His talent for music showed itself early, but was repressed, rather
than encouraged by the father, who, however, had once allowed his son
to accompany him to the court at Weissenfels, where, at that time,
music was zealously cultivated and represented by able performers. The
boy's organ-playing and the universal talent for music which he already
manifested, created such astonishment that the duke not only dismissed
him with liberal presents but also impressed upon the father that it
was his duty not to allow such gifts to perish. In obedience to this
injunction, George was placed under the instruction of the organist
at the Marienkirche, Friedrick Wilhelm Zachau. This musician had
sufficient ability to be able to point out the way to the young genius,
who thenceforth pursued it alone. Handel's nature was of the kind which
matures early, and he was one of the few precocious musicians who have
reached old age and retained their creative power in later years. He was
about eleven years old when his lessons began under Zachau, and at this
time he composed six sonatas for two oboes and base, which have been
preserved, and cannot fail to excite admiration for the skill with which
they are written, as well as for their depth of feeling. He assisted his
teacher in the care of the organ services and, moreover, already wrote
church cantatas, completing one every Sunday for the space of three
years. His rapidity in composing, which later caused so much amazement,
showed itself from the first. He himself said, when one of his early
productions was laid before him: "I used to write like the Devil in those
days, but chiefly for the oboe, which was my favorite instrument." While
pursuing his studies in composition, he was at the same time diligent in
his practice of the clavichord and organ. Handel would have been no true
German if he had not possessed a special aptitude for this phase of the
art, in which Germany has surpassed all other nations. Among the more
renowned musicians, whose works were his models, are mentioned Froberger,
Johann Friedrich Alberti, Johann Krüger, that excellent composer for
the clavichord, and Delphin Strunck, the Brunswick organist and younger
friend of Heinrich Schutz; Kaspar Kerl, though born in Upper Saxony,
belongs nevertheless to the South German school of organists, so closely
allied to the Italian. Upon Bach no deeply penetrating influence was ever
exercised by this school, whereas Handel's strong affinity for it cannot
possibly be denied. He has himself referred to Johann Krüger's piano
music as furnishing him a superior model, and he held in honor all his
life that artist's "Anmuthige Clavier-Uebung," published in 1699. Handel
now developed with wonderful rapidity into a performer of surpassing
excellence, his favorite instrument being the organ, as adapting itself
better than the clavier to his love for the grand and majestic. He
was fond of improvising and especially great in that direction, his
inspiration being perhaps more direct than that of Bach, who, in deed,
was also powerful in extemporization, but whose profound imagination
was called into play less easily. It is worthy of note in regard to
Handel, that though he played the organ constantly up to extreme old
age, no veritable organ-compositions by him are extant. Those which now
pass for such were in part originally intended for the clavier, or, when
really for the organ, as in the case of his numerous organ concertos, the
instrument thus designated was nothing more than a finer sort of clavier.
The first journey of any consequence undertaken by Handel was directed
to the electoral court in Berlin and, as the visit was made in the
company of his father, it could not have been later than 1696, the
death of Handel senior having occurred on the 11th of February, 1697.
At that time, thanks to the refined cultivation of the electress Sophie
Charlotte, the Berlin Court was justly regarded as a fostering home of
the arts and sciences. In music, the Italians took the lead. Here Handel
first met Giovanni Bononcini and Atilio Ariosti, later his rivals in
England. The impression produced at Court by the youth's playing, his
maturity of mind and the skill he displayed in the execution of difficult
tasks, was so strong, that elector Frederick offered to defray the
expenses of his musical education in Italy. Fortunately for the boy, his
father refused this offer, the acceptance of which would have had the
effect of attaching Handel permanently to the imperial court, where,
from the beginning of the reign of Friedrich Wilhelm I. (1713) all arts
declined. Meantime the idea of a legal education had not been entirely
given up, and the son was dutiful enough to respect this cherished
project of his father, even after the latter's death, although he could
scarcely have felt the slightest inward doubt as to his true vocation in
life. After completing his course at the gymnasium, he studied at the
university in Halle during the years 1702 and 1703. At the same time
he filled the position of organist at the Calvanistic Cathedral in the
Moritzburg, and in that capacity received a salary of about fifty dollars
a year.
[Illustration: PUBLIC SQUARE IN HALLE, CONTAINING HANDEL'S MONUMENT.]
In the spring of 1703 he took the decisive step; he abandoned the law
forever, and left Halle, in order to ascertain through his own experience
the condition of musical matters in the world at large. Church cantatas
and motettes, organ and clavier playing could not continue, in the long
run, to be the sole objects of his activity. Bach was satisfied in such
a sphere; Handel was attracted by secular music and courted publicity.
The opera, established in Italy, had been cultivated in Germany in the
seventeenth century only at the royal courts. But since 1678 it had found
a home in the free city of Hamburg, where, in the year 1695, it had
entered upon its most brilliant period. Reinhard Keiser, born at Teuchern
near Weissenfels in 1674, a man of more genius than any German operatic
writer of his time, had composed for it and decided the direction it was
to follow. When Handel arrived in the city, Keiser had also undertaken to
conduct the business portion of the enterprise, for which he was by no
means adapted, and the value of his services was gradually diminishing.
But for an artist in the dawn of his career, stimulating influences
were here at work. What Handel especially wished to acquire--the art
of strong, beautiful, universally effective melody--Keiser's opera
offered him the best opportunity for acquiring, if he desired to remain
in the sphere of German music. He applied for admission to the theatre
orchestra, took his place very modestly as second violin, and kept in the
background as much as possible. But on one occasion, in the absence of
the accompanying pianist, Handel undertook to fill his place and excited
great admiration by his masterly performance. Through the friendship
of Johann Mattheson, a native Hamburger, some years older than Handel
and at that time principal tenor at the opera, he was introduced into
the society of the place. But he did not allow himself to be drawn into
the gay life of which Keiser was the leading spirit. In the company of
Mattheson he once rode over to Lübeck, and made the acquaintance of
Buxtehude, before whom he played. This happened only a little in advance
of Bach's journey from Arnstadt to Buxtehude. It was probably on the
return trip from Lübeck that Bach chose to pass through Hamburg, so that
the two greatest musicians of their day traveled thither almost at the
same time without any knowledge of each other, nor did they ever become
personally acquainted in after years. In 1704, probably for performance
in Holy Week, Handel composed his Passion music, having followed the
account given in the gospel of John. The poetic text was furnished by
Christian Postel, who formerly had written also for the operatic stage.
Handel's first attempt at an opera was in the following year. This work,
"Almira," was brought out in the carnival period of 1705 and excited
the jealousy of Keiser himself, through the extraordinary applause
which it received. After this followed "Nero" and "Florindo and Daphne,"
the latter an opera intended for two evenings. Meantime the operatic
enterprise was on the eve of failure, owing to the irregular business
methods of Keiser, who was obliged to resign his office of director and
leave Hamburg. At this time also, Handel's stay in the city came to an
end. He had learned what there was to learn and had moreover perceived
that the German opera in Hamburg was only an imitation of the Italian,
and that he must go to the fountain head in order to attain his end--a
thorough mastery of the science of vocal composition, _Solo Gesang_.
From the profits of his music-teaching in Hamburg he had managed to save
the sum of two hundred ducats, and with this, at the end of the year
1706, or the beginning of 1707, he started for Italy. Possibly he made
a short visit at Florence on his way to Rome; at any rate he was in the
latter city during the opera season of 1707 and remained there certainly
until July. Then he turned his face northward again, brought out in
Florence his first Italian opera, "Rodrigo," in which the afterwards
famous singer, Vittoria Tesi, assumed the leading role. In January,
1708, he went to Venice, which was still one of the principal homes of
the opera in Italy, though Naples was already beginning to dispute its
supremacy. The opera, "Agrippina," which Handel produced here, and in
which Tesi, having followed the composer from Florence to Venice, again
appeared in the leading role, spread his fame throughout the land and far
beyond its boundaries. From Venice, where he had made the acquaintance
of Antonio Lotti, he went back to Rome and found there a very cordial
welcome from the "Arcadia," a society formed for the promotion of the
arts and sciences, including among its members the most cultivated and
talented people of the city, and presided over by the Marchese Ruspoli.
Another society, in which music received still more attention than in
the "Arcadia," had been founded by the Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni. All
the more important works composed by Handel in Rome were performed in
this circle and conducted by the great violin virtuoso, Archangelo
Corelli. Two oratorios in the Italian style were produced at this time:
"_La Risurrezione_" and "_Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno_." The
latter work underwent two revisions during Handel's London period, first
in 1737, then shortly before his death in 1757. The desire to perfect
himself more and more in his art, the enthusiastic recognition which
greeted him, his easy entrance into the most intellectual and brilliant
society in Italy, all this combined to make these months in Rome the
happiest period of his life. The best musicians became his friends. With
Domenico Scarlatti, the greatest clavier master of Italy, he engaged in
a grand competition, at the close of which it remained undecided which
was the greater performer; but when they went to the organ, Scarlatti
himself was the first to say that the prize belonged to his rival. Among
Handel's cantatas, there is one entitled "Partenza," the substance of
which is a lament that he must leave the beautiful banks of the Tiber. If
one does not wish to go so far as to read in this an affair of the heart,
it still reveals how hard the parting was for him. From Rome he went to
Naples, to Alessandro Scarlatti, the father of Domenico and the founder
of the Neapolitan School. His reputation had preceded him, and here also
he met with the warmest reception in the highest and most cultivated
circles, while surrounded by stimulating influences of every sort.
How strongly attracted he was by the society and the life of Southern
Italy, is shown by the fact that he remained a whole year in Naples
without accomplishing much that was characteristic in his art. The only
important work of which we have knowledge is the pastoral: "_Aci, Galatea
e Polifemo_," but this was already completed on the 16th of June, 1708.
It is related that the society world of Italy became so fond of Handel,
that it would gladly have retained him; it is even said that efforts were
made to convert him to the Catholic faith. Handel, however, would neither
abandon his belief, nor his German spirit; he had come to learn from the
Italians, but what they had taught him, it was his intention to use in
his own way.
By way of Rome and Florence, he now returned to Venice, where, in the
carnival season of 1710, he listened again to the performance of his
opera "Agrippina." Artists and illustrious friends of art from England
and from the electoral court of Hanover were present, also the Hanoverian
chapel-master, Abbé Agostine Steffani. In their company he traveled back
to Germany and became Steffani's successor in Hanover. He, however, soon
obtained leave of absence that he might go to England, whither he was
urgently invited. The journey was made by way of Düsseldorf, where one of
his patrons, Johann Wilhelm of the Palatinate, resided, and then through
Holland. A personality like Handel's seemed especially suited to aid in
elevating the musical standard of the English people. Allied with them in
race, and understanding therefore their peculiar characteristics, he had
acquired, through his residence in Italy, complete mastery of what the
English taste now demanded above all else--Italian art. But there was no
thought of simply importing this into England just as it grew on its own
soil. England could look back with pride upon her musical past. In the
sixteenth century she hardly ranked below the other countries of Europe
in respect to eminent composers, and in the seventeenth she could boast
of no less an artist than Henry Purcell. Since the death of this famous
man in the prime of life, there had, however, been a dearth of creative
power in the sphere of music. But there remained the persistent desire
to establish once more a national English art by appropriating whatever
the Germans, the French, and pre-eminently the Italians had created, and
Handel seemed the person best adapted to assist in this undertaking.
Since 1705 there had been an Italian opera in London, but it did not
flourish. For this Handel wrote in two weeks his opera "Rinaldo." This
was the first work with which he stepped before the English public. It
was produced for the first time at the Haymarket Theatre and proved so
successful that it was repeated fourteen times in the same season. The
text had been written in English verse by Aaron Hill, the director of the
opera-house. It was then translated into Italian and employed in this
form by Handel. His position in England was assured by this opera. He had
even been permitted to play before Queen Anne and gained her approval.
When he left in order to resume his duties in Hanover, the English were
loath to spare him, and constantly expressed the hope that he would soon
return.
In former years, under the elector Ernst August, the Hanoverian court had
possessed an opera-house, and Steffani had written for it a number of
excellent works. The theatre indeed still remained in the princely palace
on the Leine, but there were no operatic performances in the reign of
elector Georg Ludwig. Handel's activity was restricted to the leadership
of the chamber music performed at Court, and that which was ordered on
the occasion of special festivities. For his model in composition he
took his predecessor, Steffani, whose strength and artistic importance
lie in his chamber duets ("_Duetti da Camera_"). The solo parts of the
chamber cantata originated by Carissimi are dramatic in character, while
the duets of Steffani are lyric. He did not aim to represent well-defined
musical characters in his duets, but to express lyric feeling in a
general way, in the development of which both voices are made to blend
artistically in polyphonic style. In Italy, Handel had occupied himself
especially with the solo cantata; in Hanover he devoted himself to the
duet, and a considerable number of these exquisite compositions are still
preserved. But with a mind full of grand conceptions and a constant
craving for publicity, it is easy to understand that he could not long
content himself at the Hanoverian court and was strongly attracted to
London. Wishing to visit that city in the autumn of 1712, he begged for
a new leave of absence and received it, but with the proviso that "he
should engage to return within a reasonable time." This condition he
did not fulfil, nor did he ever again return to Hanover. After having
confirmed himself in the good will of the English public by means of two
new operas, and found favor with the queen by writing an ode for her
birthday (Feb. 6, 1713), he was commissioned by the latter to compose
the music for the public celebration of the Peace of Utrecht. The queen
had won for herself so much credit through the speedy termination of the
war of the Spanish Succession that she was inclined for a celebration
and desired a brilliant festival. To this Handel contributed in fullest
measure, furnishing two works: the so-called "Utrecht Te Deum" and the
composition of the 100th Psalm ("Jubilate"). In return, the queen granted
him a yearly salary of £200, thus taking him completely into her service.
His leave of absence had expired without his being able to resolve upon
leaving England. He learned that the elector was angry with him, but
thought himself secure under the protection of the English queen. But now
ensued the sovereign's sudden death (1714), and her successor upon the
throne was the elector of Hanover. From the awkward predicament in which
Handel now found himself he contrived to escape through the power of his
art. Learning that the king proposed to make an excursion on the Thames,
Handel composed for the occasion a piece of music whose lofty beauty
won for him the royal pardon. Under the name of "Water Music," it grew
popular and familiar.
[Illustration: HANDEL'S FATHER.
GEORGE HANDEL,--valet and surgeon to the prince of Saxe Magdeburg. The
subjoined verse praises his skill, benevolence and fidelity.]
From this time it was decided that England should become Handel's second
home. Only as a visitor did he see his fatherland again, and it was
during his first prolonged sojourn in 1716 that he accomplished his last
great vocal composition in the German language. After the pattern of the
Italian oratorios, a prominent resident of Hamburg, Barthold Heinrich
Brockes, had written a rhymed poem on the Passion, which, because it was
in sympathy with the Italianizing spirit of the day, was eagerly seized
upon by the German composers. Keiser, Telemann, Mattheson and Stölzel
set it to music; even Sebastian Bach took some aria texts from it for
his "_Johannes Passion_." Its attraction for Handel lay no doubt in the
Italian form of the poem and the possibility of applying for once the
skill in composition acquired in Italy to a text in his mother tongue. He
was far from intending to come to the rescue of the evangelical church
music of Germany, for into this domain this Passion music cannot possibly
be drawn, although Brockes, by the introduction of a narrating evangelist
and the addition of chorals, had made some concessions in this direction.
It is, therefore, unjust to draw any sort of comparison between the
"Passion" of Handel and that of Bach. From the fact that he afterwards
made use of the most essential portions of his work in his oratorios,
Handel has distinctly shown the character of his music.
The opera in London had meantime entered upon a critical period, and
Handel, who had last furnished a work for it in 1715, did not for some
time turn his attention in that direction. In 1717 he accepted a position
as musical director for Duke James of Chandos, at Cannons, near London.
In his service, Handel wrote the greater number of his grand compositions
upon the Psalms, which were styled "Anthems," a word borrowed from
the English liturgy. These were not on the plan of a motette, for all
the resources known to the musical art of that time were here called
into requisition--chorus and solo singing, with rich instrumental
accompaniment, the text being drawn from the Bible. This kind of music
was not then to be found in either Italy or Germany, but was peculiar to
England. The ecclesiastical spirit in a narrow sense does not however
exist in the anthems of Handel; their music is characteristic, and
suggests the style of the oratorios. It was in Cannons also that he
wrote the first works to which the name of oratorio could properly be
given. If, before this time, the Italian oratorio had maintained a sort
of external relationship with the church, in so far as it was frequently
employed in the service, a sermon being inserted between the two parts,
Handel now showed that he would no longer tolerate even this connection.
The material of one of the two works is indeed taken from the Bible,
but that of the other is drawn from the mythological treasure-house of
classical antiquity. Moreover, he gave a new and independent character to
his oratorio by adapting it to English words, and in this he persisted
to the end of his life; whereas, for the imposing array of operas which
he afterwards composed, he employed from first to last the Italian
language only. If his three years' stay with the Duke of Chandos was
a period of great importance and laid the foundation of his future
activity, it is not less true that he also gained much which contributed
to his fame as a composer, through looking backward at this time. In the
art-loving circles of the English nobility, whose hospitality he enjoyed,
particularly at Burlington House, but certainly at the residence of the
Duke of Chandos as well, he had given much pleasure by his piano playing.
He had also composed many pieces for the piano, which, since he let
them escape from his hand, found their way to the public. These he now
collected, added new ones and issued them in his own name on the 11th of
November, 1720, under the title of "_Suites de Pièces pour le clavecin_."
They consist of eight series of melodies of the most varied character,
and Handel never furnished a more brilliant example of what he could
accomplish in the line of piano music than in this instance.
In order to procure for themselves more easily than had hitherto been
possible the enjoyment of a good Italian opera, a stock company was now
formed by the most illustrious and wealthiest art amateurs of London,
who, in 1720, founded an academy of music. For model they had in mind
the Paris _Academie de Musique_, and as the king took a box at the
opera-house, paying for it a very considerable sum, they were permitted
to call themselves the "Royal" Academy of Music. Before arrangements
were fully completed, Handel was sent to the continent for the purpose
of obtaining suitable Italian singers. The best talent possible to be
procured was in request for the Royal Academy. In search of singers
therefore he went again to Germany and visited Dresden, where the elector
had established an Italian opera under the direction of the great Antonio
Lotti; on this occasion he played at Court with great success, and
received a present of one hundred ducats. Bach, who, two years before,
had engaged in his famous competition with Marchand, had not been noticed
by the Court. It happened oddly in this year that Bach, passing through
Halle in the course of a journey, wished to seek out Handel, whom he
supposed to be visiting his relatives in the place; but he arrived too
late--Handel had already gone. In the spring of 1720, the opening of the
Academy took place. The composers engaged for this occasion were the
Italians, Bononcini and Ariosti, and the German Handel. The latter, who,
during the eight years' existence of the academy, wrote fourteen operas
for it, finally drove his Italian colleagues wholly out of the field.
Two of the most famous prima donnas of their day were secured: Francesca
Cuzzoni (1723) and Faustina Bordoni (1726). It is related of Cuzzoni,
that, because she refused to sing a certain aria in his opera, "Ottone,"
Handel seized her and threatened to throw her out of the window. After
this she was tractable through fear, and became devoted to the master
through her convictions as an artist. Between herself and Bordoni,
however, a rivalry existed from the beginning, which, intensified by
the adherents of each, finally led to an exchange of blows between the
singers on the public stage. In consequence of this and of other annoying
scenes, the standing of the institute was injured. From the beginning it
had encountered violent opposition from the native musicians, who saw
themselves thrown in the shade by foreigners, and, the financial basis of
the enterprise being insecure, it had to be abandoned in 1728.
[Illustration: HANDEL'S HOUSE. 1725.
57, Lower Brook Street, Hanover Square
Here Handel lived for 34 years; from 1725 to his death in 1759.
Here he composed The Messiah and other works
See Callcott's HANDEL ALBUM.
Published by C Lonsdale, 26 Old Bond Street.
]