Handel's work summary. The life and creative path of George Frideric Handel

1685 - born in Galle. Discovered in early age extraordinary musical abilities, incl. the gift of an improviser did not cause much delight in his father, an elderly barber-surgeon.

WITH 9 year old age took lessons in composition and organ playing from F.V. Zachau,

With 12 years old wrote church cantatas and organ pieces.

IN 1702 g. He studied jurisprudence at the University of Halle, and at the same time held the post of organist of the Protestant cathedral.

WITH 1703 worked at the opera house in Hamburg(violinist, then harpsichordist and composer). Meet Kaiser, music theorist Matteson. Composing the first operas - "Almira", "Nero". St. John's Passion.

IN 1706-1710 improved in Italy, where he became famous as a virtuoso master of playing the harpsichord and organ. Met Corelli, Vivaldi, father and son Scarlatti. Handel's productions of his operas brought him widespread fame. "Rodrigo" "Agrippina". Oratorios "Triumph of Time and Truth", "Resurrection".

IN 1710-1717 court conductor in Hannover, although from 1712 he lived mainly in London(in 1727 he received English citizenship). Opera success "Rinaldo"(1711, London) secured Handel's fame as one of the largest opera composers in Europe. The composer’s work at the Royal Academy of Music in London was especially fruitful, when he composed several operas a year (among them - “Julius Caesar”, “Roselinda”, “Alexander”, etc..) Handel's independent character complicated his relations with certain circles of the aristocracy. In addition, the genre of opera seria, which was produced by the Royal Academy of Music, was alien to the English democratic public.

IN 1730s Handel is looking for new ways in musical theater, trying to reform opera seria ( "Ariodantus", "Alcina", "Xerxes"), but this genre itself was doomed. After suffering a serious illness (paralysis) and the failure of the opera “Deidamia”, he gave up composing and staging operas.

After 1738 the central genre of Handel's work became oratorio: "Saul", "Israel in Egypt", "Messiah", "Samson", "Judas Maccabee", "Joshua".

While working on the last oratorio "Jewthai"(1752) the composer’s vision deteriorated sharply and he became blind; at the same time before last days continued to prepare his works for publication.

Bach and Handel

The work of George Frideric Handel, along with the work of J.S. Bach, was the culmination of the development of the musical culture of the first half of the XVIII century. Much unites these two artists, who, moreover, were peers and compatriots:

both synthesized the creative experience of various national schools, their work is a kind of summing up of the development of centuries-old traditions;
both Bach and Handel were the greatest polyphonists in the history of music;
both composers gravitated towards the genres of choral music.

However, in comparison with Bach, Handel’s creative destiny was completely different; from birth he was brought up in different conditions, and subsequently lived and worked in a different social environment:

Bach was a hereditary musician. Handel was born into the family of a rather wealthy barber-surgeon, and his early musical inclinations did not cause any delight in his father, who dreamed of seeing his son become a lawyer;
if Bach’s biography is not rich in external events, then Handel lived a very stormy life, experiencing both brilliant victories and catastrophic failures;
already during his lifetime Handel achieved universal recognition, was in full view musical Europe, while Bach’s work was little known to his contemporaries;
Bach served in the church almost all his life, wrote a huge part of the music for the church, and was himself a very devout person who knew the Holy Scriptures very well. Handel was exceptional secular composer who composed primarily for the theater and concert stage. Purely church genres occupy a small place in him and are concentrated in early period creativity. It is significant that during Handel's lifetime the clergy discouraged attempts to interpret his oratorios as cult music.
WITH youth Handel did not want to put up with the dependent position of a provincial church musician and, at the first opportunity, moved to the free city of Hamburg - the city of German opera. During Handel's era it was the cultural center of Germany. In no other German city was music held in such esteem as there. In Hamburg, the composer first turned to the opera genre, to which he gravitated all his life (this is another difference between him and Bach).

Handel's operatic work

As an opera composer, Handel could not help but go to Italy, especially since the Hamburg Opera early XVIII century was heading towards decline (Bach never traveled outside of Germany in his entire life). In Italy he was struck especially secular atmosphere artistic life, so different from the closed life of German cities, where music was heard mainly in churches and princely residences. Creating for various theaters all new operas ("Rinaldo » , "Rodrigo» , "Theseus") Handel, however, very clearly felt that not everything in this genre satisfied him. He always strived to embody heroic content, bright and strong characters, to the creation of grandiose crowd scenes, but the contemporary opera seria did not know all this. During his many years of work on the opera (37 years, during which he created more than 40 operas, including "Orlando" ,"Julius Caesar", "Xerxes") Handel made attempts to update the seria genre. This often caused opposition from the aristocratic public, who valued only virtuoso singing in opera. However, the type of opera that Handel heroically tried to defend, enriching it from the inside, was not viable in a historical sense. In addition, in England, where the second half of the composer’s life passed, the democratic part of the public had an extremely negative attitude towards the opera seria (as evidenced, in particular, by the huge success of the Beggar’s Opera, a cheerful parody of the court opera). Only in France mid-18th century century, the ground was prepared for opera reform, which was carried out by K.V. Gluck shortly after Handel's death. And yet, many years of work on the opera were not in vain for the composer, being the preparation of his heroic oratorios. Exactly oratorio became Handel's true vocation, the genre with which his name is associated in the history of music associated first of all. The composer did not part with him until the end of his days.

Handel's oratorio works

Handel wrote cantatas, oratorios, passions, anthemas throughout his entire career. But since the late 30s, the oratorio has come to the fore in his work. In his oratorios, the composer realized those bold ideas that he was unable to implement within the framework of modern opera. Here the most characteristic features of his style were most clearly manifested.

Handel's great merit was that in his oratorios he first introduced the people as the main protagonist. The theme of sublime love, which dominated Handel’s contemporary opera, gave way to images of a people fighting for their freedom. In characterizing the people, the composer, naturally, did not rely on solo singing, but to the powerful sound of the choir. In grandiose oratorio choruses, Handel is greatest. He tended to think close up, picturesque and volumetric. This is a monumental artist, whose music is appropriate to compare with monumental sculptural works, with fresco painting(parallels with art are especially often drawn).

Handel's monumentalism grew out of the heroic essence of his music. Heroics- the favorite sphere of this composer. The main themes are the greatness of man, his ability to achieve feats, heroic struggle (Handel was the first to touch upon the theme of heroic struggle in music, anticipating Beethoven in this). Bach is more psychological in his monumental choral works; he is more concerned with ethical problems.

The main source of plots for Handel's mature oratorios is the Bible and the Old Testament. There is a lot of brutal struggle, blood, exciting passions (hatred, envy, betrayal). There are many bright, extraordinary, contradictory characters. All this was extremely interesting to Handel, an expert on human souls, and was close to his powerful and integral nature. New Testament, actually Christian stories by Handel very few(early “John Passion”, oratorio “Resurrection”, “Brokes Passion”; of the later ones - only “Messiah”). Bach was primarily attracted to the New Testament. Its main character and moral ideal- Jesus.

Among Handel's most popular works are the oratorios. "Saul", "Israel in Egypt", "Messiah", "Samson", "Judas Maccabee" , which were created in the last decade of active creative work(late 30s - 40s). At this time the composer lived in London. Biblical subjects were perceived in England as “their own” - just like ancient or Roman ones in Italy. The Bible was sometimes the only book that the literate ordinary Englishman read. Biblical names were common here (Jeremy - Jeremiah, Jonathan - Jonathan). In addition, the events described in the Bible (and, accordingly, in Handel’s oratorios) were ideally in tune with the military-political situation in England in the first half of the 18th century. Handel himself, apparently, was attracted to biblical heroes by their internal complexity.

How does the musical dramaturgy in Handel's oratorios differ from his operatic dramaturgy?

Operas, as a rule, do not have a chorus (for commercial reasons) and there are no extensive choral episodes. The choir plays in oratorios leading role, sometimes completely eclipsing the soloists. Handel's choruses are extremely varied. None of the composer's contemporaries (including Bach) can compare with him in this regard. His skill rather anticipates Mussorgsky, who also created choral scenes populated not by faceless masses, but by living persons with unique characters and destinies.
The participation of the choir also dictates a different content compared to the opera. It's about here is about the destinies of entire nations, all of humanity, and not just about the experiences of individuals.
The heroes of the oratorios do not fit into the traditional baroque opera ideas of one or another type of character. They are more complex, contradictory, and sometimes unpredictable. Hence the freer, more diverse musical forms(the traditional "da capo" form is rare).

Oratorio "Messiah"

Handel's most famous and most frequently performed oratorio "Messiah" . It was written according to an order that came from Dublin, the capital of Ireland. Even during the composer's lifetime, the oratorio became a legendary work, an object of enthusiastic worship.

“Messiah” is practically the only London oratorio by Handel dedicated to Christ himself. The concept of the Messiah (Savior) is the point at which the Old and New Testament pass from one to another. The appearance of the divine Savior, ordained by the prophets, is realized through the coming of Christ and is expected by believers in the future.

Part I embodies the reverent expectation of the Messiah, the miracle of the birth of Christ and rejoicing in his honor.

Part II depicts events Holy Week and Easter: the crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ; it ends with a festive "Hallelujah" choir. By order of George II, it acquired national significance and was performed in all British churches, it was to be listened to while standing, like a prayer.

Part III is the most philosophical and static. These are reflections on life in Christ, death and immortality. The composer's biographers write that while dying he whispered the text of the soprano aria from this part: "I know my savior lives". These words, with a corresponding melody, are placed on Handel's monument in Westminster Abbey, where he is buried (a rare honor bestowed only on kings and the most worthy men of England).

Romain Rolland, in his book about Handel, suggested that if the composer had moved not to England, but to France, then the operatic reform would have been carried out much earlier.

Popular poet at the beginning of the 18th century.

Date of birth: February 23, 1685
Place of birth: Galle
Country: Germany
Date of death: April 14, 1759

George Frideric Hande (German: Georg Friedrich H?ndel, English: George Frideric Hande) - genius composer Baroque era.

Handel was born on February 23, 1685 in the Saxon city of Halle. Primary education he received in secondary, the so-called classical school. Besides general education young Handel learned some musical concepts from his mentor Johannes Praetorius, a music connoisseur and composer of several school operas. He was also assisted in playing music by the court conductor David Poole, who came into the house, and the organist Christian Ritter, who taught Georg Friedrich how to play the clavichord.

Parents paid little attention to their son's early inclination towards music, classifying it as children's entertainment. Only thanks to a chance meeting with a fan musical art Duke Johann Adolf's fate changed dramatically. The Duke, having heard the wonderful improvisation played by the child, immediately convinces his father to give him a systematic music education. Handel became a student of the famous organist and composer Friedrich Zachau in Halle. Handel studied with Zachau for about three years. During this time, he learned not only to compose, but also to play the violin, oboe, and harpsichord fluently.

In February 1697, Handel's father died. Fulfilling the wishes of the deceased, Georg graduated from high school and five years after his father’s death he entered the law faculty of the University of Halle. A month after entering the university, he signed a one-year contract, according to which he was appointed organist at the city's Reformed Cathedral. In addition, he taught singing at the gymnasium, had private students, wrote motets, cantatas, chorales, psalms and organ music, updating the repertoire of city churches every week.

The following spring, after the expiration of his contract, Handel left Halle and headed for Hamburg. Center musical life the city was opera house. When Handel arrived in Hamburg, the opera was headed by composer, musician and vocalist Reinhard Keyser. Handel carefully studied the style of operatic compositions famous musician, his art of orchestra management. Handel gets a job at the opera house as a second violinist (he soon became the first violinist). From that time on, opera became the basis of his work for many years.

The main event of Handel's life in Hamburg can be considered the first performance of his opera "Almira" on January 8, 1705. On February 25, 1705, the second opera, "Love Acquired by Blood and Villainy, or Nero," was staged. In Hamburg, Handel wrote his first work in the oratorio genre. This is the so-called “Passion” based on the text of the famous German poet Postel.

In Hamburg, the time of apprenticeship ended, and here the young composer tried his hand at opera and oratorio - the leading genres of his mature work.

In 1706-1709, the composer travels and studies in Italy, where the fame of a master comes to him Italian opera.

From the end of 1706 until April 1707 he lived in Florence, and then went to Rome. In the autumn of 1708, with the help of Duke Ferdinand of Tuscany, Handel staged his first Italian opera, Rodrigo. He writes two oratorios for Cardinal Ottoboni, which are immediately performed.

After success in Rome, Handel travels to Naples, which had its own school and traditions in art. Handel stayed in Naples for about a year. During this time, he wrote a charming serenade "Acis, Galatea and Polyphemus", and several other works in the same spirit, but smaller in size.

Handel's main work in Naples was the opera Agrippina, written in the summer of 1709 and staged the same year in Venice.

Italy gave Handel a warm welcome. However, the composer could hardly count on a strong position in the “Empire of Music”; his style was too ponderous for the Italians.

In 1710, he became bandmaster at the court of the Hanoverian Elector George I, who, according to the law of 1701, was to become king of Great Britain. Also in 1710, Handel went to London.

He immediately entered the theatrical world of the British capital, received a commission from Aaron Hill, the tenant of the Tidemarket Theater, and soon wrote the opera Rinaldo. In January 1713, Handel wrote the monumental Te Deum and Ode for the Queen's Birthday. On July 7, on the occasion of the signing of the Peace of Utrecht in the presence of the Queen and Parliament, the solemn and majestic sounds of Handel's Te Deum filled the vaults of St. Paul's Cathedral.

Until 1720, Handel was in the service of the Duke of Chandos. The Duke lived at Cannon Castle, near London, where he had an excellent chapel. Handel composed music for her. These years turned out to be very important - he mastered the English style. Handel painted anthemas and two masks. Two masks, two performances in the spirit of antiquity were English in style. Handel later revised both works. One of them became an English opera (“Acis, Galatea and Polyphemus”), the other became the first English oratorio (“Esther”).

From 1720 to 1728, Handel served as director of the Royal Academy of Music. January 12, 1723 Handel staged the opera "Otgona", he wrote easily, melodically pleasant, it was the most popular opera in England in those days. In May 1723 - "Flavio", in 1724 two operas - "Julius Caesar" and "Tamerlane", in 1725 - "Rodelinda".

In 1734 - 1735 French ballet was in vogue in London. Handel wrote operas and ballets in french style: "Terpsichore", "Alcina", "Ariodantus" and pasticcio "Orestes". But in 1736, due to the aggravated political situation, the French ballet was forced to leave London

In December 1737, he completed the opera Faramondo and took up new opera"Xerxes". In February 1738, Handel staged the pasticcio "Alessandro Severo". At this time he writes unusually well: the beautiful material obediently obeys the will of the composer, the orchestra sounds expressive and picturesque, the forms are polished.

Since the 1740s, oratorios have occupied the main place in his work. He composes one of his best “philosophical” oratorios - “Cheerful, thoughtful and temperate” based on the beautiful youthful poems of Milton, and a little earlier - “Ode to St. Cecilia” based on the text by Dryden. The famous twelve concerti grossi were written by him in those years. And it was at this time that Handel parted with opera. In January 1741, the last one was staged - "Deidamia".

On August 22, 1741, the composer began creating the oratorio “Messiah.” For many generations, "Messiah" will be synonymous with Handel. "Messiah" is a musical and philosophical poem about the life and death of a person, embodied in biblical images. Handel completed Messiah on September 12. And already on February 18, 1743, the first performance of “Samson” - a heroic oratorio based on a text by Milton - took place. Milton's "Samson" - a synthesis of biblical plot and genre ancient Greek tragedy. Handel's synthesis musical drama and choral traditions of the oratorio.

On February 10, 1744, he staged the oratorio “Semela”, on March 2 - “Joseph”, in August he finished “Hercules”, in October - “Belshazzar”.

On August 11, 1746, Handel completes the oratorio “Judas Maccabee,” one of his best oratorios on a biblical theme.

In 1747, Handel wrote the oratorios "Alexander Balus" and "Joshua". In the spring of next year he staged new oratorios, and in the summer he wrote two more - “Solomon” and “Susanna”. He was 63 years old.

At the turn of the 1750s, the composer's eyesight deteriorated. On May 3, 1752, he underwent surgery on his eyes. Unsuccessfully. The disease is progressing.

In 1753, complete blindness sets in. Handel died on April 14, 1759 in London. Buried in Westminster Abbey.

Handel Georg Friedrich (1685-1759), German composer.

Born on February 27, 1685 in the city of Halle. WITH early childhood the boy had a talent for music, but his father dreamed of him becoming a lawyer. Nevertheless, the parents allowed their son to take lessons in playing the organ and composition from F.V. Tsachau.

After the death of his father in 1697, Handel decided to devote himself entirely to music; however, back in 1702 he continued to study at the Faculty of Law at the University of Halle. At the same time, Handel received the post of organist of the Protestant cathedral. In 1703, the musician left for Hamburg, where he took the place of second violinist, harpsichordist and conductor of the Hamburg Opera.

In this city he wrote and staged his first opera, “The Vicissitudes of the Royal Fate, or Almira, Queen of Castile” (1705). Since then, opera has occupied a central place in Handel's work. He wrote over 40 works of this type of musical art.

The composer spent from 1706 to 1710 in Italy, improving his skills. In addition, he performed with great success in concerts as a virtuoso performer on the organ and harpsichord.

Handel's fame was brought to him by his next opera, Agrippina (1709). From Italy he went back to Germany, to Hanover, where he took the place of court conductor, and then to London. Here in 1711 he staged his opera Rinaldo.

Beginning in 1712, the composer lived mainly in English capital; he was first patronized by Queen Anne Stuart, and after her death by George I. Since the opening of the Royal Academy of Music opera house in 1719, headed by Handel, the time of his brilliant glory has come. The composer wrote his operas one after another: “Radamist” (1720), “Mucius Scaevola” (1721), “Otto” and “Flavius” (both 1723), “Julius Caesar” and “Tamerlane” ( both 1724), "Rodelinda" (1725), "Scipio" and "Alexander" (both 1726), "Admetus" and "Richard I" (both 1727).

In 1727, Handel received English citizenship. In 1728, due to financial difficulties, the opera house closed. A difficult time came for Handel; he tried to create a new theater and traveled to Italy several times. All these troubles undermined his health: in 1737 he became paralyzed right side bodies. But the composer did not abandon his creativity. In 1738 it was
The opera “Xerxes” was written, but the next opera, “Deidamia” (1741), failed, and Handel did not write any more operas.

He settled on the oratorio genre, in which he showed the full power of his genius with no less scope. Among the best examples of this genre are Saul and Israel in Egypt (both 1739), Messiah (1742), Samson (1743), Judas Maccabee (1747), "Jeuthai" (1752). In addition to the oratorios, Handel wrote about a hundred cantatas, and for orchestra - 18 concertos under common name"Big Concerts"

After 1752, Handel's eyesight deteriorated greatly, and at the end of his life he became completely blind. Nevertheless, the composer continued to create. Last concert under his direction, in which the oratorio “Messiah” was performed, took place eight days before Handel’s death.

February 23, 2015 marks the 330th anniversary of his birth one of the greatest composers in the history of musical art. P.I. Tchaikovsky wrote about him: “Handel was an inimitable master of the ability to manage voices. Without at all forcing the choral vocal means, never leaving the natural limits of the vocal registers, he extracted from the choir such excellent effects that other composers had never achieved...”

In the history of music, the most amazing and fruitful century, which gave the world a whole constellation of the greatest composers, was the 18th century. Exactly in the middle of this century, a change in musical paradigms occurred: the Baroque era was replaced by classicism. Representatives of classicism are Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven; but the Baroque era along with perhaps the greatest musician human race, crowned by a gigantic (in all respects) figure George Frideric Handel. Let's talk a little today about his life and work; and for starters

I want to invite you to a big concert in his memory, which will take placein the cathedral Lutheran Cathedral St. Peter and Paul in St. Petersburg(known as Petrikirche ) on Nevsky Prospekt, building 22-24 , Favorite arias from his operas will be performed, a concert for organ “The Cuckoo and the Nightingale” (soloist - Georgy Blagodatov), chamber and orchestral music a popular composer for three centuries performed by St. Petersburg musicians.

Our choir was also invited to take part in a performance of Handel's most famous oratorio, Messiah. A total of 5 choirs will sing accompanied symphony orchestra. We will sing only one part from this oratorio "Hallelujah". They say that in England, when this music is played, everyone still stands up.

This hymn is usually sung on special holidays such as Easter and Christmas. Listening to this work, you feel some kind of uplift in your soul, you want to get up and also sing along with the choir.

Handel himself said about Hallelujah that he did not know whether he was in the flesh or out of the flesh when he wrote this music, that only God knows.

B. Shaw in his essay “ON HANDEL AND THE ENGLISH” wrote: “ For the British, Handel is not just a composer, but an object of cult. I will say more - a religious cult! When the choir begins to sing “Hallelujah” during the performance of “Messiah,” everyone stands up, just like in church. English Protestants experience these moments almost as if they were witnessing the raising of the chalice with the holy gifts. Handel had the gift of persuasion. When his music plays in the words “seated on his eternal throne”, the atheist is speechless: an atheist, listening to Handel, you begin to see God seated on the eternal throne Handel. You can despise anyone and anything, but you are powerless to contradict Handel. All Bossuet's sermons could not convince Grimm of the existence of God. But the four bars in which Handel irrefutably affirms the existence of “the eternally existing father, the guardian of peace on earth,” would have knocked Grimm off his feet like a thunderclap. When Handel tells you that during the exodus of the Jews from Egypt “there was not a single Jew in all their tribes,” then it is completely useless to doubt this and assume that one Jew was probably ill with the flu, Handel does not allow this; “There was not a single Jew in all their tribes,” and the orchestra echoes these words with sharp thunderous chords that condemn you to silence. That is why all Englishmen believe that Handel now occupies a high position in heaven."

Handel's nationality is disputed by Germany and England. Handel was born in Germany, and it was on German soil that the composer’s creative personality, his artistic interests, and mastery developed. Connected with England most Handel's life and work, the formation of an aesthetic position in musical art, Handel is called Orpheus of the Baroque era.Baroque music appeared at the end of the eraVozrozhdleniyaand preceded music classicism . The word "Baroque" supposedly comes fromportUgal“perola barroca” is a pearl or sea shell of a bizarre shape. IN“Musical Dictionary” (1768) J.-J. Rousseau gave this definition of “baroque” music: “This is the “strange”, “unusual”, “bizarre” music of the pre-classical era.” To heraccompanied by such qualities of music as “confusion”, “pomposity”, “barbaric gothic”. The Italian art critic B. Croce wrote: "“a historian cannot evaluate the Baroque as something positive; this is a purely negative phenomenon... it is an expression of bad taste.” Barch music used longer melodic lines and stricter rhythms than Renaissance music.

The Baroque era rejects naturalness, considering it ignorance and savagery. At that time, a woman had to be unnaturally pale, with an elaborate hairstyle, in a tight corset and a huge skirt, and a man had to wear a wig, without a mustache or beard, and be powdered and perfumed.

The Baroque era saw an explosion of new styles and technologies in music. Further weakening of political control catholic church in Europe, which began inWHO erabirth, allowed secular music to flourish.

Vocal music, which prevailed during the Renaissance, was gradually replaced by instrumental music. Understanding thatmusical insstructuresmust be united in some standard way, led to the emergence of the first orchestras.

One of the most important types of instrumental music that appeared during the Baroque era was the concerto. The concert originally appeared in church music at the end of the Renaissance and probably meant "to contrast" or "to fight", but in the Baroque era it established its position and became the most important type of instrumental music. At the beginning of the Baroque era, around 1600, in Italy, composersCavalieri and MonteverdiThe first operas were written, which immediately gained recognition and became fashionable. The basis for the first operas were plots from ancient Greek and Roman mythology.

As a dramatic art form, opera encouraged composers to implement new ways of illustrating emotions and feelings in music; in fact, the impact on the listener's emotions became main goal in the works of this period.

Opera spread to France and England thanks to the great works of composers Rameau, Handel and Purcell.
England also developed the oratorio, which differs from opera in that it lacks stage action; oratorios are often based on religious texts and stories. "Messiah" by Handel - illustrative example oratorios.

In Germany, opera did not gain such popularity as in other countries; German composers continued to write music for the church.

Many important shapes classical music take their origins from the Baroque era - concert, sonata, opera.

Baroque was an era when ideas about what music should be took shape; these musical forms have not lost their relevance today.

But the main thing that the Baroque era brought us was instrumental music. The vocals were replaced by the viola. Instruments were united into orchestras. It is interesting to compare Handel with Bach. If Bach drew his creativity from the Gospel, the liturgical life of the Lutheran Church and some transcendental depths of his soul, while cutting off those forms of music that did not accommodate this content (for example, Bach did not write operas), then Handel was extremely sensitive to the very process of momentary cultural and social life, capturing it in familiar to the era sounds But this is not just a musical reflection of its time - otherwise no one would remember Handel today. With his great creative gift, Handel melted public, ordinary and everyday art into strict, majestic and full-blooded music, carrying both a reflection of eternal, heavenly harmony, and a certain touch on the unshakable foundations of God's universe. If Handel had lived in our time, he would have composed musicals and written music for films - and these would have been the most grandiose and sublime musicals and the highest quality, best and most popular soundtracks. Handel’s music is the quintessence of public, as they would say now, “mass” art of the first half of the 18th century, and he himself is the greatest showman of his era.

George Frideric Handel was born on February 23, 1685 in the Saxon city of Halle. (In less than a month and less than a hundred kilometers from Halle, in Eisenach, Johann Sebastian Bach would be born. These two geniuses were close all the time, although they never managed to meet in person.)
Handel's family, unlike Bach's, was not musical. It was, as they say now, " middle class" Handel's father, also named George, was already an elderly man; Having become a widow, he entered into a second marriage in 1683 - and the second son from this marriage was our hero. At the time of his birth, his father was 63 years old - already a very respectable age. George the Elder rose to the fairly high rank of valet and personal physician (surgeon) of the Elector of Brandenburg (Halle was subordinate to the Prince of Brandenburg) and was a very wealthy man - as evidenced by Handel’s home.

House in Halle where G. Handel was born

From the very early years little Georg was not more interested in anything than music: his toys were drums, trumpets, and flutes. Georg's father did not encourage his son's hobbies. But it didn’t stop him from learning to play the harpsichord, which was in the attic. The father allowed the boy to study music with Friedrich Wilhelm Zachau, the cathedral organist Holy Mother of God, which to this day towers over the main square of Halle. Handel was baptized in this church, where he studied music; and now there is an organ on which Tsachau studied with Handel. Tsachau was an excellent teacher and a very talented composer. He, in fact, was Handel’s only teacher, and influenced him very much, and not only professionally, but also humanly; Handel retained warm feelings for him throughout his life. Studying was not drill; Tsachau approached teaching creatively and was well aware of the developing talent he was dealing with. He was by no means the only one aware of this. The Duke of Sachsen-Weissenfels, having once heard the boy play, was so delighted that he suggested that his father give the little musician a personal scholarship so that he could study music professionally. Handel's name began to become famous: for example, the Elector of Brandenburg summoned the boy to his place in Berlin. His father reluctantly had to take him to his employer. The Elector offered to send George, who was only 11 years old, to study in Italy at his own expense - but old Handel resisted this with all his might, and the Elector retreated. (And in parentheses, let us note the customs of that time: the court doctor dares to contradict his prince - and nothing.)
It is not surprising that there is such attention and admiration for the little musician. Let's listen to music written by him at the age of 13-15 years. The third and fourth movements from the trio sonata in G minor.

So, the Handels returned to Halle, and the son continued his education at a regular school. But his father did not influence the composer’s life in this way for long: on February 11, 1697, he died (our Handel is 13 years old). Handel became free. However, out of a sense of respect, he not only successfully graduated from school, but also entered in 1702, at the age of 17, the Faculty of Law at the University of Galle, while diligently studying music. By this time it had already formed creative method Handel and the main features of his music. Handel wrote unusually quickly, without any thought, he never returned to material that had already been written (except for the last period your life) to process or improve it. It must be said that Mozart and Schubert composed almost the same way; Bach, Haydn and Beethoven, on the contrary, worked hard on musical material. But even in comparison with Mozart and Schubert, Handel's creative method was something special. Music poured out of him in a continuous stream, he was constantly overwhelmed by it. The source of this stream, this pouring stream was, of course, in some secret heavenly abodes, where the joy of being, the good power of existence, goodness, harmony and beauty are created. Joy and energy are, perhaps, the main things in Handel.
In 1702, Handel entered the law faculty of his university. hometown Halle. But he did not study there. A month after entering the university, he became the organist of the court cathedral in Halle. The family no longer opposed this - it was necessary to financially support the widow-mother and two sisters; With the death of his father, the family's income became very meager. But there was catastrophically little money, and Handel moved to Hamburg. Arriving in Hamburg in 1703, Handel began teaching music. The lessons were paid well, and, in addition, it helped Handel make necessary and useful contacts. But the main thing for Handel was, as I already said, the Hamburg Opera. Georg Friedrich got a job playing violin in an opera orchestra. He absorbed all musical and theatrical techniques like a sponge, and within a year and a half of his arrival in Hamburg he wrote his first opera, Almira. The opera was a huge success. Handel was only 20 years old at the time. The young composer was noticed by the Florentine prince Gian Gaston Medici and invited him to come to Italy. He arrived there in 1706. In Italy, Handel expected a lot of new impressions. He intensively studied the work of Neapolitan masters: Alessandro Scarlatti, Leo, Stradella and Durante. Soon he, too, develops a desire for creativity. For the first time he performs in front of an audience in Florence with the opera Rodrigo. The news of the “furious Saxon” soon spread throughout Italy. Wherever he went, the success of “Rodrigo” was ahead of him. In Rome, he was greeted with open arms by the artists of the Arcadia Academy, and among the members of this society there were such famous people, such as Arcangelo Corelli, Domenico Scarlatti (son of the Neapolitan maestro), Pasquini and Benedetto Marcello. Handel greedily absorbs knowledge. In Italy the fame of the master of “Italian opera” came to him. Handel left Italy at the beginning of 1710 and went to Hanover, where he was appointed bandmaster of the Hanoverian Elector George I, who was the legal heir to the English throne. In 1714, after death English Queen Anne George I became King of England. Handel, who had been to London before, followed his king and took British citizenship. Part of his success in London was undoubtedly due to royal patronage. He was actively involved both musically and commercially in the development of British opera. Later, in the 1730s, he would create his oratorios, odes, etc. in traditional English style. He is one of the few foreigners recognized in England as the greatest English composer.

A monument was erected to him in London during his lifetime. Before Lent in 1759, Handel felt death approaching. He drew up the final version of the will, made all the orders that he considered necessary, said goodbye to his friends and after that asked not to be disturbed anymore and to be left alone. At the same time, he said: “I want to be alone and die in order to see the day of Resurrection with my God and Savior.” No one had ever heard such an expression of deep faith from him in his entire life. His wish came true. He died completely alone on the night from Good Friday to Holy Saturday, April 14, 1759. He was 74 years old. Handel was buried in Westminster Abbey. During his life, Handel wrote about 40 operas (“Julius Caesar”, “Rinaldo”, etc.), 32 oratorios, many church chorales, organ concerts, chamber vocal and instrumental music, as well as a number of works of a “popular” nature (“ Music on the water", "Music for the royal fireworks", Concerti a due cori).
This is how we met one of the greatest composers, G. F. Handel, who will turn 330 years old tomorrow.

Come to the concert at the Petrie Church.

And a few more words about how important it is for a person to always believe in himself and his abilities.

Fame always accompanied Handel, the highest paid composer on earth. At that time, people were ready to fight to be the first to attend his concerts. But gradually his fame began to fade, as people became bored with everything. People stopped going to Handel's concerts. No one was interested in new works anymore, and soon this composer was called “old-fashioned.”

Georg was then about fifty. After becoming bankrupt, suffering a stroke and losing his sight, Handel fell into deep depression and became isolated. But one morning he received a letter from one of his longtime admirers. The envelope contained excerpts taken from Holy Scripture. One of them particularly affected the old composer. These were the words of God Himself: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God” (Is. 40:1). This had such an effect on Handel that on August 22, 1741, he slammed the door of his house and began work again.

The experience did not break him; on the contrary, it had a beneficial effect on the composer: his character softened, the music became even more touching, and the works were dedicated only to Jesus Christ. It was during this period that Handel composed his most best works, one of which was the well-known chorale "Hallelujah" throughout the world.

The entire oratorio "Messiah" was written by Handel in just 24 days. Inspiration never left him. The result is a very surprisingly harmonious composition: the soloists, choir and orchestra are in perfect balance, but the most surprising and attractive thing about “Messiah” is the positive energy emanating from the music.

At the end of the Messiah score, he wrote three letters:S.D.G. What does it mean "Glory to God alone"!

When this anthem was performed for the first time, King George II of England, who was present at the concert, stood up andy expressing reverent adoration before the Creator. Since then, every time this work was performed, the entire audience stood up, which continues to this day.

George Handel became famous again and continued to work until the end of his days. And from the example of his life, many people learned what words of consolation can do even with the most desperate person and the main thing is to believe in yourself and never give up!

Yes, we did it! This is what Handel's Hallelujah sounds like in our performance. I must note that Peter Kirche in terms of acoustics is not the most best place. A swimming pool was opened here in 1962. Only in 1993 the building was given to the Lutheran Church. However, during the reconstruction carried out in the 1990s, the unique brick vault systems were damaged. In the body of the so-called large diameter holes were punched in the reverse vaults for the passage of metal columns of the new floor. The new floor is 4 meters higher than the previous one, with the pool bowl still underneath it. It is not possible to remove it without conducting comprehensive surveys and developing a design for strengthening structures. The decrease in the height of the hall is very noticeable, because of this the acoustics are damaged, now we have to use microphones. But we sang Hallelujah nonetheless. This is how it sounded.

G. F. Handel is one of the biggest names in the history of musical art. A great composer of the Enlightenment, he opened new perspectives in the development of the genre of opera and oratorio, and anticipated many musical ideas subsequent centuries - the operatic drama of K. V. Gluck, the civic pathos of L. Beethoven, the psychological depth of romanticism. This is a man of unique inner strength and conviction. “You can despise anyone and anything,” said B. Shaw, “but you are powerless to contradict Handel.” ".....

G. F. Handel is one of the biggest names in the history of musical art. A great composer of the Enlightenment, he opened new perspectives in the development of the genre of opera and oratorio, anticipated many musical ideas of subsequent centuries - the operatic drama of K. V. Gluck, the civic pathos of L. Beethoven, the psychological depth of romanticism. This is a man of unique inner strength and conviction. “You can despise anyone and anything,” said B. Shaw, “but you are powerless to contradict Handel.” “...When his music sounds on the words “seated on his eternal throne,” the atheist is speechless.”

Handel was born in Halle, in the family of a court barber. Early manifested musical abilities were noticed by the Elector of Halle, the Duke of Saxony, under whose influence the father (who intended to make his son a lawyer and did not attach serious importance to music as a future profession) gave the boy for training best musician city F. Tsakhov. Good composer, an erudite musician familiar with best essays of his time (German, Italian), Tsakhov revealed to Handel the wealth of different musical styles, instilled artistic taste, and helped him perfect his compositional technique. The works of Tsakhov himself largely inspired Handel to imitate. Formed early as a person and as a composer, Handel was already known in Germany by the age of 11. While studying law at the University of Halle (where he entered in 1702, fulfilling the will of his father, who had already died by that time), Handel simultaneously served as an organist in the church, composed, and taught singing. He always worked hard and enthusiastically. In 1703, driven by the desire to improve and expand his spheres of activity, Handel left for Hamburg - one of cultural centers Germany in the 18th century, a city with the country's first public opera house, competing with theaters in France and Italy. It was opera that attracted Handel. The desire to feel the atmosphere musical theater, practically getting acquainted with opera music, forces him to take the modest position of second violinist and harpsichordist in the orchestra. Saturated artistic life city, collaboration with outstanding musical figures of that time - R. Kaiser, an opera composer, who was then director of the opera house, I. Matteson - a critic, writer, singer, composer - had a huge impact on Handel. Kaiser's influence is found in many of Handel's operas, and not only the early ones.

The success of the first opera productions in Hamburg (“Almira” - 1705, “Nero” - 1705) inspired the composer. However, his stay in Hamburg is short-lived: the bankruptcy of the Kaiser leads to the closure of the opera house. Handel heads to Italy. Visiting Florence, Venice, Rome, Naples, the composer studies again, absorbing a wide variety of artistic impressions, primarily operatic ones. Handel's ability to perceive multinational musical art was exceptional. Literally a few months pass, and he masters the style of Italian opera, and with such perfection that he surpasses many recognized authorities in Italy. In 1707, Florence staged Handel's first Italian opera "Rodrigo", and 2 years later Venice staged the next one, "Agrippina". The operas receive enthusiastic recognition from the Italians, very demanding and spoiled listeners. Handel becomes famous - he enters the famous Arcadian Academy (along with A. Corelli, A. Scarlatti. B. Marcello), receives orders to compose music for the courts of Italian aristocrats.

However, Handel had to say the main word in art in England, where he was first invited in 1710 and where he finally settled in 1716 (accepting English citizenship in 1726). From now on it begins new stage in the life and work of the great master. England with its early educational ideas, examples of high literature (J. Milton, J. Dryden, J. Swift) turned out to be the fruitful environment where the powerful creative powers of the composer were revealed. But for England itself, Handel’s role was equal an entire era. English music, which lost its national genius G. Purcell in 1695 and stopped developing, again rose to world heights only with the name of Handel. His path in England, however, was not easy. The British hailed Handel at first as a master of Italian style opera. Here he quickly defeated all his rivals, both English and Italian. Already in 1713, his Te Deum was performed at festivities dedicated to the conclusion of the Peace of Utrecht, an honor that no foreigner had previously received. In 1720, Handel took over the leadership of the Academy of Italian Opera in London and thus became the head of the national opera house. His are born opera masterpieces- “Radamist” - 1720, “Otto” - 1723, “Julius Caesar” - 1724, “Tamerlane” - 1724, “Rodelinda” - 1725, “Admetus” - 1726. In these works, Handel goes beyond the framework of contemporary Italian opera - seria and creates (its own type musical performance with clearly defined characters, psychological depth and dramatic tension of conflicts. The noble beauty of the lyrical images of Handel's operas, tragic force climaxes were unparalleled in the Italian operatic art of their time. His operas stood at the threshold of the brewing operatic reform, which Handel not only sensed, but also largely implemented (much earlier than Gluck and Rameau). At the same time, the social situation in the country, the growth national identity, stimulated by the ideas of the Enlightenment, the reaction to the obsessive predominance of Italian opera and Italian singers gives rise to a negative attitude towards opera in general. Pamphlets are written about Italian operas, ridiculing the type of opera itself, its characters, and capricious performers. The English satirical comedy “The Beggar's Opera” by J. Gay and J. Pepusch appeared as a parody in 1728. And although Handel's London operas are spread throughout Europe as masterpieces of the genre, the decline in the prestige of Italian opera as a whole is reflected in Handel. The theater is being boycotted; the successes of individual productions do not change the overall picture.

In June 1728, the Academy ceased to exist, but Handel’s authority as a composer did not fall with this. On the occasion of his coronation, the English King George II commissioned him to perform anthemas, which were performed in October 1727 in Westminster Abbey. At the same time, with his characteristic tenacity, Handel continues to fight for opera. He goes to Italy, recruits a new troupe, and in December 1729 opens the season of the second Opera Academy with the opera Lothario. The time for new quests is coming in the composer’s work. “Poros” (“Por”) - 1731, “Orlando” - 1732, “Partenope” - 1730. “Ariodante” - 1734, “Alcina” - 1734 - in each of these operas the composer updates the interpretation of the opera seria genre in different ways - introduces ballet (“Ariodante”, “Alcina”), saturates the “magic” plot with deeply dramatic, psychological content (“Orlando”, “Alcina”), in musical language reaches the highest perfection - simplicity and depth of expressiveness. There is also a turn from a serious opera to a lyric-comic one in “Partenope” with its soft irony, lightness, grace, in “Faramondo” (1737), “Xerxes” (1737). Handel himself called one of his last operas, Imeneo (Hymen, 1738), an operetta. Handel's exhausting, not without political overtones, struggle for the opera house ends in defeat. The Second Opera Academy closes in 1737. Just as before, in the Beggar's Opera, parody was not without the involvement of Handel's well-known music, and now, in 1736, a new parody of the opera (“The Vantley Dragon”) indirectly affects the name of Handel. The composer takes the collapse of the Academy hard, falls ill and does not work for almost 8 months. However, the amazing vital forces hidden in him again take their toll. Handel returns to activity with new energy. He creates his last operatic masterpieces - “Imeneo”, “Deidamia” - and with them he completes work on opera genre, to whom he gave more than 30 years of his life. The composer's attention is focused on the oratorio. While still in Italy, Handel began composing cantatas and choral sacred music. Later, in England, Handel wrote choral anthems and festive cantatas. Final choruses in operas and ensembles also played a role in the process of honing the composer’s choral writing. And Handel’s opera itself is, in relation to his oratorio, the foundation, the source of dramatic ideas, musical images, style.

In 1738, one after another, two brilliant oratorios were born - “Saul” (September 1738) and “Israel in Egypt” (October 1738) - gigantic compositions filled with victorious power, majestic hymns in honor of the strength of the human spirit and feat. 1740s - a brilliant period in Handel's work. Masterpiece follows masterpiece. “Messiah”, “Samson”, “Belshazzar”, “Hercules” - now world famous oratorios - were created under unprecedented tension creative forces, in a very short period of time (1741-43). However, success does not come immediately. Hostility on the part of the English aristocracy, sabotaging the performance of oratorios, financial difficulties, and overextended work again lead to illness. From March to October 1745, Handel was severely depressed. And again the titanic energy of the composer wins. The political situation in the country is also changing sharply - in the face of the threat of an attack on London by the Scottish Army, feelings are mobilized national patriotism. The heroic grandeur of Handel's oratorios turns out to be in tune with the mood of the British. Inspired by national liberation ideas, Handel wrote 2 grandiose oratorios - “Oratorio on Chance” (1746), calling for the fight against invasion, and “Judas Maccabee” (1747) - a powerful hymn in honor of heroes defeating enemies.

Handel becomes the idol of England. At this time, biblical subjects and images of oratorios acquired a special meaning as a generalized expression of high ethical principles, heroism, and national unity. The language of Handel's oratorios is simple and majestic, it attracts people - it hurts the heart and heals it, it does not leave anyone indifferent. Handel's last oratorios - "Theodora", "The Choice of Hercules" (both 1750) and "Jeuthae" (1751) - reveal such depths psychological drama, which were not available to any other genres of music from Handel's time.

In 1751 the composer went blind. Suffering, hopelessly ill, Handel remains at the organ while performing his oratorios. He was buried as he wished at Westminster.

All composers, both the 18th and 19th centuries, admired Handel. Handel was idolized by Beethoven. In our time, Handel's music, which has enormous power artistic impact, receives new meaning and meaning. Its powerful pathos is in tune with our time; it appeals to the strength of the human spirit, to the triumph of reason and beauty. Annual celebrations in honor of Handel are held in England and Germany, attracting performers and listeners from all over the world.