George Frideric Handel Research Paper

Dalton Stone

George Frideric Handel

Among the many works of George Handel, Messiah is by far the most popular. The ingenious piece is a oratorio that contains scripture from the King James Bible and psalms from within the Book of Common Prayer. George Handel was a great composer who enjoyed music, this is reflected in his early life, his work in London, and his legacy.

Since being born on February 23, 1685 in Halle, Savony, Germany, Handel struggled to pursue a life of music. At a young age he was ushered away from the idea of music being his career by his father, who desired him to pursue a career in more logical fields, such fields as being a lawyer. However, despite his father's objections Handel pursued music with his mother's help. …show more content…
During his time in Italy he produced two opera's, Rodrigo and Agrippina, as well as writing quite a few dramatic chamber works. As Handel traveled around Italy, touring the major cities during each of their opera seasons, he met a variety of musicians that all expressed their interest in London's music scene. Enticed by the opportunity to explore the music scene, Handel abandoned Italy for the rainy city of London, England. Once in London his musical career began to rise to new heights as he began to compose new pieces for the King's Theatre. The first of these pieces was called Rinaldo, which to this date is his most critically acclaimed piece that would gain him widespread recognition. With the prestige created by production of Rinaldo new positions began to open up, including his position entertaining English royalty for a period of a few years. Following this honored position was his job as the Master of the Orchestra at the Royal Academy of Music. At the Royal Academy of Music he wrote several opera pieces. During the last opera that was produced by the academy an argument broke out between the two lead singers. Then conflict frustrated Handel to the point that he broke away and created his own company, the New Royal Academy of Music. With his own company he wrote another 20 opera's within a decade. However, a tragedy soon struck as opera's began to go out of style,

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