[Illustration: GEORGE FREDERICK HANDEL]
In 1703 Handel decided that music should be his life study and work. He
left the university and went to Hamburg. There he obtained a position in
an orchestra. It was a poor place, and he was paid very little. The
other members of the orchestra never suspected that he could fill a
better place.
One day the leader of the orchestra was absent. The musicians planned to
play a joke upon Handel. "Come," said they to him, "you lead the
orchestra to-day." They laughed merrily among themselves as he took his
place. "Now we shall have some fun," they said to one another. Imagine
their surprise when Handel conducted the orchestra even better than the
leader could have done.
While Handel was in Hamburg, he wrote four operas. Although he was not
well paid for the work, he saved some money. He was very generous, and
took great pleasure in sending Christmas gifts to his mother.
After two years of hard work in Hamburg, Handel had laid aside enough
money to take him to Italy. In 1706 he said good-by to his friends and
set off on his journey across the Alps. For three years he lived under
the blue Italian skies. During that time he learned to speak the
language of the country. He worked hard and wrote opera after opera.
In Florence his first Italian opera was given. It was listened to with
the greatest delight. The grand duke was so much pleased that he
presented Handel with a hundred pieces of money and many other valuable
gifts.
From fair Florence, the young musician went to Venice, the city of
bridges and gondolas. The Venetians soon grew to be as fond of him as
the Florentines had been. They spoke of him as the "dear Saxon," because
he came from that part of Germany which is called Saxony.
One evening Handel was invited to a masquerade. He planned to disguise
himself so that no one should know him. He might have succeeded had it
not been for one thing. He went to the masquerade, and for some time not
a single person knew him in his strange costume. Finally he seated
himself at the harpsichord, the room becoming quiet as he played. Some
one was heard to exclaim: "None but the great Saxon could play like
that! It is Handel!"
Whenever his operas were sung in Venice, the theater was packed. One
night every seat was filled. The audience was eager for the music to
begin. At the end of the first act there was a storm of applause.
During the remainder of the opera, at every little pause in the music,
the building rang with shouts of, "Long live the good Saxon!"
In the spring of 1710 Handel returned to Germany. He paid a visit to his
mother, but did not stay long. In Italy he had made many English friends
who invited him to visit London. It was about the beginning of December
when he crossed the sea to England. Little did he dream that the
remainder of his life would be spent on English soil.