Student Study Outline Chapter 27: George Frideric Handel

I. Chapter 27: George Frideric Handel a. George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) i. Vividly rendered human dramas into music ii. Known first for his Italian operas iii. Later turned to oratorios iv. Keyboard virtuoso v. Occasional music b. Handel’s Life and Career i. 1706– traveled to Italy; composed sacred music ii. 1710– music director to the court of Hanover iii. Took a position in London 1. 1711– opera Rinaldo iv. Remained in England for almost half a century 1. 1727– became an English citizen a. Anthem Zadok the Priest performed at the coronation of every English monarch since George II v. Making Connections: Zadok the Priest and English Royalty 1. Handel served three English monarchs: Queen Anne, George I, George II 2. 1727- composed four anthems for the coronation of George II a. Zadok the Priest vi. Italian Opera 1. Handel composed Italian operas for nearly three decades 2. 1720– named music director of the Royal Academy of Music 3. By the end of the 1730s, English audiences tired of Italian opera a. Academy closed in 1737 4. Italian conventions a. Castrati b. Exit aria vii. English Oratorio 1. Esther (1732) 2. Went on to compose nearly 20 oratorios viii. English Throne and Its Effect on Handel’s Mus 1. Water Music (1717) a. Air in F Major Listening Map 19 i. Binary form ii. Designed for outdoor performance b. Alla Hornpipe Listening Map 20 i. Fast and colorful in triple meter c. Handel and Italian Opera i. Ornate, stylized arias ii. Giulio Cesare (1724) 1. Handel’s most famous opera iii. Da capo aria 1. ABA structure a. Two contrasting sections– A and B b. Repeat of A section with ornamentation iv. Recitatives- speech-like passages with simple continuo accompaniment v. Ensembles 1. Duets to large-scale choruses 2. One of the first to integrate choruses into Italian operas vi. Overtures