Handel was born in
Halle at
Saxony-Anhalt in Germany to Georg and Dorothea (née Taust) Händel in 1685, the same year that both
Johann Sebastian Bach and
Domenico Scarlatti were born. He displayed considerable musical talent at an early age; by the age of seven he was a skillful performer on the
harpsichord and
pipe organ, and at nine he began to compose music. However, his father, an eminent
barber-surgeon who served as valet and barber to the Courts of
Saxony and
Brandenburg, and altogether a distinguished citizen of Halle, was opposed to George Frideric's pursuing a musical career, preferring him to study law, whereas his mother, Dorothea, encouraged him in his music.
Nevertheless, the young Handel was permitted to take lessons in musical composition and keyboard techniques from
Friedrich Wilhelm Zachau, the organist of the Liebfrauenkirche, Halle. His aunt, Anna, had given him a
spinet for his seventh birthday, which was placed in the attic so that Handel could play it whenever he could get away from his father.
In 1702, in obedience to his father's wishes, he began the study of
law at the
University of Halle, but after his father's death the following year, he abandoned law for music, becoming the organist at the Protestant Cathedral. The following year he moved to
Hamburg, accepting a position as
violinist and harpsichordist in the orchestra of the opera-house. There he met
Johann Mattheson, Christoph Graupner and
Reinhard Keiser. His first two
operas, Almira and
Nero, were produced in 1705. Two other early operas,
Daphne and
Florindo, were produced in 1708.
During the years 1706–1709 Handel travelled to Italy on an invitation of
Gian Gastone de' Medici, and met his brother
Ferdinando, a musician himself. While opera was banned by the pope, Handel found work as a composer of sacred music: the famous
Dixit Dominus (1707) is from this era. he wrote many
cantatas in operatic style, for gatherings in the palace of
Pietro Ottoboni (cardinal). His
Rodrigo was produced in
Florence in 1707, and his
Agrippina at
Venice in 1709.
Agrippina, which ran for an unprecedented 27 performances, exhibited a mature technique in Handel's writing and established his reputation as an opera composer. Two
oratorios, La Resurrezione and
Il Trionfo del Tempo, were produced at
Rome in 1709 and 1710, respectively.
In 1710 Handel became
Kapellmeister to George, Elector of
Hanover, who would soon be King
George I of Great Britain. He visited
Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici on his way to
London in 1710 and settled there permanently in 1712, receiving a yearly income of £200 from
Queen Anne. During Handel's early years in London one of his most important patrons was the young and wealthy
Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, who showed an early love of his music. Handel had a happy time and wrote a few of his best pieces for the Earl.
In 1723 Handel moved into a newly built house in 25
Brook Street, London, which he rented until his death in 1759, 36 years later. This house is now the
Handel House Museum, a restored
Georgian house open to the public with an events programme of
Baroque music. There is a blue commemorative plaque on the outside of the building. It was here that he composed Messiah, Zadok the Priest, and Fireworks Music. (In 2000, the upper stories of 25 Brook Street were leased to the Handel House Trust, and, after an extensive restoration program, the
Handel House Museum opened to the public on 8 November 2001.)
In 1726 Handel's opera
Scipio (Scipione) was performed for the first time, the
march from which remains the regimental slow march of the British
Grenadier Guards. He was naturalised a British subject in the following year.
In 1727 Handel was commissioned to write four anthems for the coronation ceremony of
King George II. One of these,
Zadok the Priest, has been also played at every British coronation ceremony since. Handel was director of the
Royal Academy of Music 1720–1728, and a partner of
J. J. Heidegger in the management of the
King's Theatre 1729–1734. Handel also had a long association with the
Royal Opera House at
Covent Garden, where many of his Italian operas were premiered.
In April 1737, aged 52, he suffered a
stroke or some other malady which left his right arm temporarily
paralysed and stopped him from performing. He also complained of difficulties in focusing his sight. Handel went to
Aix-la-Chapelle, taking hot baths and playing organ for the audience. Handel gave up operatic management entirely in 1740, after he had lost a fortune in the business.
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