Mastery and Popularity

“Performance of his Musical Entertainments” in Oxford
Allegory and Affirmation
“Stand round my brave Boys” 
Pedestalled
Messiah
The Musick for the Royal Fireworks
Foundling Hospital
Testament and Burial
Handel’s Monument


"Performance of his Musical Entertainments" in Oxford
In summer 1733 Handel was invited to Oxford to receive the honorary degree of Doctor of Music at the revival of the ‘Publick Act’, the degree ceremony, and to provide music for the occasion. He did not in the event accept the degree but gave a series of concerts of mainly English works including the first performance of his new oratorio, Athalia HWV 52, and excited as much admiration by his performance as by his compositions.

In his refusing an honorary degree from Oxford (which would have cost him money), Handel is said to have remarked, “Should I have had to spend money in order to be like those idiots? Never in this world!”


Allegory and Affirmation
Handel, the opera composer of genius, unquestionably had his enthusiastic supporters, but popularity in the strict sense of the term he never enjoyed with his Italian operas. After his physical breakdown there were not a few voices which prophesied the end of his artistic career.  His increasing turn towards English oratorio was watched with scepticism. But the spell was broken. After the performances of Saul HWV 53 in September 1738 and of Israel in Egypt HWV 54 two month later the number of enthusiastic voices rose.

The enthusiasm was intended not least for the man himself, who took up a decisive stand in his works on contemporary political and military events just as he had done on previous occasions. Even in turning to the Old Testament for his subjects he gave them a more generalised meaning. Handel made it clear that he was firmly on the side of the people, which from 1739 onwards was forced to defend its progressive achievements against armed absolutist intervention. The Battle of Dettingen fought on 27 June 1743 in the course of the War of the Austrian Succession, and claimed as a victory for King George II, the last English king to be present on an overseas battlefield, gave the composer the chance of writing his Dettingen Te Deum HWV 283. It was performed during the victory celebration held at St. James’ Palace.


“Stand round my brave Boys”
In the summer of 1745 the Young Pretender, Prince Charles Edward Stuart, landed in Scotland. Supported with money provided by Louis XV, King of France, he hoped to restore the Stuart Dynasty to the throne of England and to reimpose Roman Catholicism. The Scottish nobility joined his campaign against England.

An ill-prepared army of volunteers marched out from London to face him. In this particularly critical situation Handel made no bones about where he stood. He wrote the marching song Stand round, my brave boys, in which the words occur:  “ Let the world know we’ll be free.”


Pedestalled
As early as 1738 a marble statue of Handel had been set up in Vauxhall Gardens. This was done by someone who by means of this unusual tribute wished to remind the musical world of London once more of the Handel who had triumphantly overcome a dangerous crisis.

The London Daily Post reported on 18 April 1738:  " We are informed from very good authority; that there is now finished a Statue of the justly celebrated Mr. Handel, exquisitly done by the ingenious Mr. Raubilliac ... which is to be placed in a grand Nich, erected on purpose in the great Grove at Vaux-Hall-Gardens, at the sole Expence of Mr. Tyers, Undertaker of the Entertainment there; who in Consideration of the real merit of the inimitable Master, thought it proper, that his Effigies should preside there, where his Harmony has so often charm'd even the greatest Crouds into the profoundest Calm and most decent behaviour; it is believed that the Expence of the Statue and Niche cannot cost less than Three hundred pounds."

Roubiliac carved the composer in the guise of Apollo, the god of music, plying a lyre, while a putto at his feet writes down the divine music. Handel was portrayed as a relaxed figure, in slippers and in casual dress with a nightcap on his head instead of his huge white wig. These attributes mark him as greatly human, and touch on personal characteristics such as the right foot resting upon rather then inside the slipper. The statue was said to have been so realistic that people who did not know Handel would immediately recognize the composer on the street, from the statue in Vauxhall Gardens.

After the closure of Vauxhall Gardens in 1859, the Handel statue passed through many hands, including those of the portrait painter Thomas Hudson, who painted several well-known portraits of Handel. The statue by Roubiliac is now on exhibit at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.


Messiah
Two further operas were written: Imeneo HWV 41 and Deidamia HWV 42 but their premieres at the end of 1740 and the beginning of 1741 respectively in the Theatre Royal, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, were failures.

In 1741 Handel’s crisis was not got over, but he prepared to make a concert tour to Dublin, to which he had long been invited by enthusiastic admirers. In some three weeks he wrote a new oratorio, The Messiah HWV 56. Invited by the Duke of Devonshire, William Cavendish, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, stayed Handel for the winter season 1741/42 in Dublin. His subscription series of six concerts were opened with a revival of L'Allegro, il Penseroso, ed il Moderato HWV 55 with two concerti grossi and an organ concerto.  In the last concert The Messiah had its first performance on 13 April 1742 in Dublin’s New Music Hall. In apprehension of overcrowding at the performance, posted The Dublin Journal on this day the following notice: “ The Stewards of the Charitable Music Society request the Favour of the Ladies not to come with Hoops this Day to the Musick-Hall in Fishamble Street : The Gentlemen are desired to come without their Swords.“

In the Dublin Journal of 17 April 1742 we read: “ On Tuesday last Mr. Handel’s Sacred Grand Oratorio, the MESSIAH, was performed at the New Musick-Hall in Fishamble-street; the best Judges have allowed it to be the most finished piece of Musick. Words are wanting to express the exquisite delight it afforded to the admiring, crowded audience. The Sublime, Grand and Tender, adapted to the most elevated, majestick and moving Words conspired to transport and charm the ravished heart and ear. It is but Justice to Mr. Handel that the World should know, he generously gave the money arising from this grand performance, to be equally shared by the Society for relieving Prisoners, the Charitable Infirmary and Mercer’s Hospital...”

On his return to London continued his efforts with the English oratorio form after some hesitation. His farewell from the glittering world of Italian opera meant the end of some of his links with “high society.” Handel, a wiser man now, lived a more secluded life and public notices of him dwindled to a trickle. By agreement with John Rich his oratorios were once more performed in the Covent Garden Theatre. On 23 March 1743 the London premiere of his Messiah finally took place. The work did not have the success he had looked for - the London public continued to show its aversion to it, until Handel in 1750, and then yearly, presented it for the benefit of the Foundling Hospital.


The Musick for the Royal Fireworks
After the victory over the invaders at Culloden in April 1746 Handel paid homage to the English commander, the Duke of Cumberland, with his song From scourging rebellion, in which he unmistakeably referred to France’s interventionist role in the invasion. – We do not know, if or in which extend Handel was informed about the cruelties especially in that military action, and that the battle was followed by a lengthy period of suppression in the Highlands marked by massacre and despoiling.  – The Occasional Oratorio HWV 62 and the oratorio Judas Maccabaeus HWV 63 were also closely associated with these events.

The Peace Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748 marked the end of intervention against Britain. On 22 April 1749 a great peace celebration took place, for which Handel had written his celebrated Music for the Royal Fireworks HWV 351. The audience that turned up for a public rehearsal of this music was estimated at 12,000. At the actual performance itself the press of people was even greater. Handel’s popularity had now reached its zenith.


Foundling Hospital
It is known that Handel produced remarkable social activities, especially in favour of the Foundling Hospital, which was founded by Captain Coram, and served to alleviate the misery of London children. In 1749 Handel wrote his Fondling Hospital Anthem HWV 268, beginning with “Blessed are they that deliver the poor.” In addition he presented this institution with an organ and bequeathed to it a copy of the vocal and orchestral score of the Messiah. Altogether he contributed £ 11,000 to the Foundling Hospital.


Testament and Burial
On 1 June 1750 Handel wrote a will “ considering the Uncertainty of human Life.” After the illness of 1737 he had at times suffered bouts of ill health, which now prompted the ageing man to set his affairs in order. His creative powers however did not seem to have been seriously impaired. On the contrary the year 1750 seems to have been a decidedly good one for Handel. The Earl of Shaftesbury wrote to James Harris on 13 February 1750: “ I have seen Handel several times since I came hither and think I never saw him so cool and well. He is quite easy in his behaviour and has been pleasing himself in the purchase of several fine pictures, particularly a large Rembrandt, which is indeed excellent. We have scarce talked at all about musical subjects though enough to find, his performances will go off incomparably.” But his oratorio for this year, Theodora HWV 68, found no favour with the public. Handel, who played his new Organ Concerto HWV 310, remarked:  “ it sounded well in a half-empty room.“

At the beginning of August 1750, Handel travelled to Germany, presumably for the last time, to visit his relatives in Halle. He is thought to have stayed there through October and November. During this time he presented his niece the remarkable portrait of himself as painted by Thomas Hudson (now in the University and State Library of Hamburg).

In February 1751 he interrupted the composition of his oratorio Jephtha HWV 70 with the distressing entry in German in the manuscript: “ Reached here on February 13. Prevented from proceeding on account of the relaxation of the sight of my left eye. 23. Feeling rather better. Resumed work.” His eye trouble became worse and in November 1752 he finally underwent an operation, which seems to have had no lasting success but, after some initial improvement, only accelerated the onset of his blindness. In January 1753 a London newspaper announced that “ Mr. Handel has at length unhappily quite lost his sight.” Now his whole state of health began to deteriorate. Handel added four codicils (on 8 August 1756, 22 March and 14 August 1757 and 11 April 1759) to his will.

In the last three days before he died he expressed the wish to be buried in Westminster Abbey and set aside the sum of £ 600 for the erection of a monument: “ I hope to have the permission of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster to be buried in Westminster Abbey in a private manner at the discretion of my Executor Mr. Amyand and I desire that my said Executor may have leave to erect a Monument for me there and that any Sum not Exeeding Six Hundred Pounds be expected for that purpose at the discretion of my said Executor.”


Handel’s Monument
On 14 April 1759 George Friderick Handel died in his London home. Handel’s funeral was attended by about 3000 people. The service was sung by the choirs of the Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral and the Chapel Royal.

He found his last resting-place in Westminster Abbey, where not only monarchs but England’s most distinguished figures in art and science lie. His gravestone reads “GEORGE FREDERIC HANDEL BORN YE 23 FEBRUARY 1684 DIED YE 14th OF APRIL 1759.”

(The given “wrong” year of birth is not a mistake but is due to the fact that till the introduction of the Gregorian Calendar in 1752 the new year in England did begin on 25 March, on the Lady Day. So the English 23 February 1684 was the 23 February 1685 in Halle in Prussia, where the Gregorian Calendar was binding already since 1612.)

The coat of arms (of the Handel family, or rather of the barber Georg Händel) on his gravestone is now very worn. It shows the typical optical control of the content of urine glasses, an activity, which could not have been of great importance for the composer 60 years after his father’s death. But this coat of arms confirms how greatly Handel valued his family background (even during his latter years in London), since it had enabled him, both materially and spiritually, to embark on an independent lifestyle. And it is also well known that throughout his life he took advantage of every opportunity to visit Halle (for the last time in 1750). He also maintained written correspondence with his relatives.

On the wall above his grave is an impressive monument by Louis Francois Roubiliac. The life-size statue, unveiled in 1762, is said to be an exact likeness as the face was modelled from a death mask (now the mask is lost, but there exists a photo of it). Behind the figure, among clouds, is an organ with an angel playing a harp. On the left of the statue is a group of musical instruments and an open score of his oratorio Messiah. Directly in front of him is the musical score “I know that my Redeemer liveth.”