George Handel (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers)
from Children's Press(CT)
Presents a biography of George Handel
George Frideric Handel
by Paul Henry Lang
from Dover Publications
Reflections of Messiah: Contemporary Advent Meditations Inspired by Handel
by Jim Melchiorre
from Upper Room Books
Messiah: The Gospel According to Handel's Oratorio
by Roger A. Bullard
from Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Bullard provides an informed, readable commentary specifically on the libretto, or text, of Handel's Messiah, explaining each part in terms of: how the language differs from the King James Version of the Bible; what the passage of Scripture meant in its original context; and how the citation fits in the artistic and religious structure of the oratorio as a whole.
Handel, Revised Edition
by Christopher Hogwood
from Thames & Hudson
A revised edition of "the clear biography of choice for anyone interested in one of the great figures of music.—The New York Times Book Review
George Friedrich Handel remains one of the unchallenged geniuses of musical history. Yet many revealing and fascinating aspects of his work have been obscured by generations of adulation, prejudice, or misinterpretation. Christopher Hogwood takes us back to the original Handel, blending the evidence from documents of all kinds with judicious biographical observations as well as a delightful selection of illustrations.
The result is a comprehensive and entertaining portrait of the developing character and career of Handel, with an important concluding chapter that traces the progress of the Handel legend down to our own time, and a chronological table compiled by Anthony Hicks that outlines major events in the composer's life and musical career. 100 illustrations, 10 in color.
George Frideric Handel, Composer of Messiah (Sowers) (Sowers)
by Charles Ludwig
from Mott Media (MI)
A child prodigy and musical genius, he was inspired by God to write "The Messiah.".
Handel's Messiah: A Devotional Commentary
Handel: Messiah (Cambridge Music Handbooks)
by Donald Burrows
from Cambridge University Press
Donald Burrows brings many new insights to this fascinating account of one of the favorite works of the concert hall. He traces the course of Messiah from Handel's initial musical response to the libretto, through the oratorio's turbulent first years to its eventual popularity with the Foundling Hospital performances. The book addresses such questions as the position of Messiah within the oratorio genre, Handel's treatment of structural design, tonal relationships in the work and problems of English wordsetting, as well as contemporary issues such as Handel's relationship with his librettist, Charles Jennens, and with his performers and audience.
The course of the Messiah is traced from Handel's initial musical response to the libretto, through the oratorio's turbulent initial years to its eventual rise to popularity with the Foundling Hospital performances.
Handel (Master Musicians Series,)
by Donald Burrows
from Oxford University Press, USA
Celebrating its 100th anniversary, this extraordinary series continues to amaze and captivate its readers with detailed insight into the lives and work of music's geniuses. Unlike other composer biographies that focus narrowly on the music, this series explores the personal history of each composer and the social context surrounding the music. In a precise, engaging, and authoritative manner, each volume combines a vivid portrait of the master musicians' inspirations, influences, life experiences, even their weaknesses, with an accessible discussion of their work-all in roughly 300 pages. Further, each volume offers superb reference material, including a detailed life and times chronology, a complete list of works, a personalia glossary highlighting the important people in the composer's life, and a select bibliography. Under the supervision of music expert and series general editor Stanley Sadie, Master Musicians will certainly proceed to delight music scholars, serious musicians, and all music lovers for another hundred years.
In this volume, Donald Burrows's relates Handel's life and his music, devoting particular attention to two crucial junctures in Handel's development: his transition from a church-trained musician in Germany to a successful opera composer in London, and the gradual transformation of his theater career from opera to oratorio, some thirty years later. In the oratorio form, as Burrows demonstrates, Handel was able to combine the techniques of large-scale construction and of aria writing that he had developed in his operas with an experience of choral music that went back to his earliest training as a church organist. The result was music that succeeds to this day in capturing the imagination of a vast audience.
Handel, Who Knew What He Liked
by M.T. Anderson
from Candlewick
"Both illustration and text are characterized by a saucy style, impeccable pacing, and a richness of content, and the two harmonize splendidly." — SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL (starred review)
George Frideric Handel was not your everyday eighteenth-century composer. And in a manner befitting its subject, this witty, rigorously researched, and accessible biography captures Handel's essential spirit — from a child who smuggled a clavichord into the attic to make music against his father's orders to a young man who imported forty-five pounds of mountain snow to chill wine for a gala. LOS ANGELES TIMES Book Prize winner M. T. Anderson depicts not only Handel's triumphs but also his struggles, chronicling the illness, ill fortune, and despair that led to his greatest achievement, the Messiah. With impeccable detail and a wink at the reader, Kevin Hawkes illustrates this singular story of Handel and the music through which he lives on.
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