"Music is ... A higher revelation than all Wisdom & Philosophy" - Ludwig van Beethoven

Georg Friedrich Händel

Georg Frideric Handel was a composer from the Baroque period. Handel wrote primarily music-dramatic works: 42 operas, 29 oratorios, more than 120 cantatas, trios and duets, which comes to a total amount of almost 2000 arias! Furthermore, he composed English, Italian and Latin sacred music, serenades and odes. Among his instrumental music are several organ concertos, concerti grossi, overtures, oboe sonatas and violinsonates, along with many solo works for harpsichord and organ. 

Together with Johann Sebastian Bach, who was born in the same year (1685), Handel is viewed as one of the greatest composers of his time. He was extremely prolific and wrote in total more than 610 works, many of which are still performed today. 

Compared to his contemporaries Bach, Telemann and Scarlatti, Handel was by far the most cosmopolitan. When Handel was a child, his father, who was a surgeon at the court of Saxe-Weissenfels, imagined a juridical career for him. But his musical talents did not go unnoticed at the court, which forced the father to let him study music. In Hamburg, Handel befriended Mattheson. Together they visited Buxtehude, the greatest organ player of his time, in 1703 (two years before Bach did). At that time, Handel was already an excellent musician, but it wasn't until his stay in Italy - the land of opera - that his talents and skills truly started to flourish.  Back in Germany, he received a position at the court of Hannover, where the noblemen had a connection to the British throne. Thanks to these connections, Handel decided to move to London, after which a puzzling history of intrigues and political games started. For example, it is unclear what the exact political message of his famous Water Music is, which was composed for a boat ride on the river Thames by King George. Initially, Handel focused on Italian opera during his stay in London, but from the 1730s onwards he started composing English spoken oratorios, with the celebrated Messiah at its peak. 

Featured on

Five Great Suites for Harpsichord (London, 1720)
Ton Koopman
Arias and Overtures
Stavanger Symphony Orchestra / Jan Willem de Vriend / Mari Eriksmoen
Witches, Queens & Heroines
Margriet Buchberger & Il Giratempo
'Willst du dein Herz mir schenken'
Ton Koopman / Tini Mathot / Klaus Mertens
Handel Cantate 03
Contrasto Armonico
Trio Sonatas Op. 2
Al Ayre Español
Vivaldi, Handel
Grace Davidson
Mr Handel's Musicians
Benoît Laurent
Light Divine
Aksel Rykkvin
Enemies In Love
Natalia Kawałek | Jakub Józef Orliński
Chaconne
Sofya Gulyak
The Best of Joris Van den Hauwe
Joris Van den Hauwe
Handel at Vauxhall, Vol. 2
London Early Opera
Casals Homage
Amit Peled
Handel in Ireland, Vol. 1
Bridget Cunningham
Sølvguttenes favoritter
Sølvguttene
Handel in Italy, Vol. 2
London Early Opera
Handel at Vauxhall, Vol. 1
London Early Opera
'Where'er You Walk' - Arias for Handel's Favourite Tenor
Allan Clayton
Händel: Complete Recorder Sonatas
Muriel Rochat Rienth
Handel in Italy Vol. 1
London Early Opera
Six Trio Sonatas
Ensemble Amalthée
Handel Cantate 02
Contrasto Armonico
Handel - L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato
Gabrieli Consort & Players
The Handel Album
The Aulos Ensemble / Dominique Labelle
To all lovers of Musick
Al Ayre Español
Grand Concertos by Handel & Hellendaal
Archetti Baroque String Ensemble
The Steinmeyer Organ in Nidaros Cathedral Trondheim
Magne H. Draagen
Terpsichore / Ballets from Ariodante
Ava Pine / Kirsten Sollek / Concert Royal / James Richman
Handel Cantate 01
Roberta Mameli / Contrasto Armonico
New Eyes On Baroque
Jeanette Köhn
George Frideric The Sonatas for recorder, violin, viola da gamba and harpsichord
The Cambridge Musick
Choral Collection
Tenebrae / The King's Singers / Gabrieli Consort / BBC Singers / Ex Cathedra / Rodolfus Choir / Huddersfield Choral Society
Concerti grossi op. 6
Combattimento Consort Amsterdam / Jan Willem de Vriend
Let The Bright Seraphim
Elin Manahan Thomas / Crispian Steele-Perkins
Handel's Memories - A selection from Grand Concertos op. 6
Al Ayre Español
Haendel: Messiah
Watts, Wyn-Rogers, Le Brocq, …, Northern Sinfonia / Glover
George Frideric Handel, Apollo e Dafne (dramatic cantata), Dafne Suites; Concerto grosso
Margariti & Borchev & Handel Festival Orchestra & Bernhard Forck
George Frideric Handel, Suites for piano Nos 2-6 (Vol. 1, 1720)
Dina Ugorskaja
George Frideric Handel: Alcina
Berliner Barock Solisten & Christine Schaefer
Soantas Op. 57, OP. 14, OP. 111
Primakov, Vassily
Händel: Agrippina
Combattimento Consort Amsterdam
La Resurrezione
Combattimento Consort Amsterdam
Messiah
Felicity Lott / Felicity Palmer
Concerti Grossi op. 3
Combattimento Consort Amsterdam
Merry Christmas
Chicago Brass Quintet
La Resurrezione
Combattimento Consort Amsterdam
Harp Music from Six Centuries
Edward Witsenburg
Corelli & Company
La Dada
Harp Recital
Edward Witsenburg
De mooiste Klassieke Muziek van de TV
Various Artists
Flute Sonatas
Jed Wentz / Musica Ad Rhenum
The Unknown Handel
Jed Wentz / Musica Ad Rhenum
De Mooiste Harpconcerten
S. Klincharova / Solisten Van Sofia