George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) was a German-English Baroque composer who is famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems, and organ concertos. He spent his early career in Germany and Italy composing vocal works before moving to England, where he composed some of his most famous pieces like Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks. As he grew older, he went blind but remained musically active, composing major oratorios like Messiah. Handel frequently borrowed and adapted musical ideas from his own prior works and others' pieces in his compositions.

1. George FridericHandel
(1685-1759)

2. Early Years
• Born in Halle, Germany
• Lived in Leipzig to hone musical skills of
keyboard and violin
• Worked in cathedral and orchestra playing
harpsichord, organ and violin

3. Middle Ages
• When 21, moved from Germany to Italy and
began composing vocal works
(cantatas, motets, operas, oratorios)
• Was appointed Kapellmeister for the Elector at
Hanover,but ended up leaving the job shortly
after landing it
• Changed his name (Georg Friedrich Händel to
George FridericHandel)
• Compositions during this time:
– Water Music (1717)
– Brockes Passion (1717)

4. Late Years
• Compositions in later years:
• Music for the Royal (1749)
– Expanded orchestra
• During composition of Jephtha, Handel began going
blind, and soon lost all vision
• He still remained active performing pieces and
compositions until his death in 1759

5. Choral Works (as listed in Choral Repertoire)
• 21 Oratorios (mostly composed in later life)
• 4 Coronation Anthems
• 11 Chandos Anthems, 3 Latin Psalm settings
• 10 Odes
• 1 Masque
• 1 Passion (maybe 2)

6. Interesting Facts
• Most oratorios were started in summer
• They took about a month to compose
• He would change previous works for any singer or
particular performance
• He took musical motives and ideas from other works
(mainly his) and entered them into his oratorios
– Esther (1718) took nine motives from his Passion
– Messiah- “For unto us a child is born” and
“All we like sheep” from Italian madrigals he composed
• He would change previous works for any singer or
particular performance

7. Church Anthem For You
• O clap your hands
Scholarly Article
• Handel 300 Years on
Spotify
• Handel’s Greatest Hits
Choral Public Domain Library
• Handel’s Works