This Week in Classical Music: February 22, 2021.Young Handel.George Frideric Handel was born on February 23rd of 1685 in Halle.We’ve written about this great composer many times (for example, here and here).We want to come back to his early days in Italy though, as we find the progress of the young Handel quite remarkable even by the standards of major talents.Handel lived in Halle for the first 18 years of his life.From early on it was clear that he was musically gifted; in his teens he played the organ in the main church and composed, but as the only son who lost his father early, he had many responsibilities and couldn’t dedicate himself to music to the extent he wanted.In 1702 Handel visited Berlin, were he probably met with Giovanni Bononcini who was staging operas for the Prussian court.In 1703 Handel moved to Hamburg, hoping for a position at the Oper am Gänsemarkt, then the only municipal opera company in Germany (all other opera theaters were set up by royal courts, of which there were many).Handel was hired as the opera orchestra’s violinist, but later switched to playing the continuo (harpsichord).In 1704 Handel’s first opera, Almira, was staged at the theater and proved to be successful.He composed at least three more operas but the music for them is lost.From the late1690s the Hamburg Opera was dominated by the composer Reinhard Keiser, the author of more than 100 operas.On the one hand, Keiser’s music was influential (Handel quoted him not only in Almira, but in many other operas throughout his life); at the same time, as a junior composer, Handel felt highly constrained.
In 1706 he met the younger brother of Ferdinando de' Medici, duke of Tuscany, who was visiting Hamburg.The prince showed Handel examples of talian music and invited him to the court.Handel declined the invitation but decided to go to Italy on his own.He left Hamburg late in 1706; we don’t know if he visited Florence, but by 1707 he was in Rome. Almost immediately he found several influential patrons, the cardinals Carlo Colonna, Benedetto Pamphili, who became a good friend, and probably also Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, about whom we wrote an entry several years back.On the commission of Colonna, Handel composed the setting of Dixit Dominus; it was performed in July of that year (here’s the introductory part of it, Le Concert d'Astrée is conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm).Also in 1707, he composed his first Italian opera, Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, except that it had to be called (and staged as) an oratorio, as the Pope had banned all opera performances in Rome.The libretto was written by Benedetto Pamphili himself.Later that year Handel joined the household of the Marquess Francesco Maria Ruspoli, a member of the Accademia dell'Arcadia and one of the most important secular patrons in Rome.Ruspoli had a castle in Vignanello, about 60 km north of Rome, and Handel was spending part of the time there.For Ruspoli, Handel was writing one cantata a week, plus some miscellaneous music and motets for the church at Vignanello.At the same time, Handel was working on an opera for Ferdinando de’ Medici, as operas were all the rage in Florence.It was produced there in October of 1707 under the title Vincer se stesso è il maggior vittoria, but we know it as Rodrigo.Here’s the Suite from Rodrigo performed by the Arion Orchestre Baroque under the direction of Barthold Kuijken.
We’ve covered, however briefly, the first year of Handel’s short Italian sojourn.We’ll come back with the rest of it soon.
Young Handel
This Week in Classical Music: February 22, 2021. Young Handel. George Frideric Handel was born on February 23rd of 1685 in Halle. We’ve written about this great composer many times
(for example, here and here). We want to come back to his early days in Italy though, as we find the progress of the young Handel quite remarkable even by the standards of major talents. Handel lived in Halle for the first 18 years of his life. From early on it was clear that he was musically gifted; in his teens he played the organ in the main church and composed, but as the only son who lost his father early, he had many responsibilities and couldn’t dedicate himself to music to the extent he wanted. In 1702 Handel visited Berlin, were he probably met with Giovanni Bononcini who was staging operas for the Prussian court. In 1703 Handel moved to Hamburg, hoping for a position at the Oper am Gänsemarkt, then the only municipal opera company in Germany (all other opera theaters were set up by royal courts, of which there were many). Handel was hired as the opera orchestra’s violinist, but later switched to playing the continuo (harpsichord). In 1704 Handel’s first opera, Almira, was staged at the theater and proved to be successful. He composed at least three more operas but the music for them is lost. From the late1690s the Hamburg Opera was dominated by the composer Reinhard Keiser, the author of more than 100 operas. On the one hand, Keiser’s music was influential (Handel quoted him not only in Almira, but in many other operas throughout his life); at the same time, as a junior composer, Handel felt highly constrained.
In 1706 he met the younger brother of Ferdinando de' Medici, duke of Tuscany, who was visiting Hamburg. The prince showed Handel examples of talian music and invited him to the court. Handel declined the invitation but decided to go to Italy on his own. He left Hamburg late in 1706; we don’t know if he visited Florence, but by 1707 he was in Rome. Almost immediately he found several influential patrons, the cardinals Carlo Colonna, Benedetto Pamphili, who became a good friend, and probably also Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, about whom we wrote an entry several years back. On the commission of Colonna, Handel composed the setting of Dixit Dominus; it was performed in July of that year (here’s the introductory part of it, Le Concert d'Astrée is conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm). Also in 1707, he composed his first Italian opera, Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, except that it had to be called (and staged as) an oratorio, as the Pope had banned all opera performances in Rome. The libretto was written by Benedetto Pamphili himself. Later that year Handel joined the household of the Marquess Francesco Maria Ruspoli, a member of the Accademia dell'Arcadia and one of the most important secular patrons in Rome. Ruspoli had a castle in Vignanello, about 60 km north of Rome, and Handel was spending part of the time there. For Ruspoli, Handel was writing one cantata a week, plus some miscellaneous music and motets for the church at Vignanello. At the same time, Handel was working on an opera for Ferdinando de’ Medici, as operas were all the rage in Florence. It was produced there in October of 1707 under the title Vincer se stesso è il maggior vittoria, but we know it as Rodrigo. Here’s the Suite from Rodrigo performed by the Arion Orchestre Baroque under the direction of Barthold Kuijken.
We’ve covered, however briefly, the first year of Handel’s short Italian sojourn. We’ll come back with the rest of it soon.