Handel In London (the Making Of A Genius)

By (author) Glover Jane
Short description/annotation:
A rich and evocative account of the life and work of Britain’s favourite composer from one of our finest conductors.
Description:

''How refreshing, to read a book about music written for a music lover and not a musicologist. In clear, lucid, entertaining prose, Jane Glover makes those of us who lack musical literacy better understand and appreciate Handel’s divinity'' – Donna Leon, author of Handel''s Bestiary and the Inspector Brunetti mysteries

Handel in London is the profound exploration of the life and legacy of the self-taught musical prodigy, George Frideric Handel. From his modest beginnings in Germany to his meteoric rise in the heart of Georgian London, Handel''s life was as melodious as his compositions.

Handel, only twenty-seven, would travel to London and be at the heart of musical activity in the city for the next four decades, composing masterpiece after masterpiece, including the glorious coronation anthem, Zadok the Priest, operas such as Giulio Cesare, Rinaldo and Alcina or the great oratorios, culminating, of course, in Messiah.

Jane Glover, who has conducted Handel''s work in opera houses and concert halls across the globe, draws on her profound understanding of music and musicians to tell Handel’s story. It is a story of music-making and musicianship, of practices and practicalities, but also of courts and cabals, of theatrical rivalries and eighteenth-century society. It is also the story of some of the most remarkable music ever written, music that has been played, sung and loved throughout the world for over three hundred years.

Table of contents:
Section - i: List of Illustrations Section - ii: Foreword Section - iii: Author’s Note Section - iv: Preface Chapter - 1: EARLY YEARS ‘An infant rais’d by thy command’ [Saul] Chapter - 2: LONDON, 1710 ‘Populous cities please me then’ [L’Allegro] Chapter - 3: THE FINAL STUART YEARS ‘Cease, ruler of the day, to rise’ [Hercules] Chapter - 4: HANOVER IN LONDON ‘From mighty kings he took the spoil’ [Judas Maccabaeus] Chapter - 5: THE LAUNCH OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY ‘Music, spread thy voice around’ [Solomon] Chapter - 6: THE FORTUNES OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY ‘Ah! think what ills the jealous prove’ [Hercules] Chapter - 7: NEW BEGINNINGS ‘Now a different measure try’ [Solomon] Chapter - 8: NEW ENDINGS ‘Toss’d from thought to thought I rove’ [Alexander Balus] Chapter - 9: DEFIANCE ‘All danger disdaining’ [Deborah] Chapter - 10: RECOVERY AND REINVENTION ‘Strange reverse of human fate’ [Alexander Balus] Chapter - 11: ‘Hallelujah’ Chapter - 12: WINDING DOWN ‘Great in wisdom, great in glory’ [Judas Maccabaeus] Chapter - 13: THE FINAL ACT ‘With honour let desert be crown’d’ [Judas Maccabaeus] Section - v: Afterword Acknowledgements - vi: Acknowledgements Section - vii: Bibliography Section - viii: Notes Index - ix: Index
Review quote:
Remarkable ... Glover''s command of detail is impressive ... Her beautiful descriptions of Handel''s music sent me again and again, in mid-chapter, to my LPs and CDs to play the arias she had just described ... Handel in London is a delight to read,
Review quote:
Written in elegant prose that wears its author''s scrupulous scholarship lightly ... Glover deftly weaves musical analysis into her biographical flow. Her greatest achievement, however, is to give life and music a political and social context.
Review quote:
Beautifully written ... This book''s main achievement, though, is to evoke with admirable clarity and sympathy the rich, interdependent symbiosis between Handel, his singers, his audiences, the royal family and the great capital city that housed their life and work.
Review quote:
Lively and warm ... It''s refreshing to read a chronicle of Handel''s years in London written