Handel, George Frideric

Handel, George Frideric (1685–1759). German‐born composer who took English nationality. Initially cathedral organist in his native Halle, Handel played violin and harpsichord at the Hamburg opera‐house, where his first two operas were produced in 1705. In 1710 Handel was appointed Kapellmeister to the elector of Hanover (later George I of England), although within a few months he was in London. Here the colourful arias and magnificent stage effects of his opera Rinaldo (1711) created a sensation, and by 1712 he had settled permanently in England, acting 1717–19 as resident composer to the future duke of Chandos at Cannons (near Edgware). Although Handel continued composing operas until 1741, increasing financial pressures encouraged him to turn to a new dramatic medium, the English oratorio. Esther (1732) initiated a series of oratorios. The oratorio gradually displaced opera in the public's interest, forming the basis after Handel's death for a lasting English choral tradition centring especially on Messiah (1742).