George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), was born in the same year as J.S Bach, in Halle, Saxony. Handel longed to study music but his elderly father objected, because music could never provide a reliable income. Happily, with his mother’s secret cooperation, Handel practised the clavichord.
Handel was invited to play the organ for the Duke of Weissenfels where the lad met composer-organist Frideric Zachow. Zachow was impressed with Handel’s potential and invited him to become his pupil. There Handel learned composing for the organ, oboe and violin, before he was 10. Then Handel composed church cantatas and chamber music.
Handel pointing and King George I on a River Thames barge in 1717.
Musicians play in the background.
Painted much later by Edouard Hamman (1819–88)
Painted much later by Edouard Hamman (1819–88)
At his father’s insistence, George studied law at the University of Halle but he soon left. In 1703, at 18, Handel decided to commit himself to music, taking a violinist’s position at Hamburg Opera’s Theatre. Meanwhile he supplemented his income by giving private music lessons. After composing several popular operas, in 1706 Handel decided to try his luck in Italy, writing dramatic chamber works and composing the operas Rodrigo (1707) and Agrippina (1709).
In Germany George Elector of Hanover (later King George I) had employed the young Handel as court conductor in 1710. But after operas were being well received in London, a major European musical centre, the composer sensed the chance to get more exposure and travelled to Britain. Handel left for London where the manager of the King’s Theatre commissioned the German to write an opera: Rinaldo. In 1711 the premiere performance of Rinaldo, at Queen's Theatre in Haymarket, was very successful. Handel loved the generous salary of £200 he received from Queen Anne and Rinaldo gained wide recognition.
Handel spent the next few years writing and performing for Queen Anne. Then King George I arrived in London, after taking the throne in 1714. But he didn’t speak English and was not terribly welcome.
Water Music was commissioned by King George to accompany a grand royal barge jaunt up the River Thames in July 1717. Eager to please his royal master, 32-year-old Handel composed a lavish, 3-part suite for 50 musicians (a huge group then), including loud horns and woodwind instruments so that the sound carried across the water. Water Music engaged an ensemble of oboes, flutes, recorders, bassoons, trumpets, horns, violins and basses.
At 8pm everyone crammed into boats, and set off to travel the 5 ks from The Palace of Whitehall up to Chelsea. The king and his aristocratic courtiers watched from the royal barge while a City Barge was employed for the music. The composer himself conducted, and the whole river was covered with boats. The King was so thrilled with Handel's piece that he asked for it to be played many times that night, finishing long after midnight.
It was true that Water Music had a political purpose, and used as propaganda to build up the profile of England's controversial new ruler. In his early reign, the German-speaking, unattractive and not very intelligent George I was unpopular, so opposition politicians supported his eldest son, the future George II. The king's advisers had staged the grand royal event as a publicity spectacle, designed to impress Londoners and steal the focus from King George’s absent son. Is it possible that the Water Music was a peace offering from a nervous composer to his former boss?
No-one risked dancing while sailing the Thames, but the 3rd suite was ? played for the king over dinner in a grand villa at Chelsea. Only later would the suite became known for its highly spirited dances. Building on experience of his native Germany, where suites of dance-like movements were popular, Handel created an energetic series of rhythmic tunes. The first suites opened with a grand overture, then a lively minuet, graceful airs and a frenetic French bourrée dance. One of the most famous movements was the Sailor's Hornpipe dance in the second suite, a clever nod to the watery setting, and to Handel and his king's adopted country.
Unlike many pieces Handel wrote, the original score for Water Music didn't survive. The piece was usually split into 3 separate suites made up of 22 self-contained movements, but how did they fit together? in what order did the movements come? was Water Music actually performed in July 1717 entirely, or created for different occasions? And how did Handel fit a harpsichord and timpani, used in most Water Music, into a barge?
The music outlived the efforts of Handel's English rivals at the royal court. Even if Water Music was written partly to ingratiate himself with his new monarch, Handel was his own boss. He had a foul temper and was scornful of his English rivals, saying the music at the royal court was composed and performed by blockheads. Yet Handel must have been relieved at the king's reaction: he wanted to get back in George's good graces.
At 8pm everyone crammed into boats, and set off to travel the 5 ks from The Palace of Whitehall up to Chelsea. The king and his aristocratic courtiers watched from the royal barge while a City Barge was employed for the music. The composer himself conducted, and the whole river was covered with boats. The King was so thrilled with Handel's piece that he asked for it to be played many times that night, finishing long after midnight.
It was true that Water Music had a political purpose, and used as propaganda to build up the profile of England's controversial new ruler. In his early reign, the German-speaking, unattractive and not very intelligent George I was unpopular, so opposition politicians supported his eldest son, the future George II. The king's advisers had staged the grand royal event as a publicity spectacle, designed to impress Londoners and steal the focus from King George’s absent son. Is it possible that the Water Music was a peace offering from a nervous composer to his former boss?
No-one risked dancing while sailing the Thames, but the 3rd suite was ? played for the king over dinner in a grand villa at Chelsea. Only later would the suite became known for its highly spirited dances. Building on experience of his native Germany, where suites of dance-like movements were popular, Handel created an energetic series of rhythmic tunes. The first suites opened with a grand overture, then a lively minuet, graceful airs and a frenetic French bourrée dance. One of the most famous movements was the Sailor's Hornpipe dance in the second suite, a clever nod to the watery setting, and to Handel and his king's adopted country.
Unlike many pieces Handel wrote, the original score for Water Music didn't survive. The piece was usually split into 3 separate suites made up of 22 self-contained movements, but how did they fit together? in what order did the movements come? was Water Music actually performed in July 1717 entirely, or created for different occasions? And how did Handel fit a harpsichord and timpani, used in most Water Music, into a barge?
The music outlived the efforts of Handel's English rivals at the royal court. Even if Water Music was written partly to ingratiate himself with his new monarch, Handel was his own boss. He had a foul temper and was scornful of his English rivals, saying the music at the royal court was composed and performed by blockheads. Yet Handel must have been relieved at the king's reaction: he wanted to get back in George's good graces.
Studio of Godfrey Kneller, c1720
National Portrait Gallery
Left: George Frideric Handel, c1727
attributed to Balthasar Denner
National Portrait Gallery
National Portrait Gallery
Handel's London successes were now guaranteed, and in 1719, Handel was invited to become the Master of the Orchestra at London’s Royal Academy of Music, the first Italian opera company. When Italian operas fell out of fashion, he started composing oratorios.
Londoners claimed German-born and educated Handel for their own. He loved his home in 25 Brook St, the place that became the site of the Handel House Museum, permanently established in memory of his life and works. In 2001 Handel’s home was lovingly restored to look exactly how Handel knew it in the years 1723-59.
After a life of tumult and musical success, Handel died in 1759 at his Mayfair house at 74. His huge state funeral was attended by 3,000 people, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Having never married or fathered children, Handel’s will divided his assets among staff and charities, including the Foundling Hospital. Biographical documents soon began to circulate, and Handel took on legendary status posthumously. Ludwig Van Beethoven wrote the tribute. Parts of the Water Music Suite were published in Handel’s lifetime, but the entire collection did not come into print till 1788, 3 decades after the composer’s death. In that year, 3 commemorative concerts were held in his honour at the Parthenon and Westminster Abbey.
