Writing Resources
George Frideric Handel was born on February 23 1685 in Halle Brandenburg Germany At a young age music peaked the interest of Handel His barber surgeon father Georg disregarded his son s desire maintaining his position that music was not a realistic source of income Handel s mother Dorothea however was supportive of his musical development and assisted her son in secretly practicing Soon after when playing the organ for the duke s court in Weissenfels Handel was discovered by fellow organist and composer Frideric Wilhelm Zachow who invited the young boy to become his student By the time Handel was merely ten years old Zachow had assisted his pupil in mastering composition for the organ oboe and violin When Handel was 11 his father passed away Although Handel continued composing church compositions for voice and chamber music throughout his teenage years he gave into his father s insistence and enrolled as a law student at the University of Halle at age 18 Handel soon left college to join the Hamburg opera orchestra as a violinist and harpsichordist As he traveled through Italy as a young man Handel became inspired by many Italian musicians of the time including Alessandro Scarlatti his son Domenico Scarlatti and Arcangelo Corelli These musicians and more influenced Handel to begin composing his own musical works beginning with his first opera Almira which premiered in Hamburg in 1705 Handel s years of musical composition in Italy accumulated two more operas several Italian solo vocal compositions referred to as cantatas numerous Latin church pieces and two oratorios
