February Composer Birthdays

This month we celebrate one of the most famous Baroque era composers' birthdays, George Frideric Handel. Born February 23, 1685 and died April 14, 1759, Handel was German in origin, but made his living predominantly in England. During his life, he was well known throughout Europe, even more so than other Baroque composers, whom of which are perhaps more famous today (i.e. J.S. Bach).

Handel is best known for his operas and oratorios. There are also a few orchestral works of Handel's that are noteworthy. His principal job was court composer to King George I and George II of England. It was while working for him that Handel's famous Music for the Royal Fireworks and Water Music were composed:

These pieces were performed while on boats, floating down the Thames River (pronounced "Tems"). The King, in fact, loved the pieces so much that they were repeated three times! Not only this, but news of the concert brought a massive amount of people to the area that apparently caused a three-hour long traffic jam. Equally as interesting, it was said that the King preferred just wind instruments, so the original scoring contains no strings!

Arguably his most famous work, Handel's oratorio Messiah has become a Christmastime staple among ensembles. The most famous of these movements is the "Hallelujah Chorus". It is also very impressive to note that despite being over two hours long, Handel composed his Messiah in just twenty four days!

Handel was also a gifted opera composer, writing at least 42 works. Some of the more famous are: Rinaldo, Giulio Cesare, Serse, and Orlando, just to name a few. While Handel doesn't usually retain a place in most people's top five or even top ten greatest composers, he was a superstar in his own time. (It is interesting to note that Handel was Beethoven's favorite composer). Without a doubt, his music influenced younger composers and brought to life the (at the time) new genre of opera.