We've now covered the life of one of the Baroque period's greatest composer contributions. We've seen that Handel was hugely popular among all classes of people, and was successful financially, and socially. And now we have to ask why? What about his music made it so popular?
Well I think part of the answer is that he had a gift in creating attractive musical lines. Handel's music is fun to listen to. His melodies are invariably catchy, and often exhibit wonderful examples of musical humor.
Handel loved to play with notes. In Messiah, we can see an example of this in a melody for Isaiah 40:4 "Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain."
When the lyrics reach the word "mountain", the music soars to a high note and then plummets down an octave to symbolize the shape of a mountain. With "hill", he uses three notes in a hill-shaped pattern. For "crooked", he uses two alternating notes before finally bringing them to rest for the word "straight". These little "word paintings" are a part of what makes Handel's music fun. Here's a link to a recording of this song, so you can check it out:
Another reason Handel's music is so enjoyable is his use of special musical effects. He would often go beyond an audiences expectations of what a melody was going to do next, by holding a note out for a great length of time, suddenly striking a heavy, accented note, etc. In Music for the Royal Fireworks, he frequently utilizes the drums to accent the huge chords in the song. It must have created an amazing experience for the audience to see the glittering fireworks exploding and feel the pounding of Handel's music accompanying the show. Mozart once said of him:
"Handel understands effect better than any of us. When he chooses, he strikes like a thunderbolt."
I think maybe the last reason that people love Handel's music lies in his ability to combine such unique, attractive ideas with great simplicity. Simplicity in music is hard to come by. To achieve just the right amount of movement or suspension is very difficult; but Handel was a master at it. And people loved it. After the complex music of the Renaissance period, simple, yet rousing tunes were exciting and new. Even years later, composers felt the genius behind this aspect of Handel's music. Beethoven said:
"Go to him to learn how to achieve great effects, by such simple means."
So all in all, I think Handel had a gift for melody, effect, and simplicity. He wrote tunes that could get stuck in your head for days. He loved to play with music. And he knew how to best achieve these effects with that all-important simplicity.
I'm posting links to some other of Handel's pieces, just so you can hear some more. :)
This is a video of part of Music for the Royal Fireworks with actual fireworks. You can just feel the excitement here. Just try and imagine what it would have been like way back then, with Handel actually at the podium! (Minus the building catching fire, of course...) This portion of the suite is called "The Rejoicing".
Here's a selection from the oratorio Solomon, a familiar piece called "Arrival of the Queen of Sheba". Notice the excitement. It starts out with glistening arpeggios on the strings, and then the oboes take over with an almost fanfare like motif. There's always something moving in this piece.
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