George Frideric Handel

Ellen T. Harris

ISBN 10: 0393088952 / ISBN 13: 9780393088953

Published by WW Norton and Co, US, 2014

About this Item

During his lifetime, the sounds of Handel's music reached from court to theatre, echoed in cathedrals and filled crowded taverns. But the man himself is a mystery. Though he took meticulous care of his musical manuscripts and provided for their preservation in his will, very little of an intimate nature survives. In search of the private man behind the public persona, Ellen T. Harris has tracked down the letters, diaries, financial accounts, court cases and other documents connected with the composer's closest friends. The result is a tightly woven tapestry of London life in the first half of the eighteenth century, one that weaves together vibrant descriptions of Handel's music with stories of loyalty, cunning and betrayal. With this new approach, Harris reveals an ambitious, shrewd, generous, brilliant and flawed man.

Seller Inventory # LU-9780393088953

Bibliographic Details

• Title: George Frideric Handel
• Publisher: WW Norton and Co, US
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0393088952
• ISBN 13: 9780393088953
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 964 grams

About this title

Synopsis

An intimate portrait of Handel’s life and inner circle, modeled after one of the composer’s favorite forms: the fugue.

During his lifetime, the sounds of Handel’s music reached from court to theater, echoed in cathedrals, and filled crowded taverns, but the man himself―known to most as the composer of Messiah―is a bit of a mystery. Though he took meticulous care of his musical manuscripts and even provided for their preservation on his death, very little of an intimate nature survives.

One document―Handel’s will―offers us a narrow window into his personal life. In it, he remembers not only family and close colleagues but also neighborhood friends. In search of the private man behind the public figure, Ellen T. Harris has spent years tracking down the letters, diaries, personal accounts, legal cases, and other documents connected to these bequests. The result is a tightly woven tapestry of London in the first half of the eighteenth century, one that interlaces vibrant descriptions of Handel’s music with stories of loyalty, cunning, and betrayal.

With this wholly new approach, Harris has achieved something greater than biography. Layering the interconnecting stories of Handel’s friends like the subjects and countersubjects of a fugue, Harris introduces us to an ambitious, shrewd, generous, brilliant, and flawed man, hiding in full view behind his public persona.

43 illustrations; 3 maps

About the Author

Ellen T. Harris is professor emeritus at MIT and has served on the music faculties of Columbia University and the University of Chicago. Her previous books include Handel as Orpheus: Voice and Desire in the Chamber Cantatas, and she has spoken at Lincoln Center and appeared on PBS NewsHour and BBC Radio 3. She lives in Newton, Massachusetts.