George Frideric Handel

Books about George Frideric Handel and his music

Mike Venezia George Handel (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers) Children's Press (CT), 1995; ISBN 0516445391; 32 pages Presents a biography of George Handel Price indication: $ 6.25

Donald Burrows and Julian Rushton Handel: Messiah (Cambridge Music Handbooks) Cambridge University Press, 1991; ISBN 0521376203; 137 pages Price indication: $ 16.99

David Ledbetter Continuo Playing According to Handel: His Figured Bass Exercises (Early Music Series, No. 12) Oxford University Press, 1990; ISBN 0193184338; 112 pages This book is an edition, with commentary, of Handel's exercises for continuo playing, which he wrote for the daughters of George II. The exercises, which until now have not been readily available, are supplemented by clear and concise commentary. Remaining faithful to his source, Ledbetter, who lectures in keyboard studies, has prepared an edition that will prove invaluable to students and performers of the music of Handel and his contemporaries. Price indication: $ 31.95

M. T. Anderson Handel Who Knew What He Liked Candlewick, 2001; ISBN 0763610461; 48 pages Price indication: $ 11.55

Roger A. Bullard Messiah: The Gospel According to Handel's Oratorio Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1993; ISBN 0802801250; 164 pages Price indication: $ 18.00

Donna W. Payne and Fran Lenzo and Donna Payne The Handel's Messiah Family Advent Reader Moody Publishers, 1999; ISBN 0802455743; 128 pages For families who yearn for Christmas to be a true celebration of Christ's birth on earth, the 'Handel's Messiah Family Advent Reader' provides daily readings that are biblically-based and culturally rich. With intriguing stories explaining well-known Christmas customs, each reading features a different portion of the libretto from Handel's Messiah and offers a spiritual insight that links the story to an important principle. The book also includes a CD with portions of Handel's Messiah to enhance the experience. Price indication: $ 13.59

Richard Luckett Handel's Messiah: A Celebration: A Celebration Harvest Books, 1995; ISBN 0156001381; 256 pages Luckett explores the background and composition of Messiah--the often stormy relations between Handel and his librettist, the colorful lives and personalities of the original soloists, and the circumstances of the first performance in Dublin, 1742. Paintings, engravings, caricatures, and fascimiles. Price indication: $ 13.00

Donald Burrows Handel (Master Musicians Series,) Oxford University Press, 2001; ISBN 0198166494; 520 pages Celebrating its 100th anniversary, this extraordinary series continues to amaze and captivate its readers with detailed insight into the lives and work of music's geniuses. Unlike other composer biographies that focus narrowly on the music, this series explores the personal history of each composer and the social context surrounding the music. In a precise, engaging, and authoritative manner, each volume combines a vivid portrait of the master musicians' inspirations, influences, life experiences, even their weaknesses, with an accessible discussion of their work-all in roughly 300 pages. Further, each volume offers superb reference material, including a detailed life and times chronology, a complete list of works, a personalia glossary highlighting the important people in the composer's life, and a select bibliography. Under the supervision of music expert and series general editor Stanley Sadie, Master Musicians will certainly proceed to delight music scholars, serious musicians, and all music lovers for another hundred years. In this volume, Donald Burrows's relates Handel's life and his music, devoting particular attention to two crucial junctures in Handel's development: his transition from a church-trained musician in Germany to a successful opera composer in London, and the gradual transformation of his theater career from opera to oratorio, some thirty years later. In the oratorio form, as Burrows demonstrates, Handel was able to combine the techniques of large-scale construction and of aria writing that he had developed in his operas with an experience of choral music that went back to his earliest training as a church organist. The result was music that succeeds to this day in capturing the imagination of a vast audience. Price indication: $ 16.47

Ellen T. Harris Handel as Orpheus : Voice and Desire in the Chamber Cantatas, Harvard University Press, 2004; ISBN 0674015983; 448 pages " Handel wrote over 100 cantatas, compositions for voice and instruments that describe the joy and pain of love. In Handel as Orpheus , the first comprehensive study of the cantatas, Ellen Harris investigates their place in Handel's life as well as their extraordinary beauty. The cantatas were written between 1706 and 1723--from the time Handel left his home in Germany, through the years he spent in Florence and Rome, and into the early part of his London career. In this period he lived as a guest in aristocratic homes, and composed these chamber works for his patrons and hosts, primarily for private entertainments. In both Italy and England his patrons moved in circles in which same-sex desire was commonplace--a fact that is not without significance, Harris reveals, for the cantatas exhibit a clear homosexual subtext. Addressing questions about style and form, dating, the relation of music to text, rhythmic and tonal devices, and voicing, Handel as Orpheus is an invaluable resource for the study and enjoyment of the cantatas, which have too long been neglected. This innovative study brings greater understanding of Handel, especially his development as a composer, and new insight into the role of sexuality in artistic expression. " Price indication: $ 19.95

Winton Dean The New Grove Handel (New Grove) W. W. Norton & Company, 1997; ISBN 0393303586; 185 pages Price indication: $ 14.95

David W. Barber and Dave Donald Getting a Handel on Messiah Sound & Vision Publishing, Ltd., 1994; ISBN 0920151175; 128 pages Most everyone has heard Handel's MESSIAH. Maybe you've actually performed it. But if you thought you knew all about the great composer's famous oratorio, it may surprise you to learn that Handel composed the work solely for money; its first performance was in London; the "Hallelujah" chorus originally had a different name. These and many more entertaining facts await your discovery in this delightful volume. Price indication: $ 10.17

Donald Burrows and Jonathan Cross The Cambridge Companion to Handel (Cambridge Companions to Music) Cambridge University Press, 1997; ISBN 0521456134; 368 pages Handel is recognized as one of the principal creative figures in Baroque music. In this Companion acknowledged experts on Handel make their expertise accessible to the interested general reader and music lover. All the genres in which Handel composed are considered including oratorio, chamber cantata, opera, and church music, as well as works for the keyboard and orchestra. The wide-ranging essays cover topics from Handel's composing methods to his treatment of the Italian language and matters of performance practice. Price indication: $ 22.38

Paul Henry Lang George Frideric Handel Dover Publications, 1996; ISBN 0486292274; 768 pages 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. 35 illustrations. Introduction. Bibliographical Note. Indexes. Price indication: $ 12.89

Christopher Hogwood Handel Thames & Hudson, 1996; ISBN 0500274983; 312 pages A look back at the original Handel, providing a portrait of his life and music that blends the evidence from documents of all kinds with biographical observation. It contains a chronological table and traces the Handel legend down to our own time. Price indication: $ 27.99

Timothy R. Botts Messiah Tyndale House Pub, 1991; ISBN 0842342354; 112 pages Price indication: (used only): from $ 4.00

Jens Peter Larsen Handel's Messiah: Origins, Composition, Sources W W Norton & Co Inc, 1990; ISBN 0393306283; 337 pages Price indication: $ 4.45

Joseph McCabe Handel's Messiah: A Devotional Commentary (Large Print Inspirational Series) Walker & Company, 1986; ISBN 0802725562; 211 pages Price indication: (used only): from $ 12.50

Randall O Seiver The Glory Revealed: An Expositon of Handel's Messiah New Wine Press, 1999; ISBN 0967686202; 108 pages Price indication: (used only): from $ 7.32

Jonathan Keates Handel: The Man and His Music St Martins Pr, 1985; ISBN 0312358466; 346 pages Price indication: (used only): from $ 12.92

Jonathan Keates Georg Friedrich Haendel Fayard, 1995; ISBN 2213594368 Price indication: $ 66.11

Sheet music, libretti, etc.

Four Coronation Anthems in Full Score: Composed for the Coronation of King George II Westminster Abbey, 11 October 1727 - Dover Publications

Giulio Cesare in Full Score - Dover Publications

Handel 6 Organ Concertos - Warner Bros Pubns

Messiah: In Full Score - Dover Publications

Messiah: New Novello Choral Edition - Novello

Music Minus One Piano: HANDEL Concerto Grosso in D major, op. 3, no. 6; HAYDN Concertino in C major; J.C. BACH Concerto in B-flat major, op.13, no. 4 (sheet music and CD accompaniment) - Music Minus One

Music Minus One Violin: Handel Six Sonatas for Violin and Piano: No. 1 in A major/No. 2 in G minor/No. 3 in F major/No. 4 in D major/No. 5 in A major/No. 6 in E major (Book & CD) - Music Minus One

Seven Sonatas for Flute and Piano - Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation

The Messiah: An Oratorio Complete Vocal Score (G. Schirmer's Editions of Oratorios and Cantatas) - Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation

Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks (Dover Miniature Scores) - Dover Publications