Table of Contents

Illustrations
Figures
Preface
1 Germany, 1685-1706
2 Italy and Hanover, 1706-10
3 Music for Germany and Italy, 1706-10
4 London: The first decade, 1711-19
5 The music, 1711-19
6 The 'Academy' years, 1720-32
7 The music of the 'Academy years
Operas
Other works
8 The transitional decade I: Competition, 1732-7
9 The transitional decade II: Confusion, 1737-41
10 The music, 1732-41
Operas
Oratorios and odes
Church music
Instrumental music
11 The oratorio composer 1: Dublin and London, 1741-5
12 The oratorio composer II: Towards victory, 1745-9
13 The music of the 1740s
Theatre music
Other works
14 The final decade I: The last major works, 1749-51
15 The final decade II: A career completed
Appendices
A Calendar
B List of works
C Personalia
D The ruling houses of Hanover, Britain and Prussia
E A London Opera-goer in 1728
F Select bibliography
Index

About the Author

Donald Burrows is a leading authority on the life and music of George Frideric Handel. His book Handel and the English Chapel Royal has been recognised as the first full-scale study of Handel's English church music. His published editions of Handel's music include the oratorios Messiah, Samson, and Belshazzar; the operas Imeneo and Ariodante; the complete violin sonatas; and the suite for two
harpsichords.

Reviews

"Can also serve as a reference tool for Handel and his works...Libraries with the earlier edition of this book would do well to replace it with this current edition." --Choice
"Burrows makes a valuable contribution towards restoring the balance...Burrows skillfully interweaves Handel's 'outward' biography with the 'inner' one of his creative life, linking the two aspects chronologically in irregularly alternating chapters. In this way the reader can conveniently use the book either as biography or as a commentary on the music...this is a considerable achievement. Burrows's study of Handel...provides us with a deeply informative and
well-balanced composition."--BBC Music
"A welcome addition to what has already proved itself to be an excellent, authoritative series of musical biographies"--Classical Music
"This book, of Handelian solidity, is worth of its subject,...The Clarendon Press, as usual, have responded to a worthy book worthily; production, print, and musical calligraphy are exemplary, and the scholarly apparatus and appendices aare exhaustive but not exhausting."--The Oldie
"A properly balanced book, with due weight given to previously-neglected areas. It is particularly good to see Handel's English church music being given more attention. There is an immense amount of scholarship here, presented throughout the book in an accessible way ... an elegantly-produced hardback, it is outstandingly good value."--Peter Holman, The Musical Times
UNEDITED UK REVIEW: "Although precious few certain facts are known about Handel's pre-London career, this latest biography details them all in over 40 pages of well-reasoned narrative."--Classical Music
"...the best single-volume book on Handel...£25.00 is very good value for a work of this size, let alone excellence: it augers well for the new management."--Early Music review
"Not just a 'better' book, it is the best single-volume book on Handel ... The author has all the facts at his finger-tips, quotes extensively from the sources ... and makes sensible remarks on the music. There is a vast knowledge lying behind the book."--Clifford Bartlett, Early Music Review
"Mr. Burrows writes like a specialist ...exudes authority not only in what he puts forward but also in his prudent refusal to claim too much...[this book] will undoubtedly prove invaluable to serious students and useful as well to general readers."--The New York Times
"The Master Musicians series, which provides an in-depth, and admirably accessible survey of the lives and music of great composers, has become something of a classic in the music biography genre. There is a wide-ranging detailed analysis of Handel's operatic style ... Donald Burrows' Handel is a welcome addition to what has already proved itself to be an excellent, authoritative series of musical biographies."--Judith Eagle, Classical
Music