Overview

During his lifetime, the sounds of Handel's music reached from court to theatre, echoed in cathedrals and filled crowded taverns. But the man himself is a mystery. Though he took meticulous care of his musical manuscripts and provided for their preservation in his will, very little of an intimate nature survives. In search of the private man behind the public persona, Ellen T. Harris has tracked down the letters, diaries, financial accounts, court cases and other documents connected with the composer's closest friends. The result is a tightly woven tapestry of London life in the first half of the eighteenth century, one that weaves together vibrant descriptions of Handel's music with stories of loyalty, cunning and betrayal. With this new approach, Harris reveals an ambitious, shrewd, generous, brilliant and flawed man.

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9780393088953

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Reviews

"""...a sequence of thematic chapters, each with its own timeline, charting the composer's career through others' eyes and ears, evoking more vividly than most the society in which Handel moved."" -- Hugh Canning, Sound Choices 2014 - The Sunday Times"

Admirable in its scope and boldness. A fascinating, joyful achievement! --Dame Emma Kirkby

A fascinatingly pure application of [Handel s] music to history an interesting, unique, and significant work of nonfiction. --Weston Williams

Author Information

Ellen T. Harris is professor emeritus at MIT and has served on the music faculties of Columbia University and the University of Chicago. Her previous books include Handel as Orpheus: Voice and Desire in the Chamber Cantatas, and she has spoken at Lincoln Center and appeared on PBS NewsHour and BBC Radio 3. She lives in Newton, Massachusetts.

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