Who Is George Rhetoric Handel?
George Frideric Handel was a Baroque composer born in Halle ‘an-die-Saale’, Germany on February 23, 1685 (Cudworth 7). Handel was primarily an organist and had begun to compose music at the age of ten. Handel’s first opera Almira was premiered in January of 1705 and he would travel to Italy soon after (Cudworth 11). By 1709, Handel had composed his first great opera, Agrippina and premiered it during the Venetian celebration of Carnival. Soon after the premiere of this opera he felt that he had learned from his Italian mentors and friends and decided to leave for Hanover where he would eventually become the court musician of the Duke of Hanover (Lang 106). Over time, Handel transitioned from composing operas to oratorios gradually due, in part,
to his failing health (e.g. his decreased eyesight and stroke); the fall of opera from popular culture in England; and the coronation of his former patron, King George I from whom Handel needed to curry favor after his abrupt leave of post in Germany (Bonds 234). Because of these circumstances, Handel’s oratorios had a distinctive sound that was separated from his earlier works in regards to linguistics, borrowed melodies, and choral style.
to his failing health (e.g. his decreased eyesight and stroke); the fall of opera from popular culture in England; and the coronation of his former patron, King George I from whom Handel needed to curry favor after his abrupt leave of post in Germany (Bonds 234). Because of these circumstances, Handel’s oratorios had a distinctive sound that was separated from his earlier works in regards to linguistics, borrowed melodies, and choral style.