Welcome to Handel Music

What is the Handel Music Site?

This site is in the early stages of preparation. It will be devoted to the life and music of George Frideric Handel. As well as historical information, we intend to include music and book reviews.

Who is This Site For?

It is intended for anyone who likes Handel’s music. If we’re feeling naughty, we might include a few other composers.

Events

If you have a forthcoming concert or other Handel-related event, please send us the details (see contact page) and we’ll try to include it. We are UK-based, but we intend to list events in other countries too.

Just Published:

Victor Schoelcher: The Life of Handel

Gossipy and anecdotal, yet scholarly and impeccably researched, Schoelcher’s vivid biography of Handel must rank as one of the finest portraits of a musician ever written. This new edition has been completely revised and is profusely illustrated.

We see in the contemporary newspaper reports, memoirs and letters, a man of great contrasts. While he could dash off the most sublime music at remarkable speed, he would bestow countless hours on revising the minutest details. He combined a fiery temper with great loyalty and generosity.

Few composers have been so fêted in their lifetimes, and yet Handel was also vilified and conspired against. Despite great success and royal patronage, he spent his years in London struggling to make a living. His determination, resilience and talent are remarkable and affecting.

Victor Schoelcher (1804-1893) was born into a wealthy Parisian family of porcelain merchants. He was a politician, journalist, art critic and musicologist, but is mostly remembered for his role in the abolition of slavery in the French colonies. He also campaigned for women’s rights and for the abolition of the death penalty.

Review

‘This is not for the casual reader. But any serious student or lover of eighteenth-century music will find the detail, whether in discussing Handel's family background, his major works or his posthumous reputation, very rewarding.’ -- John Van der Kiste, The Bookbag. For the full review, go here.

Published by Tiger of the Stripe, February 2009   440pp
Hardback ISBN 978-1-904799-34-4   List Price £25.00/$36.00
Paperback ISBN 978-1-904799-38-2   List Price £12.00/$17.00

Buy the hardback from Amazon US   Buy the paperback from Amazon US
Buy the hardback from Amazon UK   Buy the paperback from Amazon UK