George Frideric Handel

George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) was born in Halle, Germany, the same year as Bach and Domenico Scarlatti, and spent most of his career in England — naturalizing as a British citizen in 1727. He arrived in London around 1710 and never left, establishing himself as the dominant composer of English music for the next half-century. His operas — particularly Giulio Cesare, Orlando, and Rinaldo — were grand public entertainments until the public lost interest in Italian opera seria in the 1730s. He pivoted to English-language oratorios and never looked back. Messiah (1741) became the most performed choral work in the English-speaking world.

Handel composed at extraordinary speed and scale. The Water Music (1717) was written in about two weeks; the Music for the Royal Fireworks (1749) required a 24-piece orchestra. He wrote roughly 40 operas and 30 oratorios, plus orchestral suites, organ concertos, chamber music, and cantatas. His main rival was Giovanni Bononcini, and when Bononcini left England in disgrace over a plagiarism charge, Handel had the satisfaction of burning the rival's portrait at the King's Theatre.

Oratorio became his defining form: large-scale dramatic works on religious subjects, sung in English, performed in concert halls rather than on stage. The format suited him perfectly — the music was the thing, no sets, no costumes, no Italian libretto to worry about. Samson, Saul, and Israel in Egypt are as powerful as anything he wrote. The Messiah remains sui generis.

StyleBaroque ceremonial grandeur. Full orchestral and choral forces, dance-derived suites, Italian vocal melody absorbed into English public music. Structured for impact and occasion — every piece knows its context.

Listen: Messiah (Dublin 1742 premiere forces, or any good modern period-instrument recording — try Trevor Pinnock or John Eliot Gardiner). Start with the Hallelujah Chorus, then go back to the beginning.