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George Frideric Handel
The noted musicologist's exceptionally full and detailed study of the man, his music and his times — widely considered the standard biography. Childhood, early music training, years in London; composition of Messiah, other oratorios and operas; analysis of Handel's musical style and individual works, much more. Includes 35 illustrations, Introduction, Bibliographical Note, Indexes.
733 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
About the author
Paul Henry Lang
46 books5 followersPaul Henry Lang was a Hungarian-American musicologist and music critic.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 18, 2021
"Monumental!" Eugene Ormandy raves on the back cover of Paul Henry Lang's biography of George Frideric Handel. I had to laugh every time I saw that, because it sounds like the praise of someone who took one look at a 700+ page book and decided it was too long to read. But this book really is great, and well worth persevering through.
I've now read biographies of several of Handel's contemporary composers. It is clear that his life is much better documented than most of his rivals'. Most of his massive output was for the public, unlike those who wrote (for example) for a court patron. In fact, Handel was for much of his career an impresario putting together seasons of operas, oratorios, and other performances for the London stage. One thing that Paul Henry Lang emphasizes in this book is that, even when Handel turned from composing Italian operas to English oratorios, he was still creating dramatic music for the stage. Even "Messiah" was written for the stage, not for the altar.
Another point emphasizes is that Handel really became an Englishman. There is an old joke that Handel was half German, half Italian, and half English. Going into this book, my impression was that he spent the first half of his career in Italy and then moved to England in his final years. In fact, he spent only a short period in Italy, though he continued to compose operas in Italian for many years. For almost 50 years he lived and worked in England, and became a naturalized citizen early in his stay there. He seems to have found the tolerant atmosphere congenial to his disposition. Though raised a German Lutheran, he fit in well with the Church of England, though Lang argues that his personal beliefs may have shaded toward the deism of his Enlightenment contemporaries. This is startling, since he wrote so many oratorios with a religious theme. But as Lang points out, most of these pieces set stories from the Old Testament. Handel used this material for its dramatic potential more than for its pietistic possibilities.
Reading this book made me aware of how little of Handel's music I actually knew. I have been catching up with some of his earlier operas, along with several of his dramatic oratorios besides "Messiah." We are lucky to have so many great recordings now, compared with the 1950s and 1960s, when Lang was writing this book. Lang's description of the music and the scenes made me want to hear everything he was writing about. It is worth noting that this book is rather sparing in its use of musical illustrations. These appear only in one late chapter where Lang discusses some of the features of Handel's musical language. But he makes great use of them there, and I found that I did not miss them in the earlier chapters analyzing each opera and oratorio.
If you are looking for a biography of Handel, I highly recommend this one. Just be prepared for what Eugene Ormandy could only describe as a "Monumental!" tome.
I've now read biographies of several of Handel's contemporary composers. It is clear that his life is much better documented than most of his rivals'. Most of his massive output was for the public, unlike those who wrote (for example) for a court patron. In fact, Handel was for much of his career an impresario putting together seasons of operas, oratorios, and other performances for the London stage. One thing that Paul Henry Lang emphasizes in this book is that, even when Handel turned from composing Italian operas to English oratorios, he was still creating dramatic music for the stage. Even "Messiah" was written for the stage, not for the altar.
Another point emphasizes is that Handel really became an Englishman. There is an old joke that Handel was half German, half Italian, and half English. Going into this book, my impression was that he spent the first half of his career in Italy and then moved to England in his final years. In fact, he spent only a short period in Italy, though he continued to compose operas in Italian for many years. For almost 50 years he lived and worked in England, and became a naturalized citizen early in his stay there. He seems to have found the tolerant atmosphere congenial to his disposition. Though raised a German Lutheran, he fit in well with the Church of England, though Lang argues that his personal beliefs may have shaded toward the deism of his Enlightenment contemporaries. This is startling, since he wrote so many oratorios with a religious theme. But as Lang points out, most of these pieces set stories from the Old Testament. Handel used this material for its dramatic potential more than for its pietistic possibilities.
Reading this book made me aware of how little of Handel's music I actually knew. I have been catching up with some of his earlier operas, along with several of his dramatic oratorios besides "Messiah." We are lucky to have so many great recordings now, compared with the 1950s and 1960s, when Lang was writing this book. Lang's description of the music and the scenes made me want to hear everything he was writing about. It is worth noting that this book is rather sparing in its use of musical illustrations. These appear only in one late chapter where Lang discusses some of the features of Handel's musical language. But he makes great use of them there, and I found that I did not miss them in the earlier chapters analyzing each opera and oratorio.
If you are looking for a biography of Handel, I highly recommend this one. Just be prepared for what Eugene Ormandy could only describe as a "Monumental!" tome.
July 25, 2020
This is a very comprehensive review of Handel's life and works, including much discussion of the musical and cultural environments that Handel operated in, and the way his music was treated and reacted to by critics and music historians during his lifetime and up to the time the book was published in the early 1960s. The author covers a very great deal and spends much time bewailing the fact that up to that time not much enlightened work had been done to prepare scores of Handels music that did not reflect the alterations and ignorance of past generations. Apparently a great deal has been learned since the early 1960s about baroque music practice and Handel's music in particular, and as the book's author makes clear, most of it had not been accomplished when he wrote. Because of this a more modern biography of Handel would probably offer the advantage of an evaluation of Handel's music in light of this progress. Nevertheless, this book covers such a wide field and has so much to say that I find it hard to believe that it is truly outdated as a Handel biography.
February 25, 2022
Paul Henry Lang was a professor of Musicology at Columbia. This book is best characterized as for musicologists by a musicologist. Not being a professional musician or graduate student, I would have been better off with a more approachable book on Handel.
On the bright side, these 700 pages contain a lot of information about Handel and his operas and oratorios, down to something approaching program notes for each major piece. Unfortunately Mr. Lang is very fond of incredibly dense writing with as many large, infrequently used words as possible. He is also exceeding fond of pointing out how misinformed most other authors are about Handel, his life, and his music.
If you are a musicologist, you may really like this book.
On the bright side, these 700 pages contain a lot of information about Handel and his operas and oratorios, down to something approaching program notes for each major piece. Unfortunately Mr. Lang is very fond of incredibly dense writing with as many large, infrequently used words as possible. He is also exceeding fond of pointing out how misinformed most other authors are about Handel, his life, and his music.
If you are a musicologist, you may really like this book.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews