George Frideric Handel

German-English Baroque composer, who is famous for his operas, oratorios, and concerti grossi. His life and music may justly be described as “cosmopolitan”: he was born in Germany, trained in Italy, and spent most of his life in England. Born as Georg Friedrich Händel (IPA: [ˈhɛndəl]) in Halle in the Duchy of Magdeburg, he settled in England in 1712, becoming a naturalized subject of the British crown on 22 January 1727. His works include Messiah, Water Music, and Music for the Royal Fireworks. Strongly influenced by the techniques of the great composers of the Italian Baroque era, as well as the English composer Henry Purcell, Handel’s music became well-known to many composers, including Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.

Handel was born in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt in the Duchy of Magdeburg (a province of Brandenburg-Prussia) to Georg and Dorothea (née Taust) Händel in 1685, the same year that both Johann Sebastian Bach and Domenico Scarlatti were born. Handel displayed considerable musical talent at an early age; by the age of seven he was a skillful performer on the harpsichord and pipe organ, However, his father, a distinguished citizen of Halle and an eminent barber-surgeon who served as valet and barber to the courts of the Duchy of Saxe-Weissenfels and the Margraviate of Brandenburg, was opposed to his son’s wish to pursue a musical career, preferring him to study law. By contrast, Handel’s mother, Dorothea, encouraged his musical aspirations.

Nevertheless, the young Handel was permitted to take lessons in musical composition and keyboard technique from Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow, the organist of the Liebfrauenkirche, Halle. Handel learned about harmony and contemporary styles. He analyzed scores and learned to work fugue subjects and copy music. Sometimes he would take his teacher’s place as organist for services. For his seventh birthday his aunt, Anna, gave him a spinet, which was placed in the attic for Handel to play, whenever he could avoid his father.