the Continent, and Handel may very likely have seen a similar + entertainment in Italy. The subscribers to the opera would see little in + it that was incongruous. They were accustomed to see singers in all operas + wearing dresses that differed very little from their own, and scenery + which recalled their own Italianate gardens and palaces; Handelian opera, + in any case, left little scope for what most people now call acting. At + the same time we may be pretty sure that concert singers, especially + Italians, allowed themselves far more liberty of spontaneous expressive + movement than Victorian oratorio singers holding their music-books in + front of them by traditional convention. + </p> + <p> + Four more performances of <i>Acis and Galatea</i> were given at the + opera-house in December 1732; Handel evidently saw that it would be a sure + attraction. <i>Alessandro</i> and <i>Tolomeo</i> were revived, and on + January 23 he produced a new opera, <i>Orlando</i>, which had ten + performances, with six more later in the season. <i>Orlando</i> is one of + Handel's most original operas; he seems always to have derived a peculiar + inspiration from the poems of Tasso and Ariosto, as in the case of <i>Rinaldo</i>. + <i>Orlando</i> is a thoroughly romantic opera—Chrysander even + compares it with those of Weber—full of episodes of madness and + magic; it is so far removed from the ordinary conventions of its time that + we can well imagine it to have startled both its audiences and its + singers. + </p> + <p> + The affairs of the opera-house were going badly, and it is probable that + there were considerable dissension within its walls. It is certain that + relations between Handel and Senesino were becoming more and more + strained; <i>Orlando</i> was the last opera of Handel's in which he sang. + It seems fairly certain also that Heidegger was none too loyal as a + partner. Heidegger was in a strong position, for he was the actual owner + of the stock of scenery and other appurtenances taken over from the + original Academy. He seems to have lent the theatre to Buononcini for some + performances of <i>Griselda</i>, and, when the lease came to an end, it + was Heidegger who left Handel in the lurch and allowed a rival + organisation to secure it. + </p> + <p> + There was, too, a further reason for the general hostility against Handel. + Encouraged by the success of <i>Acis and Galatea</i>, he had composed a + new oratorio, <i>Deborah</i>, which was performed at the opera-house on + March 17, by the King's command. For this work prices were doubled; + tickets were a guinea each, and admission to the gallery half a guinea, + instead of five shillings. At the second performance the normal prices + were charged. The raising of prices for an extraordinary performance might + well seem nothing unreasonable; but the event came exactly at the moment + of the popular outcry against Walpole's Excise Bill, and the satirists of + the day seized the opportunity of comparing Handel with Walpole. + </p> + <p> + Handel was now nearly fifty years of age. In the days of <i>Rinaldo</i> he + had been a young man of twenty-five, making friends with those of his own + age or younger, a new attraction with all the fascination of genius and + youth. In the course of a generation he had become an established + institution. He had made a success; he had amassed a fortune; he had + secured to himself the unshaken confidence of the court; but he had + inevitably made enemies. The native musicians were very naturally jealous + of the foreigner, and the numerous foreign musicians in London jealous of + one who made more money out of the extravagant English than they did + themselves. The Italian singers found him tyrannical, and society very + probably resented his rough manners. Society had engaged him to provide + music for their entertainment, and he took up the unheard-of attitude of + expecting society to pay its guineas for whatever music he chose to write. + England, one might almost say, had spoiled him, for it was only in England + that "The Great Bear," as he was sometimes called, could go his own way—a + musician behaving with the complete disregard of public opinion which was + considered the exclusive privilege of the English nobility. In any other + country he would have been forced either to pander to the taste of a court + or to relapse into obscurity. It was not until after the French Revolution + that a Beethoven could display the independence of Handel in the + aristocratic environment of Vienna. + </p> + <p> + The English nobility, having set Handel this example, claimed their own + rights, and organised a rival opera-house at Lincoln's Inn Fields. They + had no difficulty in seducing, first Senesino, then Montagnana, and + finally Heidegger. Only Strada remained faithful to Handel. Buononcini + having lost their favour, they engaged as composer the Neapolitan Nicolo + Porpora, famous then as a great trainer of singers, and still more famous + in later years as the teacher of Haydn. If Handel had the King and Queen + on his side, the nobility could count on the support of Frederick Prince + of Wales, who was immensely popular throughout the country and was on the + worst possible terms with his royal parents. The Opera of the Nobility, as + the new syndicate was called, was making its plans in good time, directly + after the end of Handel's season. + </p> + <p> + In July 1733, Handel was invited to Oxford for a series of performances of + his works, and it was proposed to confer on him the honorary degree of + Doctor of Music. The Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Holmes, was a loyal Hanoverian, + and hoped by honouring Handel to do something to counteract the Jacobite + reputation of the University. <i>Esther</i> and <i>Deborah</i> were + performed, as well as the Utrecht <i>Te Deum</i> and <i>Jubilate</i>, and + the Coronation Anthems; Handel further provided a new oratorio, <i>Athaliah</i>. + The degree he refused to accept, for what reason has never been explained. + Various suggestions have been offered. The Abbé Prevost, who was in + England at the time, says that he refused the degree out of modesty; later + biographers have differed in their views as to whether modesty was one of + Handel's characteristics. Others have supposed that he refused to pay the + fee of £100 that was demanded, but it is inconceivable that a fee should + have been demanded for an honorary degree, although it would naturally + have been paid by candidates who took the degree in the normal way. The + concerts were attended by large audiences, many music lovers coming over + from Eton and Cambridge, although there was considerable resentment at the + price of admission—five shillings, a small amount compared with + Handel's London charges. This "Handel Festival" at Oxford is significant, + for it shows that in the space of no more than a year oratorio had begun + to make a wide appeal, even outside London, although it was a form of + composition that was new to English audiences. <i>Esther</i>, considered + as a masque to be acted, might be said to continue the English traditions + of the previous century, but there was no precedent in England for + anything like <i>Esther</i> in concert form. The only English works which + offered anything remotely like oratorio were the odes of Purcell and Blow + for the musicians' festivals on St. Cecilia's Day, apart from the greater + services and anthems of Purcell, which were composed, not for + entertainment, but for liturgical use. + </p> + <p> + After the Oxford concerts, Handel and Schmidt went to Italy to look for + singers. They heard Farinelli, the most famous <i>castrato</i> of the + century, but did not engage him; perhaps his demands were too high. The <i>castrato</i> + whom they did engage was Carestini, who, though less celebrated, was at + any rate a singularly artistic singer. Durastanti came back, and, in place + of Montagnana, Handel contented himself with Waltz, a German, who is often + described as having been Handel's cook. Burney, at any rate, recorded that + he was said to have filled this office, but Burney remembered him chiefly + as a popular comic singer. He had sung Polyphemus in Arne's pirated + performance of <i>Acis and Galatea</i>, and owing to the defection of + Montagnana, took his place in <i>Athaliah</i> at Oxford. He had "a coarse + figure and a still coarser voice" (Burney). + </p> + <p> + Handel opened his season on October 30, 1733. He had already finished the + composition of a new opera, <i>Ariadne</i>, but it was not brought out + until January 26, 1734. The reason, no doubt, was that an opera on the + same subject by Porpora was produced by the Opera of the Nobility on + December 29. Handel would no doubt have heard that it was in rehearsal, + and have postponed his own production until he could see how Porpora's was + succeeding. The two operas obtained the same number of performances, but + Handel's theatre was seldom full, and many opera-goers were dissatisfied + at his giving them oratorios, such as <i>Deborah</i> and <i>Acis</i>, on + opera nights; these, however, seem to have been commanded by the King, and + that in itself would make them all the more unpopular. + </p> + <p> + In March the Princess Royal was married to the Prince of Orange, and + Handel was commissioned to write a wedding anthem. He also provided a + secular entertainment in the shape of <i>Parnaso in festa</i>, described + as a <i>serenata</i>. It was not unlike a masque; Apollo and the Muses + appeared in costume on Mount Parnassus, but apparently there was no + acting. The music was adapted from <i>Athaliah</i>, which, so far, had + only been heard at Oxford. Oratorio was also attempted by Handel's rival; + Mrs. Pendarves heard a work of his at Lincoln's Inn Fields in March. "It + is a fine solemn piece of music," she wrote, "but I confess I think the + subject too solemn for a theatre. To have words of piety made use of only + to introduce good music, is reversing what it ought to be, and most of the + people that hear the oratorio make no reflection on the meaning of the + words, though God is addressed in the most solemn manner." Needless to + say, it was "not equal to Mr. Handel's oratorio of Esther or Deborah." + Mrs. Pendarves was at this time a near neighbour of Handel's in Lower + Brook Street; one of her letters describes a small musical party (her + musical parties were always small) a month later. Apparently there were + not more than ten guests, including Lord Shaftesbury, who begged another + guest to bring him, and was admitted as being "a profess'd friend of Mr. + Handel"; the only professional musicians present were Handel and Strada. + "I never was so well entertained at an opera! Mr. Handel was in the best + humour in the world, and played lessons and accompanied Strada and all the + ladies that sung from seven o' the clock till eleven." In such company + Handel could evidently be more agreeable than on the stage at rehearsals, + and it is interesting to note that the amateurs had no timidity about + singing before Strada, and that Handel was willing to accompany all of + them alike. + </p> + <p> + In July 1734, Handel's lease of the King's Theatre came to an end, and he + found the theatre let at once by some means to his rivals, the Opera of + the Nobility. He therefore entered into an arrangement with Rich for the + use of his new theatre in Covent Garden, but his autumn season actually + opened at Lincoln's Inn Fields on October 5. The probable reason for this + was that the Princess Anne was spending the summer in England and wished + to hear some of Handel's operas. She was a remarkably gifted musician, and + Handel considered her to be the best of his pupils; she not only sang and + played the harpsichord well, but was thoroughly grounded in the + theoretical side of music and quite capable of composing a fugue, + according to a Dutch musician who became acquainted with her after her + marriage. She came to England on July 2 for a long stay, and at once + persuaded Handel to give three additional performances of <i>Il Pastor + Fido</i>, which he had revived that season. <i>Pastor Fido</i> and <i>Ariadne</i> + were given again for her in October; probably Covent Garden was not quite + ready for performances. Princess Anne left England on October 21, and her + last words at parting were to beg Lord Hervey to do all he could to help + Handel. + </p> + <p> + The chief attraction to the public at Covent Garden was probably not + Handel but Mlle Sallé, a French dancer who had been engaged by Rich. The + first performance at the new theatre was a ballet, <i>Terpsichore</i>, in + order that she might inaugurate the season. <i>Terpsichore</i>, which + includes songs and a chorus, served as prologue to <i>Il Pastor Fido</i>. + The next opera was <i>Oreste, a pasticcio</i> made up by Handel himself + from his own works; on January 8, 1735, he produced his Ariodante, an + opera over which he had spent the unusually long time of ten weeks. The + score was begun on August 12 and finished on October 24. The story is + taken from Ariosto, and, as with Orlando, Handel found that it afforded + opportunities for his peculiar vein of romanticism. On April 16 he + followed it up with Alcina, again on a subject from Ariosto, and one of + even more romantic character. Ariosto's enchantress Alcina was the model + for Tasso's better-known Armida, who provided both Lulli and Gluck with + one of their most dramatic heroines, and Burney says, with some justice, + that Handel's Alcina gave birth to all the Armidas and Rinaldos of modern + times. Both Ariodante and Alcina contained a large amount of ballet music, + and the dances in Alcina, intermingled with choruses in the French manner, + are among Handel's most attractive compositions. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Pendarves, after the rehearsal of Alcina, described Handel as himself + "a necromancer in the midst of his own enchantments," but he could not + prevail against the enchantments of Farinelli, who had been engaged by the + rival opera company. There could be no competing against a combination + that included along with him Senesino, Cuzzoni, and Montagnana. The one + powerful counter-attraction that Handel could offer was oratorio on + Wednesdays and Fridays in Lent, when operas were not allowed to be given. + Porpora's David, which the rival management put on, had no chance against + Esther, Deborah, and Athaliah. Alcina carried the Opera on to the end of + the season, the well-known air "Verdi prati," which Carestini had at first + refused to sing, being encored at every performance. Handel's alleged + angry retort to Carestini in comical broken English has been often quoted + from Burney; but Schoelcher very sensibly observed that Handel was pretty + certain to have conversed with Carestini in Italian. + </p> + <p> + The newspapers informed the world in May that Handel was going to spend + the summer in Germany. His health had been seriously undermined, and it + may well have been possible that he had talked of taking a cure at + Aix-la-Chapelle; but on this occasion he went no farther than Tunbridge + Wells. It was probably in the earlier part of 1735 that he made the + acquaintance of Charles Jennens, a young man who was eventually to play a + great part in his life, for on July 28 he wrote to Jennens to say that he + was just starting for Tunbridge. + </p> + <p> + The letter is so short that it may be quoted here in full, for it gives us + a great deal of interesting information. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + London, + <i>July 28, 1735</i>. + Sir, + + I received your very agreeable letter with + the enclosed Oratorio. I am just going to Tunbridge; + yet what I could read of it in haste, + gave me a great deal of satisfaction. I shall + have more leisure time there to read it with all + the attention it deserves. + + There is no certainty of any Scheme for + next Season, but it is probable that something + or other may be done, of which I shall take + the liberty to give you notice, being extremely + obliged to you for the generous concern you + show upon this account. + + The Opera of Alcina is a writing out, and + shall be sent according to your direction. It is + always a great pleasure to me if I have an + opportunity to show the sincere respect with + which I have the honour to be, + + Sir, + &c., &c., + + GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL. +</pre> + <p> + Jennens was a conspicuous figure in the London society of his day. At the + time of this correspondence he was thirty-five, and unmarried; he had + inherited vast wealth in his youth and spent it freely. He was + ostentatious, even for an age when extravagance was fashionable; but + although he was conceited and on occasions foolish, he was certainly + possessed of considerable intellectual gifts, and the things which + interested him most in life were literature, music, and the fine arts. The + letter shows us that he must have admired <i>Alcina</i> sufficiently to + ask the composer for a copy of the score. He also seized the opportunity + of offering him a libretto for a new oratorio. He had a very good opinion + of himself as a poet, and it is possible that he foresaw the importance of + the new type of semi-dramatic entertainment which Handel was creating. + There were plenty of Italian poetasters, even in London itself, who could + put together a conventional opera-book, but English oratorio was still in + the making, and it was not so easy to find a literary framework for it. + </p> + <p> + In any case, it was evident that Italian opera was a precarious + enterprise. In October the papers again gave out that Handel was going to + give oratorios and concerts at Covent Garden; no operas were announced, + and for the time being Handel appeared to have abandoned opera altogether. + He made no move until Lent 1736, and then brought out <i>Alexander's Feast</i> + (February 19), which he had set to music in the previous two months. Those + ever popular favourites <i>Esther</i> and <i>Acis and Galatea</i> followed + it, and, as in the foregoing season, Handel played organ concertos between + the acts of these works. It is evident that as Handel could not secure the + great Italian singers for his oratorios he felt obliged to offer his + public some other display of virtuosity, and his own performance on the + organ seems to have been considered a very powerful attraction. + </p> + <p> + The marriage of the Prince of Wales to Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha + (April 27, 1736) provided him with unexpected opportunities for coming + before the public. It seems to have been at the desire of the Princess + herself that he undertook a short Italian opera season of eight + performances, which eventually was extended to ten. <i>Atalanta</i>, + Handel's new opera for this season, in which the chief singer was + Gizziello, then making his first appearance in England, was composed + especially to celebrate the royal nuptials, and seems to have finally + converted the Prince of Wales to the music of Handel. He now became a + regular supporter of Handel's theatre, with the result that the King + promptly withdrew his patronage, as he refused to be seen in the same + house as the Prince. Encouraged by this sign of princely favour, Handel + reopened Covent Garden in November with a revival of <i>Alcina</i>, + followed by <i>Atalanta</i>. Three more new operas were ready, or nearly + so; Handel seems to have prepared himself for the winter in better time + than usual. But neither <i>Arminio</i> (January 12, 1737), nor <i>Giustino</i> + (February 16), nor even <i>Berenice</i>, with its famous minuet (May 18), + could save Handel from ruin. The rival opera-house was in no better case. + Handel was obliged to close Covent Garden on June 1, and the Haymarket + followed suit ten days later. Opera at both houses had been killed, mainly + by the folly of party strife. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI + </h2> + <p> + Bankruptcy and paralysis—visit to Aix-la-Chapelle—the last + operas—Vauxhall Gardens—Handel's "borrowings"—visit to + Ireland—<i>Messiah</i> and other oratorios. + </p> + <p> + The collapse of the Opera left Handel not only bankrupt, but with + seriously endangered health. In April 1737 it had been announced that he + was "indisposed with the rheumatism," from which he made a slight + temporary recovery; but before the season was over it became clear that he + was suffering from paralysis. "His right arm was become useless to him," + says Mainwaring, "and how greatly his senses were disordered at intervals, + for a long time, appeared from an hundred instances, which are better + forgotten than recorded." With some difficulty his medical advisers + persuaded him to go to the sulphur bath of Aix-la-Chapelle, where, + according to Mainwaring, he submitted to prolonged and drastic treatment. + His cure was considered remarkably rapid, and the nuns (presumably nursing + sisters) who heard him play the organ within a few hours of leaving his + bath ascribed it to a miracle. "Such a conclusion," observes our clerical + biographer, "in such persons was natural enough." + </p> + <p> + It has been asserted that during his stay at Aix, Handel composed a + cantata for the five-hundredth anniversary of the foundation of Elbing, a + town in East Prussia between Danzig and Königsberg. A German researcher + about 1869 appears to have discovered documents at Elbing mentioning the + cantata, with the name of the poet and that of a local singer, Jean du + Grain, who composed the recitatives; Handel "of London" was said to have + composed the choruses. No trace of the music has survived, and there seems + to be no evidence whatever to connect this work with Handel's visit to + Aix. Nor is it possible to suggest any reason why the authorities of this + remote place should have applied to Handel for a composition. + </p> + <p> + According to Mainwaring, Handel stayed six weeks at Aix; the London papers + announced his return on November 7, 1737. The management of the Opera had + now been taken over by Heidegger, but the death of Queen Caroline on + November 20 caused all theatres to be closed from that date until the end + of December. It was announced in the papers that the Opera would reopen on + January 10 with a new oratorio by Handel, called <i>Saul</i>, but this + performance did not take place, and the theatre actually reopened on + January 7 with his new opera <i>Faramondo</i>. This opera was the first + work that Handel had undertaken after his return to London, but its + composition was interrupted by that of the Funeral Anthem for the Queen. + Although she died on November 20, Handel did not receive the King's + command to write the anthem until December 7, as George II was strangely + undecided in making arrangements for the funeral. It was finally fixed for + December 17, and a special organ was hurriedly built for it in Henry VII's + chapel at Westminster Abbey. Handel's anthem was performed by 80 singers + and 100 instrumentalists. Queen Caroline had been one of his most faithful + friends, and his gratitude and affection for her found utterance in music + which Burney placed "at the head of all his works for expression, harmony + and pleasing effects." + </p> + <p> + It was at ten at night on Christmas Eve that Handel finished the score of + <i>Faramondo</i>; on Boxing Day he began the composition of <i>Serse</i>. + <i>Faramondo</i> had only six performances, and <i>Serse</i> did not + appear on the stage until April 15, when it ran for five nights only. It + is remembered now, if at all, by the fact that the first song in it is the + so-called "celebrated Largo," but the opera as a whole is of curious + interest. "He was neither in health, prosperity, or spirits," says Burney, + "when it was composed; appearances remain in his foul score [i.e. rough + copy] of a mind disturbed, if not diseased. There are more passages, and + even whole pages, cancelled in this score, than in any one of all his + former operas." <i>Serse</i>, it must be explained, is a comic opera, and + the only comic opera that Handel ever wrote. What induced him to attempt + this style it is difficult to conceive. It is of course true that the + failure of Handel's earlier operas was largely due to the success of <i>The + Beggar's Opera</i> (1728), and of other comic entertainments which + succeeded it—<i>Hurlothrumbo</i> (1729), <i>Pasquin</i> (1736) and + <i>The Dragon of Wantley</i> (1737). A new type of comic opera had arisen + in Italy too, and comic <i>intermezzi</i> were first seen in Italian grand + opera in London in January 1737, although it was not until 1748 that a + real company of Italian comic-opera singers came over to England. But what + is more important to notice is that the whole style of Italian opera was + changing during the second quarter of the century. Handel had continued to + develop his own style, based on the grand manner of old Scarlatti, but + Handel's operas were practically unknown outside London and Hamburg; in + Italy, Scarlatti's style had already become old-fashioned before his death + in 1725, and opera was moving on towards the lighter and flimsier manner + of Galuppi, who first came to London in this year of <i>Serse</i>, 1738. + </p> + <p> + In choosing the libretto of <i>Serse</i>, Handel seems to have been making + a desperate attempt to keep up with the taste of the day. Humour he had in + plenty; one has only to recall <i>Acis and Galatea</i>. But the humour of + <i>Serse</i>, diverting as it is to the modern historical student, is + neither the musical nor the dramatic humour of 1737; the plot bears no + resemblance whatever to the Neapolitan comic operas of Vinci and + Pergolesi, but rather recalls the very early operas, based on Spanish + comedies, composed by Alessandro Scarlatti in the 1680's. <i>Serse</i> was + revived a few years ago in Germany, considerably cut about and reduced to + one act, in which arrangement it had some success; but we can well + understand its complete failure on its first London production. + </p> + <p> + The only satisfaction which Handel received in that unfortunate season of + 1738 was the proceeds of his benefit concert at the Haymarket on March 28, + organised for him by his friends, apparently rather against his own wish. + According to Burney the net receipts were £800; Mainwaring puts the figure + at £1,500. Even if we accept Burney's estimate, the sum is remarkable, and + particularly so in view of the known hostility of a large section of + society towards the composer. It can only be supposed that Handel's + physical and mental collapse had been grave enough to awaken a wide-spread + sense of pity for his misfortunes. Another mark of popular appreciation + was the erection of a statue of Handel, executed by Roubiliac, at Vauxhall + Gardens, in recognition of the pleasure which his music had afforded to + the frequenters of that famous resort. This piece of "laudable idolatry," + as Burney calls it, was thus described by a contemporary journalist: "Mr. + Handel is represented in a loose robe, sweeping the lyre, and listening to + its sounds; which a little boy sculptured at his feet seems to be writing + down on the back of a violon-cello. The whole composition is in an elegant + taste." Commissioned by an impresario who had made a fortune out of the + use of Handel's music, it now appropriately adorns the vestibule of + Messrs. Novello's music-shop in Wardour Street. + </p> + <p> + Charles Jennens, writing to his cousin Lord Guernsey on September 19, + 1738, remarks that "Mr. Handel's head is more full of maggots than ever." + Towards the end of July he had begun the composition of <i>Saul</i>, for + which Jennens had provided the libretto three years before. It is evident + that Handel intended to startle his audiences with his new oratorio + scheme. He had ordered a new organ for the theatre at a cost of £500, + constructed so that he might have a better command of his performers, and + he had also acquired another instrument, which Jennens calls a "Tubalcain"—in + other words a set of bells played from a keyboard—which he intended + to use in the scene in which the Israelites welcome David after his + victory over the Philistines. It is curious that Handel should have + dramatised the insanity of Saul just after he had himself recovered from + mental derangement. + </p> + <p> + No sooner was <i>Saul</i> finished (September 27) than Handel, four days + later, began the composition of <i>Israel in Egypt</i>. <i>Saul</i> was + first performed on January 16, 1739, and enjoyed a moderate success, but + <i>Israel</i> (April 4) was a failure, even after it had been shortened + and made more attractive by the insertion of Italian opera songs. + </p> + <p> + <i>Israel in Egypt</i> is the most conspicuous example of a strange and + almost unaccountable habit which from about this period began to show + itself in Handel's methods of composition—the incorporation of large + quantities of music by other composers. Samuel Wesley was the first person + to draw attention to this practice of Handel's, though only in a private + letter of 1808. In 1831 Dr. Crotch, in his professorial lectures at + Oxford, named no less than twenty-nine composers whom Handel had "quoted + or copied." The researches of Chrysander, Dr. Max Seiffert, Ebenezer + Prout, and Sedley Taylor eventually proved beyond dispute that not only <i>Israel</i>, + but several other works of Handel were largely made up from the music of + other men. + </p> + <p> + Chrysander maintained that Handel began appropriating other men's ideas as + early as 1707, for not only <i>Rodrigo</i> and <i>Agrippina</i>, but also + <i>La Resurrezione</i> and the <i>Laudate pueri</i> show obvious + reminiscences of Keiser's opera <i>Octavia</i> (Hamburg, 1705). These were + probably subconscious, like Handel's reminiscences of Scarlatti and others + at this period; they need not be taken any more seriously than Schubert's + frequent reminiscences of Beethoven. But in <i>Atalanta</i> (1736) and <i>Giustino</i> + (1737), Prout discovered quotations and adaptations several bars long from + a <i>Passion</i> by Graun, which is known to have been composed not many + years before. Further fragments of this <i>Passion</i> were identified by + Prout in <i>Alexander's Feast</i> and the <i>Wedding Anthem</i> (1736); <i>Saul</i>, + like <i>Israel</i>, incorporates several movements from a <i>Te Deum</i> + by Urio (<i>fl</i>. 1660). From this date onwards until the end of his + career Handel systematically drew upon the works of other musicians. + </p> + <p> + There has been much controversy over this question, and many attempts have + been made to explain away Handel's "borrowings" so as to leave no moral + stain on his character, which indeed, by all contemporary accounts, was + scrupulously upright. Sedley Taylor (1906) was certainly anxious to clear + Handel's character, but still more concerned to arrive at the exact truth, + and his method of presenting the evidence throws a new light on Handel's + procedure. He showed that in most cases Handel made frequent alterations + in the music which he utilised, almost as if Stradella (to cite one name + out of many) had been a young pupil to whom he was giving a lesson in + composition. + </p> + <p> + A careful study of these alterations suggests a reason for Handel's action + which seems not to have occurred to any previous writer on the subject. No + one seems to have noticed hitherto that Handel's "borrowings" begin in + 1736 on a small scale, and become more frequent in 1737, after which they + develop into a regular habit. It seems only natural therefore to connect + them with Handel's mental collapse; it became acute in the spring of 1737, + but it may well have been approaching in the previous year. + </p> + <p> + There is no need to go so far as to suggest that Handel suffered from + moral insanity and was incapable of distinguishing between right and + wrong; but it is quite conceivable that his paralytic stroke affected his + brain in such a way that he may sometimes have had a difficulty in + starting a composition. Biographers of Handel have more than once drawn + attention to phases in which he seems to have suffered from the inability + to make a definite decision. Indecision is a common symptom of + overstrained nerves, and anyone who has attempted musical composition or + taught it to students will understand the hesitation and uncertainty which + often attends the first writing down of a musical theme, although, once + the initial idea has been settled, the continuation and development of it + may proceed without difficulty. Any musician who studies the examples + printed by Sedley Taylor will at once exclaim that for a man of Handel's + experience, to say nothing of his fertility or indeed of his genius, it + would have been far less trouble to compose an original setting of given + words than to adapt them so laboriously to music written by someone else + for a totally different purpose. But after his attack of paralysis there + may well have been occasional moments when Handel could not make up his + mind to write down an idea of his own, but may very likely have found that + when once he had an idea ready on paper before him, whether that of + another composer or an old one of his own, he could then continue to + compose, and often make alterations in the music under his eyes which + transformed it from a commonplace into a masterpiece. + </p> + <p> + In the autumn of 1739 Handel transferred his concerts to the smaller + theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, where at first there seemed some hope of + success. On November 17 he produced his setting of Dryden's <i>Ode for St. + Cecilia's Day</i>; it was repeated several times, <i>Alexander's Feast</i> + and <i>Acis and Galatea</i> being added to the programmes. But a month + later an exceptionally severe frost set in; the Thames was frozen over, + and for two months it was useless to open the theatre, owing to the + impossibility of warming it adequately. In February he produced <i>L'Allegro</i>, + adapted by Charles Jennens from Milton's <i>L'Allegro</i> and <i>Il + Penseroso</i>, to which Jennens had added a third part of his own, <i>Il + Moderato</i>; but the public, whether from indifference to the work or + from fear of the cold, refused to come to it. Handel was once more on the + verge of ruin, but that did not prevent him from giving a performance of + his two most popular works, <i>Acis</i> and <i>Alexander's Feast</i>, for + the benefit of a new musical charity. + </p> + <p> + The charity in which Handel was so keenly interested had been founded in + 1738 to assist impoverished musicians and their families; it still carries + on its honourable work under the title of the Royal Society of Musicians + of Great Britain. + </p> + <p> + The same year saw the inauguration of another charitable institution which + owed much to the continued generosity of Handel, the Foundling Hospital. + Like Hogarth, who was also a benefactor, Handel did not confine his + support to an occasional gift, but took the warmest personal interest in + the place, and eventually both he and Hogarth were made governors of it. + </p> + <p> + The managers of the Opera had found themselves quite unable to continue + productions on the grand scale of former years. In the winter of 1739-40 + there had been an insignificant season at Covent Garden; it seems to have + been directed by the Italian composer Pescetti, who, in the following + winter, started concerts at the Little Theatre in the Haymarket. Mrs. + Pendarves, who during the last few years had not lived much in London, and + had thus dropped out of Handel's life, wrote in November: "The concerts + begin next Saturday at the Haymarket. Carestini sings, Pescetti composes; + the house is made up into little boxes, like the playhouses abroad." Dr. + Burney gives a comic account of the undertaking. "The opera, a tawdry, + expensive and meretricious lady, who had been accustomed to high keeping, + was now reduced to a very humble state. Her establishment was not only + diminished, but her servants reduced to half-pay. Pescetti seems to have + been her prime minister, Carestini her head man, the Muscovita her + favourite woman, and Andreoni a servant for all work." Concerts and <i>pasticcios</i> + formed the main repertory, and Burney ascribes such success as they + enjoyed to the fact that the Little Theatre was a "snug retreat" in which + those who had the courage to quit their firesides during the great frost + might keep reasonably warm. + </p> + <p> + Handel had nothing to do with this theatre, but in 1740 again rented the + theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, where on November 8 he revived <i>Parnaso + in Festa</i> "in its original oratorio manner, with the addition of + scenes, dresses and concertos on the organ and several other instruments." + It had but one performance; on the 22nd, Handel produced a new opera, or, + as Burney calls it, an <i>operetta</i>, which had no more than two + performances. This was <i>Imeneo</i>. On January 10, 1741, he brought out + another new opera, <i>Deidamia</i>, which ran for three nights. <i>Imeneo</i> + is a work of little importance; <i>Deidamia</i>, on the other hand, + contains several very beautiful songs. But Dr. Burney, notwithstanding his + admiration of it, has to admit that much of it was old-fashioned, in the + style of Handel's youth, and sometimes "languid and antique." To Handel's + admirers to-day such criticism may seem ridiculous, but to his audiences + of 1741 these reversions to an earlier style would certainly have been + most unwelcome. + </p> + <p> + <i>Deidamia</i> was Handel's last work for the stage; the glorious + achievements of his youth and maturity had come to a hopeless end. His own + public had unjustly neglected him, posterity consigned his operas to + oblivion. + </p> + <p> + At some period during the summer of 1741 Handel received an invitation + from the fourth Duke of Devonshire, then Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, to go + over to Dublin and give concerts there for the benefit of the local + hospitals. It is very probable that Mrs. Pendarves may have helped to + secure this engagement for Handel. She had spent a year and a half in + Ireland in 1731-32, and her letters give a lively account of society in + Dublin. Matthew Dubourg, an excellent violinist, was at the head of the + Viceroy's band, and musical entertainments were frequent, for to judge + from Mrs. Pendarves' descriptions the Irish bishops and deans lived almost + as magnificently as the cardinals in Rome. Mrs. Pendarves was naturally a + very popular guest in Dublin society; she was a remarkably fine + harpsichord player for an amateur, and was constantly in demand as a + performer at private parties. There was no one in London or Dublin who had + a more intelligent understanding of Handel's music, and her enthusiasm for + his works was unbounded. She kept constantly in touch with Dublin life + when in England, for she corresponded with Dean Swift, and, what was more + important still, she had in 1730 made the acquaintance of Dr. Delany, an + Irish clergyman, whom she was to marry in 1743. + </p> + <p> + Handel did not leave London until the first week of November. During the + summer he had been occupied with the composition of a new oratorio, <i>Messiah</i>, + the words for which had been chosen and arranged by Jennens, apparently + with a good deal of assistance from his chaplain, the Rev. Mr. Pooley. + Whether <i>Messiah</i> was composed with a view to production in Dublin is + not known; it was begun on August 22 and finished on September 14. A + fortnight later he had completed the first act of <i>Samson</i>. On the + way to Holyhead he stopped at Chester, where he was obliged to stay + several days on account of contrary winds which prevented his embarking. + He seized the opportunity to try over some of the choruses of <i>Messiah</i> + with local church-singers, and Burney, who was at school at Chester, gives + an amusing account of the little rehearsal, at which Handel was roused to + grotesque fury by the inability of the bass, a printer by trade, to read + "And with His stripes" at sight. On November 18 he arrived in Dublin, and + opened his season at Neal's new music-hall in Fishamble Street on December + 23 with a performance of <i>L'Allegro</i>, interspersed with concertos. A + few days later he wrote a long letter to Jennens describing the + unprecedented success which he had enjoyed. Dublin received him with open + arms, and he thoroughly enjoyed his triumph, the more so as he felt + himself to be in unusually good health. + </p> + <p> + A series of concerts followed, at which various oratorios and other works + were performed. On April 8, 1742, there was a rehearsal of <i>Messiah</i>, + open to those who had taken tickets for the first performance, which took + place on Tuesday, April 13. The choir was provided by the singers from the + two cathedrals, some of whom took the male solo parts as well; the female + soloists were Mrs. Cibber and Signora Avolio. Over seven hundred persons + were present, and about £400 was divided between the three charities, the + Relief of Prisoners, Mercer's Hospital, and the Charitable Infirmary. + </p> + <p> + <i>Saul</i> was performed on May 25, and a second performance of <i>Messiah</i> + took place on June 3. Handel left Ireland on August 13. In another letter + to Jennens he says that his plans for the winter are undecided; for "this + time twelve-month" (i.e. September 1743) he intended to continue his + oratorios in Ireland. For some reason or other this second visit to + Ireland never took place. + </p> + <p> + It was not until February 17, 1743, that Handel came before the London + public again with <i>Samson</i>, which, unlike most of his oratorios, had + an immediate success. He had by this time dropped the Italian singers + altogether, and depended mainly on Mrs. Cibber and John Beard, a tenor who + had more sense of artistic style than power of voice. Mr. Flower says that + his voice was more powerful than sweet; Horace Walpole, who heard him, + said that he had only one note in it, and Mrs. Pendarves, whose judgment + was probably more trustworthy, said that he had no voice at all. The first + London performance of <i>Messiah</i> was given on March 23, but it had no + more than two subsequent repetitions this season. There were many reasons + why it should have fallen flat. Jennens himself was extremely dissatisfied + with it. <i>Israel</i> had been a failure too, and it is extremely + probable that musical people, accustomed to the Italian opera, were + estranged by a setting of Bible words in prose instead of a libretto in + verse laid out on more or less dramatic lines. + </p> + <p> + William Law's <i>Serious Call</i> had been published in 1729; the book + makes frequent allusions to the frivolity of Italian opera, and + opera-going is picked out as one of the chief characteristics of + irreligious persons. In 1739 John Wesley first began to preach in the open + air; in 1742 Edward Young's <i>Night Thoughts</i> achieved its + extraordinary popularity. These three events were all significant of the + religious movement that was taking place among the more cultured classes + in England, and this movement undoubtedly affected Handel's oratorio + concerts. The ultra-religious were shocked at the association of sacred + subjects with the theatre; those who could combine religion with culture, + like Mrs. Delany, who was now approaching the age of piety, were Handel's + most earnest supporters. It is quite probable that the section of society + which preferred its culture unmixed with religion resented the attitude of + the second party even more than that of the first, because the second + party belonged to their own social class, and this resentment may well + have contributed to the ever-increasing hostility shown by many social + leaders toward Handel. And Handel's personal oddities were becoming + rapidly more acute, partly owing to increasing age, and still more owing + to recurrences of paralysis and associated mental derangement. He had + another attack in this very year—1743. + </p> + <p> + <i>Messiah</i> and <i>Samson</i> were composed at a more favourable + moment, and show little use of borrowed material, except that <i>Messiah</i> + incorporates some of Handel's own chamber duets, the melodies of which + were more suitably illustrative of their original Italian words than of + the sentences from Scripture to which he adapted them. But his next + important work, the <i>Te Deum</i> in celebration of the victory at + Dettingen (June 27), begun in July and performed on November 27, + incorporates no less than nine movements from the Latin <i>Te Deum</i> by + Urio already drawn upon for <i>Israel in Egypt</i>. Mrs. Delany "was all + raptures," and thought it "excessively fine." + </p> + <p> + It is curious that, whereas the Dettingen <i>Te Deum</i> was largely based + on borrowed material, Semele, composed in the previous month of June, + should be, as far as is at present known, entirely original. The libretto + had been written by Congreve in 1707 for an opera, and it was only natural + that its theatrical sense and its literary grace and distinction should + have inspired Handel to one of his loveliest works. Handel was never quite + at home in the English language, but in his later years he seems to have + developed a feeling for English poetry, more especially for that of + approximately his own time. But <i>Semele</i> did not attract the opera + audience; it became increasingly clear that the opera party would have + nothing to do with Handel, and were in fact deliberately doing all they + could to bring him to ruin. Mrs. Delany and a few other great ladies + remained faithful, but they were in a small minority. It was evidently the + younger generation who were in opposition; Mrs. Delany alludes to them as + "the Goths—the fine ladies, the <i>petits maîtres</i> and the + ignoramuses," and seemed surprised that they allowed the oratorio to be + performed without making a disturbance. Mrs. Delany was settling down to + being the wife of a dean. + </p> + <p> + <i>Joseph</i> (March 2, 1744) fared no better, and Handel himself "was + mightily out of humour about it" at the rehearsals. The summer was devoted + to the composition of <i>Belshazzar</i>, for which Jennens had supplied + the libretto. The collaboration was not altogether happy, for although + Jennens had considerable sense of the picturesque, and offered Handel + opportunities for what may be called spectacular music on the grand scale, + his literary style was pompous, rhetorical, and long-winded. Handel + protested perpetually against the length of the work, for the Handelian + style of composition naturally extended the prolixity of the words; + Jennens greatly resented the musician's criticism, and insisted on + printing the poem in full. + </p> + <p> + When the winter came, Handel produced nothing of importance until January + 5, when he brought out <i>Hercules</i>, a secular oratorio which he had + composed in the summer during intervals when <i>Belshazzar</i> had to be + laid aside owing to Jennens' delays. <i>Belshazzar</i> was given on March + 27. <i>Semele, Joseph</i>, and <i>Saul</i> were revived, but, whatever + oratorio was given, the theatre was almost empty, and the season came to a + premature end on April 23. Handel was again suffering from some form of + illness, and was unable to take any part in the performances, although he + was present at them. Lady Shaftesbury describes "the great, though + unhappy, Handel, dejected, wan and dark, sitting by, not playing on, the + harpsichord," and adds that "his light had been spent in being overplied + in music's cause." Hawkins states definitely that Handel became blind in + 1751, and this date has been generally accepted; Lady Shaftesbury's letter + suggests that he was already blind, or partially so, as early as March + 1745, unless the word "light" is to be taken as meaning the light of his + reason. This interpretation, in fact, is confirmed by a later letter of + Lord Shaftesbury in October, in which he says: "Poor Handel looks + something better. I hope he will entirely recover in due time, though he + has been a good deal disordered in the head." Another friend of Handel's, + William Harris, met him in London, in August, when he seems at first not + to have recognised Harris and to have behaved with some oddity; "he talked + much of his precarious state of health, yet he looks well enough." + </p> + <p> + It has generally been stated that in 1745 Handel again became bankrupt, + but Barclay Squire pointed out that his name does not occur in the + official lists of bankrupts. It must be remembered that, however + disastrous his opera or oratorio seasons were, he had always his permanent + pension of £600 a year to fall back on, and Hawkins states that this + pension, originally granted by Queen Anne and George I, was punctually + paid throughout his life. + </p> + <p> + From the end of August, London was in a panic over the Jacobite rebellion + under the Young Pretender, Charles Edward. The Opera remained closed on + account of the prejudice against the Papist Italian singers; at the other + theatres patriotism expressed itself in appropriate music. Purcell's + "Genius of England" was sung at one, Arne's recently composed "Rule, + Britannia" at another, and on November 14 a "Chorus Song, set by Mr. + Handel for the <i>Gentlemen Volunteers</i> of the City of London," was + sung by Mr. Lowe at Drury Lane. The words suggest that the anonymous + author was familiar with the Epilogue to Purcell's <i>King Arthur</i>; + Handel's music is neither in his own style nor in Purcell's, but resembles + the poorest sort of English patriotic song of the early eighteenth + century. Patriotic poetry was well illustrated by an additional verse for + "God Save the King" which was printed in this same month: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>From France and Pretender + Great Britain defend her, + Foes let them fall; + From foreign slavery, + Priests and their knavery, + And Popish Reverie, + God save us all.</i> +</pre> + <p> + On December 6 the Pretender began his retreat from Derby, and panic was + allayed. Handel seized the opportunity to compose and bring out his <i>Occasional + Oratorio</i>, about half of which was taken from <i>Israel in Egypt</i>; + it contains a well-known quotation of "Rule, Britannia," and the point of + the quotation is made clearer when we know that it was one of the + patriotic songs sung at the theatres during the period of panic. + </p> + <p> + The Duke of Cumberland's defeat of the Pretender at Culloden on April 16, + 1746, finally disposed of the Jacobites, and Handel made a further + contribution to the national rejoicings in "A Song on the Victory over the + Rebels," which was printed in the <i>London Magazine</i> for July. The + words were by John Lockman; the first and last verses are as follows: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>From scourging rebellion and baffling proud France, + Crown'd with laurels behold British William advance: + His triumph to grace and distinguish the day, + The sun brighter shines and all nature's gay. + + Ye warriors on whom we due honours bestow, + O think on the source whence our late evils flow; + Commanded by William, strike next at the Gaul, + And fix those in chains would Britain enthral.</i> +</pre> + <p> + In the same month Handel began the composition of a new oratorio in honour + of the Duke; this was <i>Judas Maccabaeus</i>, for which he had discovered + a new librettist, the Rev. Thomas Morell, formerly Fellow of King's + College, Cambridge. Morell has given a lively account of his collaboration + with the great man, whom he did not fear to criticise. Handel's retorts to + him have been reproduced as if they were outbursts of righteous + indignation against a snarling poetaster, but, in view of many other + records of Handel's rough tongue and genial humour (in which he seems + often to have resembled Brahms), we need not take them too seriously. It + is quite clear that Morell was more amused than offended, and the fact + that they continued to collaborate up to the end of Handel's career as a + composer shows that they must have remained on completely friendly terms. + </p> + <p> + Morell, to judge from the contemporary portrait of him, must have been a + rather comic little figure with a strong sense of humour. He was a + scholar, and something of a musician too. The academic primness of his + verses has endeared him to all lovers of Handel, and to no one more than + Samuel Butler; they are always admirably suited to their purpose, neat and + scholarly, concise and direct, with never a word too many. They run easily + for a singer, and it is not improbable that Morell was acquainted with the + works of that great model of all opera-poets, Metastasio, for his words, + like Metastasio's, acquire an unexpected beauty when they are sung. + </p> + <p> + Handel must have felt himself fully restored to health in the summer of + 1746, for <i>Judas</i>, which was written in five weeks, contains no + "borrowings," apart from a few numbers added some ten years later and + adapted from some of his early Italian opera songs. It was not performed + until April 1, 1747. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII + </h2> + <p> + Judas Maccabaeus—Gluck—Thomas Morell—incipient blindness—Telemann + and his garden—last oratorios—death—character and + personality. + </p> + <p> + The new oratorio met with surprising success. In the first place, Handel + had given up the subscription system, and opened the theatre to all + comers. The relief produced by the victory of Culloden had no doubt + encouraged the general public to spend more money on entertainments; the + Duke of Cumberland was a popular hero, and, through the <i>Occasional + Oratorio</i>, Handel's name had come to be associated with him. <i>Judas</i> + was naturally patronised by the court and by the Duke himself, who had + made a handsome present to Morell in recognition of his literary laurels. + And a new class of enthusiasts appeared in the shape of the Jews, we are + told, who were attracted by the glorification of a national hero of their + own. We do not hear much of the Jewish community in London in the days of + Handel, and it cannot have been a very large one, but they appear to have + been worth Handel's consideration. It may be mentioned that Handel's early + librettist in London, Nicolo Haym, must have been a Jew, to judge from his + name. Handel, at any rate, was sufficiently impressed to ask Morell to + find another Jewish subject for his next oratorio; this was <i>Alexander + Balus</i>, produced the following year. + </p> + <p> + The Italian opera party had this year engaged Gluck as a composer, and he + too celebrated the Duke of Cumberland's achievements with an opera, <i>La + Caduta dei Giganti</i> (January 5), which was a complete failure. It must + have been put together in a hurry, for all of the "favourite songs" in it, + published by Walsh (and no other record of the music remains), were taken + from earlier operas of Gluck's; in any case they are poor stuff, and from + Burney's description of the singers it is no wonder that the opera had no + success. Gluck called on Handel, who told someone that he knew no more of + counterpoint than his cook. Gluck was just under thirty, Handel just over + sixty, and one can understand Handel's attitude; in any case he gave him + some plain and practical advice as to how to please an English audience, + which was not much use to Gluck, as he never visited this country again. + Handel was quite right in his criticism, for Gluck was always very clumsy + in his technique; and, at any rate, Gluck found him friendly enough and + spoke of him forty years later with the profoundest respect. It is + probable that Gluck heard <i>Judas</i>, as he was still in London in + April. + </p> + <p> + A significant indication of the new popularity which Handel had acquired + was the production of a <i>pasticcio</i>, at the Italian Opera in November + 1747, made up chiefly from the operas of Handel; but the experiment was + not repeated. In the autumn of 1748 a company of Italian comic-opera + singers came over to London; they brought an entirely new type of + entertainment, and after their success Handelian opera was buried for + ever. + </p> + <p> + <i>Alexander Balus</i> was not one of Handel's popular works; <i>Joshua</i> + (March 23, 1748) is now pretty well forgotten, but was a great attraction + when new, mainly because it contained "See the Conquering Hero," which was + afterwards transferred to <i>Judas Maccabaeus</i>. "What the English like + is something that they can beat time to," said Handel to Gluck. He agreed + with Hawkins in not caring very much for it himself, but added, "you will + live to see it a greater favourite with the people than my other fine + things." <i>Joshua</i> contains two "borrowings," one from Handel's own + opera <i>Riccardo</i>, and another from Gottlieb Muffat. + </p> + <p> + The productions of the next year (1749) were <i>Susanna</i> (February 10) + and <i>Solomon</i> (March 17); it is not known who wrote their libretti, + though <i>Solomon</i> has been tentatively ascribed to Morell. <i>Susanna</i> + was remarkably successful, perhaps on account of its story, which has + always been a favourite with the painters of the later Renaissance. One + can understand Lady Shaftesbury's saying, "I believe it will not insinuate + itself so much into my approbation as most of Handel's performances do, as + it is in the light operatic style." <i>Solomon</i> was a complete + contrast, with its magnificent scenes of oriental pageantry. + </p> + <p> + The Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (October 1748) had no doubt contributed, as + the victory of Culloden did, to make people more inclined to enjoy the + pleasures of life, with beneficial results to the organisers of music and + drama. The King ordered a grand celebration of the event to take place on + April 27, 1749, and preparations for it were begun as early as the + preceding November. The famous theatrical architect Servandoni was + commissioned to design an elaborate entertainment of fireworks on a + colossal scale to be let off in the Green Park, accompanied by the music + of Handel. The Fireworks Music was scored for fifty-six wind instruments. + A rehearsal of it (without fireworks) was held at Vauxhall Gardens a week + before, at half a crown admission, and it is said to have been attended by + a crowd of twelve thousand persons. At the actual performance the + fireworks were a disastrous failure, owing to various accidents, but + Handel's music, accompanied by the firing of ordnance, was the real event + of the evening. A month later Handel repeated the music at the Foundling + Hospital, along with selections from Solomon, and a new work, composed for + the occasion, known as the Foundling Anthem. His next act of generosity + was to present the hospital with an organ, which he inaugurated on May 1, + 1750, with a performance of Messiah. Henceforth the performance of Messiah + at the Foundling Hospital for the benefit of the institution became an + annual event, and it was this charitable association which really secured + the work its subsequent popularity. + </p> + <p> + Handel's next oratorio, Theodora (March 16, 1750), came out at a bad + moment, for a series of earthquakes were being felt in London, with the + result that many people took refuge in the country, and those who stayed + behind were reluctant to go to the theatre. The blame for the neglect + which has always overtaken Theodora has been very unjustly laid on Morell. + Handel himself, remembering the successes of Judas and Susanna, observed + to the poet, "The Jews will not come to it, because it is a Christian + story; and the ladies will not come, because it is a virtuous one." + Theodora was always Handel's favourite among his oratorios, and he + considered the chorus, "He saw the Lovely Youth," to be far beyond + anything in Messiah. None the less, the theatre was half empty when + Theodora was given. "Never mind," said Handel, with grim humour, "the + music will sound all the better." + </p> + <p> + An old acquaintance reappeared this year in London in the shape of + Cuzzoni, who had continued her quarrelsome career at Venice, Vienna, and + Stuttgart. An unsuccessful benefit concert was given for her, at which + Giardini the violinist made his first appearance in London. Handel engaged + her to sing in Messiah at the Foundling Hospital, but her voice was gone. + She was arrested for debt and bailed out by the Prince of Wales; after a + few years in Holland, where she was again in prison, she died in + destitution at Bologna. + </p> + <p> + In the summer Handel went to Germany for the last time. Nothing is known + of his movements there beyond the fact that on the journey out he met with + a carriage accident between the Hague and Haarlem. He was seriously + injured, but was stated in a London paper of August 21 to be out of + danger. Nor is it known when he returned; we have no further news of him + until in January he began work on Jephtha. Morell says that he himself + wrote Jephtha in 1751, but, as Handel had completed the first act on + February 2, it is probable that Morell, like Jennens, supplied him with + the words in instalments. + </p> + <p> + The composition of the music suffered various interruptions owing to the + failure of Handel's eyesight, and possibly to a return of mental disorder + (Streatfeild). He was able to play the organ at the Foundling Hospital in + May, and directly afterwards went for a short visit to Cheltenham, + returning to London on June 13. He resumed work on Jephtha, and finished + it on August 30. It was some time this year (the precise date is unknown) + that he consulted Samuel Sharp, a surgeon of Guy's Hospital, who told him + that he was suffering from gutta serena, and that freedom from pain in the + visual organs was all that he had to hope for during the remainder of his + days. It was a severe shock, especially to a man whose general physical + and mental health was already undermined, and it is no wonder that Handel + began to give way to periods of profound depression. The condition of + Handel's eyes, and of his hand as well, may be clearly observed in the + autograph of Jephtha, and it may be noted that here he again reverted to + the process of "borrowing"—this time from five Masses by Habermann, + a composer twenty years his junior, published in 1747. + </p> + <p> + It may well be asked how Handel acquired the original copies of all the + works which he utilised in his later years, since it is obvious that they + could not have been well known or easily available to musicians in + England. A guess may be hazarded that he obtained them through his old + friend Telemann at Hamburg. Telemann, it will be remembered, had been a + close friend of Handel's during their student days at Halle; whether they + met again in Germany after Handel had taken up his residence in London is + not known, but it is quite probable. The fact remains that Handel was + undoubtedly in friendly correspondence with Telemann in 1750, for in + December of that year he wrote a long letter to him (in French) thanking + him for a theoretical work. Telemann appears to have been a keen gardener, + and had evidently asked Handel to send him some rare plants. Handel's + reply suggests that he was not much interested in gardening himself, but + was most anxious to do all he could to give Telemann pleasure. + </p> + <p> + Another letter (again in French) to Telemann, dated September 20, 1754, + explains that Handel had set about procuring the plants when Captain + Carsten of Hamburg, by whose ship he intended to send them, told him that + Telemann was dead; but, after another voyage to Hamburg and back, Carsten + brought the news that Telemann was alive and in good health. He also + brought a list of the rare plants desired, and Handel writes to say that + he has obtained almost all of them, and will send them by Captain Carsten + when he sails for Hamburg again in December. + </p> + <p> + It is true that there is no mention of any parcel of music in these + letters, beyond Telemann's "System of Intervals," but they suggest that + they were part of a longer correspondence. Telemann was keenly interested + in contemporary music, as his correspondence with Graun shows; he also + seems to have asked Graun to send him plants from Berlin. He is the most + likely person to have sent musical works of interest to Handel; possibly + they were sent on loan, and returned after Handel had made the extracts + which are to be seen in the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge. + </p> + <p> + Jephtha was produced on February 26, 1752. Handel's oratorios had by now + become a lucrative undertaking, and it was characteristic of English + audiences that they came in crowds to see Handel playing the organ in his + blindness, and enjoy the luxury of tears when Beard sang "Total Eclipse!" + Sharp, the oculist, recommended Handel to employ as his assistant John + Stanley, who had been blind from early childhood and was a singularly + accomplished organist. Handel burst out laughing. "Mr. Sharp, have you + never read' the Scriptures? Do you not remember? If the blind lead the + blind, they both fall into the ditch." + </p> + <p> + He underwent various operations, but derived only partial benefit from + them. During these last years he led a very retired life, but he continued + to play the organ at his oratorios, at first from memory, and later + extemporising the solos in his concertos, which were always an integral + feature of his concerts. The profits of these were enormous, and when he + died in 1759 he left investments to the extent of 20,000. Composition + naturally became a more difficult matter after blindness set in, but new + songs were added to many of the oratorios, and in 1758 he made a complete + revision of his old Italian cantata, Il Trionfo del Tempo. Morell + translated it into English, and seventeen new numbers were added. Some of + these were new, but many were adapted from other works of Handel's, + chiefly from Parnasso in Festa, and there are also borrowings from Lotti + and Graun. Two choruses by Graun had already been utilised in the revision + of the Italian version which Handel brought out in 1737. + </p> + <p> + All this time John Christopher Schmidt, now known as Smith, had been his + indispensable factotum. Smith made fair copies of his music, and managed + his affairs for him, though Handel, almost up to the end, seems to have + discussed his investments in person with his financial adviser, Mr. Gael + Morris, in the City. Smith's son, who had come with his father to London + as a child, had been educated under Handel's direction, and in 1754 became + the first organist of the Foundling Hospital. In Handel's later years it + was the son who assisted him at the performances of the oratorios and + acted as his musical amanuensis. There is a curious story of a quarrel + which took place at Tunbridge Wells, about four years before Handel's + death, between the two old men. The cause of it is not known, but it is + stated to have been quite trivial; old Smith left Handel abruptly, and + Handel vowed he would never see him again. The son attempted to heal the + breach and even went so far as to say that he would refuse to assist + Handel at his concerts any more unless Handel restored to his father the + legacy which after the quarrel he had intended to leave to the son; young + Smith foresaw that he himself would be accused of having deliberately + alienated the affections of Handel from his father in order to secure the + money for himself. + </p> + <p> + Handel apparently yielded to some extent, but it is clear that he was not + reconciled to old Smith for a long time. "About three weeks before his + death," we are told, in Coxe's Anecdotes of Handel and Smith, published + soon after young Smith's death, "Handel desired Smith junior to receive + the sacrament with him. Smith asked him how he could communicate, when he + was not at peace with the world and especially when he was at enmity with + his former friend, who, though he might have offended him once, had been + faithful and affectionate to him for thirty years." Handel was much + affected by Smith's words, and the reconciliation took place. Religion had + gained a strong hold upon Handel in his years of suffering; he spoke much + to Hawkins and others of his delight in setting the Scriptures to music, + and he was a regular worshipper at St. George's, Hanover Square. + </p> + <p> + His last appearance in public was at the performance of Messiah on April + 6, 1759, but at the end of it he was seized with a fainting attack, took + to his bed, and died during the night between the 13th and 14th of April. + He was buried in Westminster Abbey on the evening of the 10th; the choirs + of the Chapel Royal and St. Paul's joined the Abbey choir in singing the + burial music of Dr. Croft, and it is said that three thousand people were + present. + </p> + <p> + Handel's will, executed June 1, 1750, left the bulk of his fortune to his + niece and goddaughter Johanna Friderica Floerken (nee Michaelsen) of + Gotha; other relatives were also left legacies. To Christopher Smith + (junior) he left 500, besides his large harpsichord, his chamber organ, + his portrait by Denner, and his manuscripts. He had at one time thought of + leaving the manuscripts to the University of Oxford, and, having already + promised them to Smith, offered him a legacy of £3,000 if he would resign + all claim to them. Smith refused, and also refused an offer of £2,000 made + for them, after Handel's death, by Frederick the Great. He kept them until + 1772, when he presented them to George III in return for a pension of £200 + a year. But he did not hand over the whole of the manuscripts to the King, + and a large collection of rough sketches and fragments was acquired by + Lord Fitzwilliam, who bequeathed them to the University of Cambridge. + </p> + <p> + The foregoing pages will have shown how singularly few are the definite + facts about Handel's life which can be ascertained with any degree of + certainty. There are a number of portraits which give some idea of his + outward appearance, but most of them represent him as a man of middle age, + and the anecdotes of his life and habits recorded by various + contemporaries belong mostly to the same period. It is almost impossible + to form any idea of his private character and his inward personality. + Biographers of musicians often attempt to deduce their characters from + their musical works, but it need hardly be said that such a procedure is + thoroughly unreliable. + </p> + <p> + Portraits are notoriously unsafe as guides to the interpretation of + character, but if the miniature reproduced by Mr. Flower as having been + painted in Rome is an authentic likeness of Handel as a young man and it + certainly bears some resemblance to the portrait by Denner painted about + 1736 or 1737—he must have been singularly attractive in those days. + It cannot have been his musical abilities alone that won him the immediate + friendship of Telemann at Halle and Mattheson at Hamburg; and, although he + seems from his earliest days to have been ambitious and determined to make + a career for himself, his contemporaries give the impression that he was + retiring rather than self-assertive. In later life he was often described + as bearish and rough-mannered, but this cannot have been the case in his + youth, or he would never have achieved the position which he held in the + most cultured and distinguished society of Rome and Naples. His visit to + Italy must inevitably have been a wonderful education in the humanities, + otherwise he could never have been received as he was on his first visit + to London by the society which most nearly resembled that of his Italian + friends and patrons. + </p> + <p> + Professional musicians, and especially those connected with the theatre, + were regarded in England as being more or less disreputable, unless they + held university degrees and posts of distinction. Handel moved among them + in his professional life, as was only natural, but his more intimate + friendships seem, throughout his career, to have been confined mainly to + the innermost circle of the well-bred amateurs; we must not forget, + however, that it was only persons of that class whose letters and memoirs + have come down to us. Burney and Hawkins at any rate were well acquainted + with the professional world, and their testimony tends to confirm that + Handel stood more or less aloof from it. It was only in later life that he + associated on terms of friendship with such a person as Mrs. Cibber, the + singer. In an age when all opera-houses were, with some truth, regarded as + centres of sexual promiscuity, it is indeed remarkable that not the least + evidence exists, with one solitary exception, that Handel was ever even + alleged to have had an illicit love-affair. Mr. Flower discovered a copy + of Mainwaring's biography, with marginal notes said to be in the + handwriting of George III, and there we read: "G. F. Handel was ever + honest, nay excessively polite, but like all Men of Sense would talk all, + and hear none, and scorned the advice of any but the Woman he loved, but + his Amours were rather of short duration, always within the pale of his + own profession." The <i>Anecdotes of Handel and Smith</i> mention two + occasions on which he was said to have become engaged to be married, or + nearly so, but the writer is so reticent that little faith can be placed + in his statement, and in any case the <i>Anecdotes</i>, published in 1799, + are not very reliable as far as Handel is concerned. + </p> + <p> + It is not difficult to understand that there were two Handels, one + "excessively polite" (which, in the language of the eighteenth century, + does not mean that he was servile and cringing, but simply that he behaved + like a man of good breeding), as he appeared to such people as Mrs. Delany + and the Harris family, and the other as he showed himself at rehearsals, + or in the society of men friends of more or less his own standing—bluntly + outspoken and perhaps at times inconsiderate. The hostility of a large + number of social leaders may well have been aroused in the first instance + by some careless harsh word. + </p> + <p> + "The figure of Handel was large," says Burney, "and he was somewhat + corpulent and unwieldy in his motions; but his countenance, which I + remember as perfectly as that of any man I saw but yesterday, was full of + fire and dignity; and such as impressed ideas of superiority and genius. + He was impetuous, rough, and peremptory in his manners and conversation, + but totally devoid of ill-nature or malevolence; indeed there was an + original humour and pleasantry in his most lively sallies of anger or + impatience, which, with his broken English, were extremely risible. His + natural propensity to wit and humour, and happy manner of relating common + occurrences in an uncommon way, enabled him to throw persons and things + into very ridiculous attitudes. Handel's general look was somewhat heavy + and sour, but when he did smile, it was his sire the sun, bursting out of + a black cloud. There was a sudden flash of intelligence, wit, and good + humour, beaming in his countenance, which I hardly ever saw in any other." + </p> + <p> + Both Burney and Hawkins record that outside his profession he was said to + be ignorant and dull, and the fact that they are at pains to defend him on + this charge shows that there was apparent ground for it. Pepusch said of + him that he was "a good practical musician," which is what one might well + expect of Pepusch, whose devotion to antiquarian learning aroused the + amusement rather than the admiration of his contemporaries. Handel was at + any rate keenly interested in painting, like Corelli, and the third + codicil to his will, dated August 4, 1757, mentions two landscapes by + Rembrandt, one a view of the Rhine, which he bequeathed to one of the + Granvilles from whom he had received both as a gift. + </p> + <p> + Another characteristic of Handel's for which his early biographers are + hard put to find an excuse was his enormous appetite for food and drink, + satirised by his once intimate friend the painter Goupy in a well-known + print called "The Charming Brute," in which Handel is represented with the + head of a pig, seated at an organ, with various comestibles disposed at + his feet. In this connexion it may be noted that for all his gluttony + Handel was never accused of drunkenness; if he exceeded in the pleasures + of the table, it was as a gourmet and a connoisseur. Yet it is recorded + that he never led an extravagant life, and apart from this particular + weakness he lived as simply in the days of his wealth as in those of his + poverty. Generosity to those in distress was at all times characteristic + of him. + </p> + <p> + Although Handel became a naturalised British subject, none of his + contemporaries would ever have dreamed of regarding him as an Englishman, + or as a composer of English music. Burney's account of the commemoration + festival of 1784 may be regarded as an official panegyric, but even in + that he goes no further than to say that Handel, "though not a native of + England, spent the greatest part of his life in the service of its + inhabitants, improving our taste, and introducing among us so many species + of musical excellence, that, during more than half a century, while + sentiment, not fashion, guided our applause, we neither wanted nor wished + for any other standard. Indeed, his works were so long the models of + perfection in this country, that they may be said to have formed our + national taste." In the pages which deal with the character of Handel as a + composer, he says that he united "the depth and elaborate contrivance of + his own country with Italian elegance and facility." Handel's music, he + holds, was from the first congenial to the English temperament, but he + never regards it as being at all English in style, though in other + writings he naturally recognises the occasional indebtedness of Handel to + the influence of Purcell. It was only in the nineteenth century that + Handel came to be regarded as a national institution. His own country for + the most part neglected his works; his operas were thought impossible to + revive, and the oratorios were considered by most Germans as being "too + English"—an opinion which the writer of this book frequently heard + expressed in Germany some fifty years ago. Since 1920 there has been an + astonishing revival of Handel in Germany, beginning with the restoration + to the stage of his operas—the last works of his which most people + would have thought suitable for presentation to modern audiences—and + much energy has been expended by German critics on an attempt to + demonstrate the essentially Germanic character both of Handel's music and + of his personality. + </p> + <p> + The more closely we study Handel in relation to his own times, and in + relation to the general history of music, the clearer it becomes that + Goupy the caricaturist was only right when he put into Handel's mouth the + words, "I am myself alone." + </p> + <p> + The foundation of Handel's musical style was Italian, and it was only + natural that this should be the case, for, in his days, Italy dominated + European music as she did European architecture. All music in the grand + manner, except in France, was Italian in its tradition, and if ever there + was a composer who illustrated the grand manner throughout his life, it + was Handel. France had produced a grand manner of her own, though not + without an initial impulse from Italy; in all other countries north of the + Alps native music was only for the humbler classes of society. When Handel + condescended to it, as he did in the political excitement of 1745, he + deliberately adopted the musical style of a tavern song. + </p> + <p> + Handel's serious music was never written for popular audiences; in his + later oratorios he sometimes admittedly wrote down to the taste of the + middle classes, but we have the records of his conversations with Gluck, + Hawkins, and others to prove how little respect he had for that taste. He + composed for the needs of the moment, and not with a view to immortality, + but he composed for a society which was cultured enough to desire, even in + its entertainments, grace, dignity, and serenity. + </p> + <p> + If Handel's works have for later generations become a source of joy and + delight to a very different social class, it is because they are the + musical equivalents of those palaces and gardens of Handel's day which are + now national monuments and open to all comers. We walk beneath their + colonnades, peopling them in imagination with the gracious and stately + figures of the past; and from the museum of memory there arise the unheard + strains of Handel's music: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>Hark! the heavenly sphere turns round, + And silence now is drown'd, + In ecstasy of sound! + How on a sudden the still air is charm'd, + As if all harmony were just alarm'd + And every soul with transport fill'd!</i> +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_BIBL" id="link2H_BIBL"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BIBLIOGRAPHY + </h2> + <p> + Mainwaring, J.: <i>Memoirs of the Life of the Late G. F. Handel</i>. + London. 1760. + </p> + <p> + Burney, Charles: <i>A General History of Music</i>. London. 1776-89. + </p> + <p> + Burney, Charles: <i>An Account of the Musical Performances in Westminster + Abbey, etc.</i> London. 1785. + </p> + <p> + Hawkins, Sir John: <i>A General History of the Science and Practice of + Music</i>. London. 1776. + </p> + <p> + Coxe, W.: <i>Anecdotes of G. F. Handel and Y. C. Smith</i>. London. 1799. + </p> + <p> + Schoelcher, Victor: <i>The Life of Handel</i>. London. 1857. The first + attempt at a complete and documented biography. + </p> + <p> + Chrysander, Friedrich: <i>G. F. Händel</i>. Leipzig. 1858-67. This + biography does not go beyond 1740, but it is the most valuable source for + carefully documented facts. + </p> + <p> + Delany, Mary: <i>Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville, Mrs. + Delany</i>. Edited by Lady Llanover. London. 1861-62. + </p> + <p> + Taylor, Sedley: <i>The Indebtedness of Handel to Works by Other Composers</i>. + Cambridge. 1906. + </p> + <p> + Robinson, Percy: <i>Handel and His Orbit</i>. London. 1908. + </p> + <p> + Streatfeild, R.A.: <i>Handel</i>. London. 1909. The best biography of + Handel and critical study of his works in English. + </p> + <p> + Squire, W. Barclay: <i>Handel in 1745</i> (Riemann-Festschrift). Leipzig. + 1909. + </p> + <p> + Rolland, Romain: <i>Haendel</i>. Paris. 1910. + </p> + <p> + Flower, Newman: <i>George Friederic Handel: His Personality and His Times</i>. + London. 1923. + </p> + <p> + This book contains much new biographical matter. I have to thank Mr. + Flower for kind permission to make use of his valuable discoveries. + </p> + <p> + Leichtentritt, Hugo: <i>Händel.</i> Stuttgart. 1924. Biography based + mainly on Streatfeild; gives a detailed analysis of all Handel's works. + </p> + <p> + Young, Percy M.: <i>Handel.</i> London. 1947. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + HANDEL'S WORKS + </h2> + <h3> + OPERAS + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>Almira</i> (Hamburg, 1705). + <i>Nero</i> (Hamburg, 1705, music lost). + <i>Florindo</i> (Hamburg, 1707, music lost). + <i>Dafne</i> (Hamburg, 1707, music lost). + <i>Rodrigo</i> (Florence, 1707?). + <i>Agrippina</i> (Venice, 1709). +</pre> + <p> + The following operas were all produced in London: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>Rinaldo</i> (1711). + <i>Il Pastor Fido</i> (first version, 1712). + <i>Teseo</i> (1712). + <i>Silla</i> (1714). + <i>Amadigi</i> (1715). + <i>Radamisto</i> (1720). + <i>Muzio Scevola</i> (1721, only Act III by Handel). + <i>Floridante</i> (1721). + <i>Ottone</i> (1723). + <i>Flavio</i> (1723). + <i>Giulio Cesare</i> (1724). + <i>Tamerlano</i> (1724). + <i>Rodelinda</i> (1725). + <i>Scipione</i> (1726). + <i>Alessandro</i> (1726). + <i>Admeto</i> (1727). + <i>Riccardo I</i> (1727). + <i>Siroe</i> (1728). + <i>Tolomeo</i> (1728). + <i>Lotario</i> (1729). + <i>Partenope</i> (1730). + <i>Poro</i> (1731). + <i>Ezio</i> (1732). + <i>Sosarme</i> (1732). + <i>Orlando</i> (1733). + <i>Arianna</i> (1734). + <i>Parnasso in Festa</i> (1734). + <i>Il Pastor Fido</i> (second version, 1734). + <i>Terpsichore</i> (1734). + <i>Ariodante</i> (1735). + <i>Alcina</i> (1735). + <i>Atalanta</i> (1736). + <i>Arminio</i> (1737). + <i>Giustino</i> (1737). + <i>Berenice</i> (1737). + <i>Faramondo</i> (1738). + <i>Serse</i> (1738). + <i>Jupiter in Argos</i> (1739, announced but never performed). + <i>Imeneo</i> (1740). + <i>Deidamia</i> (1741). +</pre> + <h3> + ORATORIOS: + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>St. John Passion</i> (German, Hamburg, 1704). + <i>La Risurrezione</i> (Italian, Rome, 1708). + <i>Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno</i> (Italian, Rome, 1708). + <i>Aci, Galatea e Polifemo</i> (Italian, Naples, 1709). + <i>Brockes Passion</i> (German, Hanover, 1716). +</pre> + <p> + All the following oratorios are in English: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>Esther</i> (first version, London, 1720). + <i>Acis and Galatea</i> (London, 1720). + <i>Esther</i> (second version, London, 1732). + <i>Debora</i> (London, 1733). + <i>Athalia</i> (Oxford, 1733). + <i>Alexander's Feast</i> (London, 1736). + <i>Saul</i> (London, 1739). + <i>Israel in Egypt</i> (London, 1739). + <i>Ode for St. Cecilia's Day</i> (London, 1739). + <i>L'Allegro, Il Penseroso ed Il Moderato</i> (London, 1740). + <i>Messiah</i> (Dublin, 1742). +</pre> + <h3> + HANDEL 139 + </h3> + <p> + The following oratorios were all produced in London: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>Samson</i> (1743). + <i>Semele</i> (1743). + <i>Joseph</i> (1743). + <i>Belshazzar</i> (1744). + <i>Hercules</i> (1744). + <i>Occasional Oratorio</i> (1746). + <i>Judas Maccabaeus</i> (1747). + <i>Alexander Balus</i> (1747). + <i>Joshua</i> (1747). + <i>Solomon</i> (1748). + <i>Susanna</i> (1748). + <i>Theodora</i> (1749). + <i>The Choice of Hercules</i> (1749). + <i>Jephtha</i> (1752). + <i>The Triumph of Time and Truth</i> (1757). +</pre> + <h3> + SACRED WORKS: + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>Laudate Pueri</i> (Rome, 1707). + <i>Dixit Dominus</i> (Rome, 1707). + <i>Nisi Dominus</i> (Rome, 1707). + <i>Gloria Patri</i> (Rome, 1707). + <i>Salve Regina</i> (1707?). + <i>Silete Venti</i> (1707?). + <i>Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate</i> (London, 1713). + <i>Te Deum</i> in D (1714?). + <i>Te Deum</i> in B flat (Chandos) (1718-20). + <i>Te Deum</i> in A (1727?). + <i>Twelve Chandos Anthems</i> (1716-19). + <i>Four Coronation Anthems</i> (1727). + <i>Wedding Anthem for Princess Anne</i> (1734). + <i>Wedding Anthem for the Prince of Wales</i> (1736). + <i>Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline</i> (1737). + <i>Dettingen Te Deum</i> (1743). + <i>Dettingen Anthem</i> (1743). + <i>Foundling Hospital Anthem</i> (1749). +</pre> + <h3> + SECULAR VOCAL MUSIC: + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>Birthday Ode for Queen Anne</i> (1713). + <i>Italian Cantatas, Duets and Trios</i>. + <i>German Songs</i>. +</pre> + <h3> + INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC: + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>Six Concertos</i> (so-called "Oboe Concertos"), published 1734. + <i>Three Concertos</i> ("Select Harmony"), published 1741. + <i>Twelve Grand Concertos</i>, op. 6 (published 1740). + <i>Three Concertos a due cori</i>. + <i>Overtures, Marches, Dances, etc</i>. + <i>Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra</i>. + <i>Concerto for Violin and Orchestra</i>. + <i>Water Music</i> (1715-17). + <i>Forest Music</i> (1742, probably spurious). + <i>Music for the Royal Fireworks</i> (1749). + <i>Six Concertos for Harpsichord or Organ</i>, op. 4 (1738). + <i>Six Concertos for Harpsichord or Organ</i> (1740). + <i>Six Concertos for Harpsichord or Organ</i>, op. 7 (1760). +</pre> + <p> + Many of these are arrangements of other works. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>Sonatas for Flute, Oboe or Violin and Bass</i> (19). + <i>Six Sonatas for two Oboes and Bass</i>. + <i>Six Sonatas for two Violins (Oboes or Flutes) and Bass</i>, op. 2 (1733). + <i>Seven Sonatas for two Violins (Flutes) and Bass</i>, op. 5 (1739). + <i>Sonata for Viola de Gamba</i>. + <i>Suites de Pièces pour le Clavecin</i> (8) (1720). + <i>Suites de Pièces pour le Clavecin</i> (8) (1733). + <i>Miscellaneous Harpsichord Music</i>. +</pre> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Handel, by Edward J. 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