86 AN INTERNATIONAL STYLE
IN CONTEXT
FOCUS
An international styleBEFORE
1660s Following the
restoration of the monarchy in
England, Charles II reinstates
music to the English court.
He favors the French style
and particularly promotes
dancing, a passion he acquired
during his exile in France.1670s A group of professional
musicians called the Music
Meeting open a concert hall
near Charing Cross, London.AFTER
1727 Handel composes the
anthem Zadok the Priest for
George II’s coronation.1800s Composers turn away
from an international style to
highlight the individuality of
nations, finding inspiration
in folk dance rhythms and
nationalist themes.George Frideric Handel Born in Halle, in northeastern
Germany, in 1685, Handel received
his earliest musical training from
a local organist. While still a
teenager, he moved to Hamburg
to work as a composer and from
there went to Italy. He developed
his dramatic talent in the comic
operas Rodrigo (1707) and
Agrippina (1709) and the psalm
setting Dixit Dominus (1707).
Returning to Hanover in
1710, Handel became Kapellmeister
(music director) to the Elector of
Hanover (later George I of Great
Britain and Ireland). He relocated
to London a year later and livedthere for the rest of his life.
He later found fame with his
oratorios, especially Messiah,
and set a seal on his career with
the Music for the Royal Fireworks
in 1749. Handel died a wealthy
man and was buried with the
great and the good in London’s
Westminster Abbey.Other key works1725 Rodelinda, HWV 19
1742 Messiah, HWV 56
1749 The Music for the Royal
Fireworks, H W V 351
1751 Jephtha, HWV 70U
ntil the late 19th century,
England was often known
as the land without music.
Even though London had a thriving
concert life, with the earliest
tradition of public concerts in
Europe, the fashion was to promote
foreign composers and performers
rather than native musicians. Both
Handel and Johann Christian Bach
(known as the English Bach) moved
to London to make the most of its
opportunities, and composers
such as Mozart and Haydn often
visited the city as well-paid and
feted musicians.Music as pleasure
When Handel arrived in London in
1711, he already had a distinctive
style that was rooted in his North
German upbringing and influenced
by his time in Italy. He had met
Arcangelo Corelli and Domenico
Scarlatti in Italy and achieved
success with Italian operas and
religious works there. He was also
familiar with the work of Jean-
Baptiste Lully, who dominated
French music, and England’s Henry
Purcell. This cosmopolitanism
appealed to London concert-goers,
who welcomed Handel’s avoidanceof some of the florid excesses of
High Baroque counterpoint that
were favored by Bach.
Handel was soon appointed
director of music to the Duke of
Chandos, who introduced him to
other members of the English
aristocracy. While employed by the
duke, Handel honed a new, more
forthright style, which can be heard
in his Chandos Anthems and the
masque Acis and Galatea. It was
also at this time that he wrote
Esther, the first of his English
oratorios, a genre for which he
would become renowned.Handel is the greatest
composer that ever lived ...
I would uncover my
head and kneel down
on his tomb.
Ludwig van BeethovenUS_084-089_Handel_Water_Music.indd 86 26/03/18 1:00 PM