Christian Cyclopedia

(Georg Friedrich Händel; 1685–1759). B. Halle, Ger.; naturalized Brit. subject 1726; pupil of F. W. Zachow*; to Berlin ca. 1698; studied law at the U. of Halle and served as organist at the cathedral ch. 1702–03; devoted himself entirely to music 1703, when he went to Hamburg and became a musician in the opera house orchestra; traveled in It. 1706/07–10; kapellmeister Hanover 1710; visited Eng. 1710; settled in Eng. 1712, but traveled repeatedly and extensively in Eur.; kapellmeister to the duke of Chandos at Edgware, near London, ca. 1718–20. Works include 46 operas; 100 cantatas; 20 duets; 11 Chandos anthems; Water Music, Forest Music, Fire Music; 32 oratorios, of which Messiah (1742) is the best known. See also Jennens, Charles; Passion, The; Steffani, Agostino. WEB

N. Flower, George Frideric Handel: His Personality and His Times, rev. ed. (London, 1947); O. E. Deutsch, Handel: A Documentary Biography (New York, 1955); W. Dean, Handel's Dramatic Oratorios and Masques (New York, 1959); P. H. Lang, George Frideric Handel (New York, 1966).