Creative Spotlight: George Handel

George Frideric Handel was born in Halle, Germany, in 1685. His musical talents were evident from an early age. Following musical studies at home and in his local town, he worked in Florence, Venice and Hanover, before settling in London. He was a prolific composer, writing 42 operas, 29 oratorios, and over 100 cantatas, alongside a huge array of instrumental and vocal works. His operas have enjoyed a revival in interest since the 1950s, with numerous landmark productions bringing Handel to new audiences. Read on to find out more about this extraordinary composer, and his links to Covent Garden. 

When was Handel Born?  

What is the most famous piece by Handel? 

Where did Handel Live in London?  

What is an Oratorio?  

Is there a film about Handel? 

*Acis and Galatea was defined as a ‘little opera’ or ‘serenata’ by Handel, so not strictly an opera. 

Handel’s musical talents were evident from an early age. Handel’s mother, Dorothea Taust, recognised her son’s gifts, and he initially learned harpsichord at home. He also took his first lessons on the organ, as well as in harmony and counterpoint, under the tutelage of Halle organist Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow at the Marktkirche Unser Lieben Frauen, the church where Handel was baptized. 

Handel’s father, Georg Händel, worked as a barber-surgeon. He was initially reluctant to support his son’s desire to pursue a musical career. Handel’s father died when he was just 11 years old, and keeping with his father’s wishes, in 1702 he enrolled at the Law college in Halle. At the same time, he accepted a position as organist at the Reformed Cathedral in Halle.  

1703 – 1705 (Hamburg) 

1706-1710 (Italy) 

1710 – 1752 

While living in the mansion of Lord Burlington, the 3rd Earl of Burling and 4th Earl of Cork, Handel wrote the ‘magic’ opera, Amadigi de Gaula (1715). He composed the Water Music for King George I, in response to the monarch’s request for a concert on the River Thames.   

In 1718, Handel was appointed as House Composer at Cannons in Middlesex. While there, he lived under the patronage of the Duke of Chandos, for whom he wrote the Chandos Anthems. In 1718 He also composed his English-language opera, Acis and Galatea, in 1718 to a libretto by John Gay. It became the composer’s most-performed work during his lifetime. 

From 1720-28, many of Handel’s operas were staged by Handel’s company, the Royal Academy of Music at the Kig’s Theatre in London. These included Floridante (1721), Ottone (1723), Giulio Cesare (1724) and Rodelinda (1725).  

From 1728, following the runaway success of John Gay’s satirical opera, The Beggar’s Opera, the future of opera in London was uncertain. This did not deter Handel. More than 25 of Handel’s operas were premiered at the Queen’s Theatre, Haymarket (known today as His Majesty’s Theatre), although there was stiff competition from the rival opera company, the Opera of the Nobility, whose leading stars included the Italian castrato, Farinelli. It wasn’t until 1733 that Handel set up an opera company with John Rich at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. He wrote the operas Ariodante and Alcina for the venue, as well as the oratorios  Alexander’s Feast, Samson, Semele, Judas, Maccabeus, Joshua, Susanna, Solomon, Giustino and Jephtha.  

The pace of work and the stresses of running an opera company took their toll on Handel, who suffered a mild stroke in 1737, after the company went bankrupt. He subsequently travelled to Italy, where he engaged more singers and composed seven new operas, including Partenope and Orlando. His final opera was Deidamia (1741), which was performed three times, and after which, he devoted himself to composing English oratorios. His most famous oratorio, Messiah, was composed in 1741, with its first performance in Dublin in 1742, and its London premiere at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in 1743. He suffered from failing health from 1750, not helped by a carriage accident in the Netherlands, and he died at home in London in 1759. He is buried in Westminster Abbey, and his funeral was given full state honours. 

Handel’s most famous works include his oratorio Messiah (which had its London premiere in Covent Garden), the anthem Zadok the Priest, instrumental works the Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks, and the Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, from his oratorio, Solomon. The aria ‘Lascia ch’io pianga’ from his opera Rinaldo is also popular. 

Handel kept his personal life private and never married. He was known for his dedication to his work, and in his will, his niece Johanna is mentioned, but much of his estate was distributed to other relations, servants, friends and charities. During his lifetime, he supported a variety of charities, including the Foundling Hospital, a children’s home in London to whom the proceeds from annual performances of Messiah were given. He also donated to a charity assisting musicians, and their families, who had fallen on hard times. 

The historian David Hunter has documented Handel’s connections to the slave trade. He owned shares in the South Sea Company, an organisation involved in the slave trade in the 1710s and 1720s, as well as in the Royal African Company, a slave-trading company also supported by Handel’s patron, the Duke of Chandos. Although he had cashed out his shares by the 1730s, he used the profits from his investments to cover the losses of his oratorio and opera seasons.  

Handel is renowned for the beauty of his melodies, the skill of his dramatic and musical storytelling (as seen in his operas and oratorios), and the richness of his harmonies. He was skilled at creating music of intense emotion, as well as capturing the splendour of royal occasions, as heard in the coronation anthem, Zadok the Priest. The ‘Hallelujah’ chorus from his Messiah Oratorio is an example of his skilful writing for Chorus in the baroque style. He also wrote vocal music that showcased the skills of particular singers, popular in his day. Many singers today enjoy performing his operatic arias, because they give scope for freedom of interpretation, with their da capo (or A-B-A structure). The Royal Opera House’s series of Handel’s Covent Garden works pays tribute to his unique legacy in the location where they were first performed. Handel continues to be a figure of fascination in the public eye, as demonstrated by the film, The King of Covent Garden, set for release in late 2025/early 2026. 

As part of its Handel series, the Royal Opera has committed to staging the works of George Frideric Handel in their original Covent Garden home. Despite the German composer’s fame and success in 18th-century London, and his enduring worldwide popularity today, many of these works had not previously been performed on their original site for over 250 years. This series, programmed by The Royal Opera’s Director of Opera, Oliver Mears, marks a return to a formative chapter in the history of the Royal Opera House. So far, the series has featured operas and oratorios including Semele, the Olivier Award-winning Alcina, Theodora, Jephtha, Arminio, Susanna and Berenice. The 2025/26 Season includes Ariodante and Giustino. 

The musical, Hercules, comes to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane (a close neighbour of the Royal Opera House) in Summer 2025, in a new production with music and lyrics by Alan Menken and David Zippel. But in a sense, Handel got there first. His music drama, Hercules, is based on the same mythical subject, and was written over 280 years ago, in 1744.