Skip to main content

Happy Birthday

...to George Frideric Handel, born in 1685. Born in Germany to a valet and barber, he studied law according to his father's wishes, even though his true passion was music, and he was clearly gifted. He jumped feet first into a musical career--well, more than a career, really--after his father died, and aren't we all grateful.

Handel moved to England in 1712 and became a permanent resident of London. As I read a brief biography of his, I thought how refreshing to learn a little something about an historic composer who wasn't an alcoholic, a drug addict, suicidal, or a narcissistic pig. And when he died, he wasn't buried in obscurity with his hundreds of manuscripts accidentally lost under some cathedral flooring--he was given full state honors at his funeral at Westminster Abbey with 3000 mourners attending.

Bach said of him, Handel "is the only person I would wish to see before I die, and the only person I would wish to be, were I not Bach." I'm sure this was meant as a compliment, but it struck me as quite odd. I'm no Bach, but still, I can't think of anyone I could say that about. There are plenty of people I would love to meet before I die--Jimmy Carter, Dennis Brain if he weren't already dead, Ina Garten especially if she is serving dinner--but I couldn't say "Harper Lee is the only person I would wish to be, were I not Robyn." Weird.

A couple of years ago, my orchestra performed Water Music, nice light stuff for following the King down the Thames. It has some pretty exposed and precise horn parts, and of course it was for one of those rehearsals when I was the only horn player to show. I hate that. I sat in my seat and contemplated vomiting and running home, but I stuck it out and played the stinking part all by myself--the lone brave horn player, the conductor called me. Sigh.

Anyway, happy birthday to Handel. Here is a snippet of Toccata.

Comments

handel is a favorite of mine. nice tribute to a fascinating composer and person of moral character.
Sassy Sundry said…
Happy Birthday, dear Handel. I'm glad I'm Sassy.
dive said…
Happy Birthday, GFH!
I used to love singing tenor in the Messiah (in fact I can still remember more of that from thirty years ago than I can of the last year) … Ah, old age …
Anonymous said…
I love your horn stories :-) especially this one
Happy Birthday Handel! Lovely piece, Robyn.

Popular posts from this blog

Cindy Loo Who In October

What is it with people and Cindy Loo Who? Of my last one hundred blog hits, forty have been direct visits from regular readers, and fifteen have been as a result of people searching for "Cindy Loo Who," the little pixie from Seuss's How The Grinch Stole Christmas . A couple of years ago, I posted an image of the original Seuss illustration as compared to the TV cartoon image, and for some reason, that post is bringing in the crowds, relatively. Maybe it's the weather. It isn't even November yet, and already we've had frost and have had to dust off our winter coats. When it gets cold like this, I start to think about Christmasy things like listening to Nat King Cole and decorating the tree. It's ironic because I am offended when retailers start pushing holiday stuff early, but I don't mind my own private celebrations. When my sister and I were much younger and still living with our parents, we would pick a day in July, close the curtains to darken the ...

The Ultimate Storyteller—in Life AND in Death

I wrote about The Autobiography of Mark Twain in yesterday's edition of Small Town Newspaper. You can read it here , if you want. This is the photograph I had in mind while I read Clemens' dictations. He really was a masterful storyteller, even when rambling on about the poorly designed door knobs in Florence or in describing the Countess Massiglia, who he described as a "pestiferous character." About her, he said, “She is excitable, malicious, malignant, vengeful, unforgiving, selfish, stingy, avaricious, coarse, vulgar, profane, obscene, a furious blusterer on the outside and at heart a coward.” And I laughed out loud.