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Season 2018 / 2019 – Talk 16 B – Handel in London
Ian Wallace’s talk Handel in London is the second in a series of four short talks given to the Farnham U3A World History Group.
Ian’s talk charts the life of George Frederick Handel from his arrival in London until his death.
As a young man Handel travelled to Italy. He had composed his first opera by the age of 24. He then got leave of absence from his employer, the Elector of Hanover, to travel to London in 1710.
The Elector of Hanover became King George I in 1714.
Handel wrote very successful operas in Italian. The operas made a lot of money. As a result he was able to get the best Italian singers to perform in London.
Tastes changed. Italian operas became less popular. There were arguments about the cost of staging the operas.
Handel had a stroke when he was 52. He went to a Spar to ‘take the waters’. He made a good recovery and went back to work.
Charles Jennens wanted an oratorio based on the King James Bible. The result – The Messiah.
Handel is buried in Westminster Abbey.
Click here to open the presentation that accompanies this talk.
At the original talk on Handel in London included musical excerpts. These cannot be included in the podcast as they are copyright.
The other two talks in this series of Short Talks will be published over the next few weeks.
The Farnham U3A site is at Farnham U3A Home Page.
AKM Music has licensed Media Magazine for use as the title music.
© The MrT Podcast Studio and Farnham U3A World History Group 2019
