George Frideric Handel - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

George Frideric Handel

Brittany PreatorSlide2

Early life

Born February 23, 1685 in Halle, Germany

Parents: Georg & Dorothea Handel

Handel’s Father insisted he studied law.

Handel obeyed, but had a love for music.Slide3

Age 7: performed for the Duke and his Court in

Weissenfels

, Germany on the keyboard.

Friedrich Wilhelm

Zaccow

had Handel become his pupil

Was taught compositions on organ, violin, and oboe.

Age 10: Handel began composing music with these instruments and several othersSlide4

Age 11: Handel’s father passed away, leaving behind means for his education.

Age 17: Handel enrolled at the University of Halle as a law student.

Became organist for Reformed Cathedral

Age 18: Moved to Hamburg & joined the opera orchestra at

Goosemarket

Theater as a violinist. Soon became harpsichordist.

Age 20: Presided over the premiere of his first opera,

Almira

.Slide5

Continuing his travels

Age 21: Traveled to Italy. Visited Florence, Venice, Rome, and Naples.

Met

Arcangelo

Corelli, Alessandro Scarlatti, and

Domenico

Scarlatti.

Handel wrote two more operas:

Rodrigo

(1707) and

Agrippina

(1709).

Also wrote vocal compositions and an oratorio.Slide6

Appointed Kapellmeister Age 25: Left his new job to travel to LondonAge 26: High success with his opera Rinaldo

.

Journeyed back to Hannover, but soon given invitation to London.

Two more operas produced: Il pastor fodo

and

Teseo

.

Also wrote

Ode for the Queen’s Birthday, Utrecht

Te

Deum, and Junliate. Awarded with annual salary of two pounds.

A master of Italian opera Slide7

A new opportunity

Asked to provide music for a royal pleasure cruise for the King.

Famous work,

Water Music

, began composition.

Age 30: Joined forces in the new Royal Academy of Music.Slide8

Age 41: Became a citizen of EnglandAppointed composer of music to Chapel Royal. Age 43: Handel’s production of Alessandro

began.

Faustina

Bordoni vs. Francesca Cuzzoni

A Citizen at lastSlide9

Determination

The New Royal Academy of Music

Quick trip to Germany

Began to produce operas at the rate of two per yearOratorios became more dramatic than his operas:

Athalia

(1733) and

Saul

(1739).

Outpouring of musical

instrumentsSlide10

Age 52: Suffer from strokeTwo final operas: Imeneo (1740) and

Deidamia

(1741).Age 57: Finished Messiah.Composing two oratorios per year.

Famous Oratorios:

Samson

(1743) and

Solomon

(1743)

Age 66: Handel’s eyesight began to fail.

Tragedy StrikesSlide11

April 6, 1759: Handel heard the musical performance of

Messiah

for the last time.

April 14, 1759: Ten days later, Handel passed away in London, age 74. Slide12

Composition Histories

Fireworks Music: La

Rejouissance

Water Music in F: Overture No. 1

Messiah: For Unto Us a Child Is Born

Messiah: Hallelujah Chorus Slide13

Fireworks Music:

La

rejouissance

Written in 1749

Celebratory of Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle

Originally used 24 oboes, 12 bassoons, 9 trumpets, 1 contrabassoon, 3 pairs of timpani, and 1 serpent, but changed to all brass instruments at request of King George II

First dress rehearsal: crowd of 12,000 people

Real performance: April 27

Fireworks ended up starting a fireSlide14

Listening Guide~

Fires music: la

rejouissance

0:00 One

violin

,

moves onto a harmony of two, then several others

begin.

Y

ou can softly hear a harp in the

background

. Many

dynamics are used as well. 0:30 You begin to hear triplets. Many string instruments are harmonizing together

.

0:57 A

crescendo

is now used, building excitement.

1:03

The dynamics of piano begins and it starts to

repeat with a faster rhythm.

The tempo

is kept at a quickened

pace.

1:33

The melody continues

at a piano

dynamic,

creating a timbre that is both

strong

and

consistent

.

You also hear

more of the brass and woodwind

instruments

harmonizing together with the strings

.Slide15

Listening Guide~

Fires music: la

rejouissance

2:03 You now

hear the dynamics change from a soft piano to a mezzo

forte

.

2:23

A

mezzo forte becomes a very strong forte

with the melody repeating a third time

. 2:52 The dynamic is still the strong forte. The use of triplets are being used

and stirring up an consonance. 3:00 The crescendos and diminuendos are being used often.3:12 A longer crescendo

begins with

each triplet played by the

violin.

3:42 B

egins

to end with a

retard, slowly coming

to a resolution with a

dramatic

effect

.Slide16

Water Music in F:

Overture No. 1

1717: Asked by King George I to compose

Many people of high quality were in attendance

Whole river was covered in boats

Used 50 instruments

Played over three timesSlide17

Listening Guide~ Water Music in F: Overture No. 1

0:00

Begins

with a piano dynamic. U

ses triads.

It is played by several violins, cellos and bass.

0:22

Y

ou

hear a slight dissonance in the

music. The

melody continues in its conjunct way. 0:47 The composer uses a chromatic range of notes.

1:15 The composer uses a crescendo. It smoothly moves from mezzo forte to forte, and then back down to mezzo forte.1:38 The

melody diminuendos into nothing, but then begins the coda. The coda

jumps

from

each short

and detached

note

in a staccato.

1:44 A second violin begins to play in harmony to the staccato, playing a whole new melody

.Slide18

Listening guide~ water Music in f: Overture no. 1

1:55 The melody suddenly becomes forte as the new melody

continues.

2:08 The new melody

then

switches back and forth in dynamics from mezzo forte to

forte.

2:24

The melody suddenly shoots

its

dynamic to fortissimo and begins to use more staccato

with the detached notes.

2:44 The violin starts to have a quickened pace in a forte dynamic. It then diminuendos into an adagio tempo.2:56 The melody gradually crescendos as the violins uses of triads. The tempo

also

quickens.

2:25

The

music softly diminuendos down to a

piano, but it

crescendos

back into

a

fortissimo.

3:53

This piece ends with the notes at staccato and finishes off with a retard.Slide19

Messiah: For Unto Us a Child is Born & Messiah:

Hallelujah Chorus

Written in 1742

Handel most famously known for

Contains 50 sections and takes about 2½ hours to perform

Written in 25 days with very little food or sleep

“I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God himself.”

King George II stood, causing a tradition. Slide20

Listening Guide~ Messiah: For Unto Us a child is born

0:00 B

egins

in a strong forte with a steady rhythm and melody that shortly begins to quicken.

0:14 The chorus is heard for the first time by the sopranos. Soon after, the bass’ start to sing with

the

sopranos in a short

round

of the chorus.

0:41 We now hear the tenors start to sing the chorus as the bass’ sing a short round and adds the harmony.

1:00

The first verse begins with the men. The sopranos

sing the first line as the men did. Then the males and females sing switching between forte and fortissimo. You can hear duple meters and harmonizing.

1:28 The

chorus

begins for a second time.

Tenors

start with the bass’s echoing and

harmonizing. The

dynamic is

mezzo forte. The

sopranos

soon join

. The

chorus is a bit

shorter .

1:41

Tenors

now start the

second. It

is sung using a

staccato. The

tenors hold out the first phrase

as

the bass’ repeat

the

same phrase. Afterwards all parts harmonized the

verse

.Slide21

Listening Guide~ Messiah: for unto us a child is born

2:07 The chorus

is sung

for a third

time. The

men

start,

the women

echo,

and

join

together once again. 2:25 The bass now begin singing the third verse with the sopranos and tenors harmonizing. The tempo is kept at the mezzo

forte to forte dynamics.. 2:41 The parts now are repeating “wonderful counselor” as they did in an earlier verse. The violin is very strong playing in a triple

meter.

2:54 The men start to repeat the chorus yet again, and the

women soon follow.

The men soon

harmonize

the

main

melody as the woman “ah” in

harmonization .

The women then join in on

the chorus.

3:20

The sopranos sing out concerning the name in a strong fortissimo, and the men soon join and

begin

singing

“

wonderful counselor” once again.

3:39 The piece ends with the string instruments playing. The violin is very prominent playing the

chorus

melody in forte

while

the cello and other string instruments help to harmonize

and

bring

this

piece to a resolution.Slide22

Listening guide~ messiah: hallelujah chorus

0:00 This piece beings with both violin and bass in a slightly quick tempo in forte.

0:07 The

choir

joins in singing the

chorus. It is sung in fortissimo.

0:26

The chorus sings short phrases between singing “hallelujah”. These phrases are sang in mezzo

forte

in a

slowed

tempo while “hallelujah” is sang in forte and the tempo is sped up.0:50 The sopranos sing a verse while the bass’ sing “hallelujah” as

an echo. The sopranos dynamic is forte while the bass’ sing in a mezzo forte. 1:00 The different sections now begin to sing a new arrangement of “hallelujah”.

1:18

The dynamics suddenly come to a soft piano with

both

voices and

instruments

.

The tempo slows down.

1:29

T

he

voices and the instruments are suddenly forte singing/playing their notes staccato and in

more

of a

retard.Slide23

Listening Guide~ messiah: Hallelujah Chorus

1:39 The bass’ now come in singing the

verse. The

tenors sing the same. The two group sing

in

round to

one

another with the sopranos joining in shortly afterwards.

2:04 The women start singing a slow tempo phrase in mezzo forte, with the men echoing behind them in a

quicker

tempo and a forte dynamic

.2:30 They begin to crescendo and use more staccato in their

singing and in the instruments.2:42 The singers now harmonized in a chord, as the sing staccato in

a forte dynamic. They also

beginning to

repeat a bit of the previous verse.

3:00 The men start singing “Prince of Peace” very boldly and strong in a fortissimo while the women echo

“

hallelujah” a bit softer in mezzo

forte.

3:16 The singers and musician are still using the

staccato.

3:43 This song ends with a strong percussion in the background and the choir singing “hallelujah” in much

less staccato

. Their dynamic has changed to fortissimo and the use a retard

on

the last word.Slide24

Bibliography

8 Notes, George Frederic Handel,

http://www.8notes.com/school/history/handel.asp

Charles

Cudworth

(1994),

Enclyclopedia

Britannica, George Handel,

http://www.biography.com/people/george-handel-

9327378?page=5Encyclopedia of World Biography, George Frederic Handel Biography,

http://www.notablebiographies.com/Gi-He/Handel-George- Frideric.htmlNational Arts Centre, George Frederic Handel His Life, his Times and His Music, http://artsalive.ca/pdf/mus/handel_all_e.pdfBernard

Gorillo

(2009), Handel in Hannover, Dusseldorf, and London,

http://indianapublicmedia.org/harmonia/handel-hanover-dsseldorf-

london

/Slide25

Bibliography

Saxon State Library, Dresden, (1706-1710), Grand Ladies

http://www.gogmsite.net/end_of_the)era_-_1684_to_17/subalbum_

queen_anne

/17061710_portrait_of_queen.html

Il

Teatro

Alla

Moda, Buon

Natale con Handel, http://ilteatroallamoda.blogspot.com/2011_12_01_archive.html