HANDEL,
GEORGE FREDERICK

(February 23, 1685–April 14, 1759), was a German-born musical composer who settled in England, 1712, considered one of the foremost composers of the baroque era. He is renowned for having written the immortal oratorio, Messiah, 1742, completed in just twenty-five days. Written for the benefit program of the Dublin Foundling Hospital, this oratorio was so stirring that when King George II heard the “Hallelujah Chorus,” he rose to his feet, at which point the entire audience stood.

George Frederick Handel wrote oratorios, operas, organ concertos, orchestra concertos, as well as music for the wind instruments, harpsichord and drums. A gifted composer, Handel was known for having a temper in his youth. Once, challenged to a sword duel by another young musician, Handel would have been killed had not his opponent’s sword struck a button on his coat. Handel’s other great works include: Water Music, 1717; Saul, 1739; Israel in Egypt, 1739; Belshazzar, 1745; and Music for the Royal Fireworks, 1749.

In his masterpiece Messiah, 1742, George Frederick Handel wrote the line:

I know that my Redeemer liveth.407

In reflecting on the “Hallelujah Chorus” in Messiah, 1742, Handel expressed:

I did think I did see all heaven before me, and the great God Himself.408

In 1751–52, with the onset of blindness, Handel retired. As he was taken in this last illness, having been blind for seven years, George Frederick Handel expressed he was:

In hopes of meeting his good God, his sweet (precious) Saviour, on the day of His resurrection.409