Georg Friedrich Händel (1685–1759)

Georg Friedrich Händel was born in Halle in 1685. His father intended him for the law, but he studied music with the organist Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow and then moved to Hamburg, where he made his debut in opera.

From about 1706 to 1710 he lived in Italy (Florence, Rome, Naples, Venice), absorbing Italian singing, the art of the concerto and the cantata. After a short spell as court music director in Hanover, he settled in London, where his opera Rinaldo triumphed in 1711. He became a British subject in 1727.

For three decades he dominated the London opera stage with Italian operas such as Giulio Cesare. When the taste for Italian opera faded, he created the English oratorio: Messiah, first performed in Dublin in 1742, is its most famous example. He also wrote for great royal occasions: the Water Music and the Music for the Royal Fireworks.

For the keyboard he published Suites de pièces pour le clavecin in 1720, the fifth of which contains the air with variations nicknamed “The Harmonious Blacksmith”. His music is more direct and melodic than Bach’s, favouring broad, clear lines, noble rhythms and grand effects.

His short pieces (minuets, gavottes, airs, sonatinas) are ideal for discovering the Baroque style: transparent two-voice writing, dance character and restrained ornamentation.