Handel, the orchestral music

by Mann, Alfred

Perhaps best known today for his masterworks in the oratorio form such as Messiah, George Frideric Handel was also an important and innovative composer of orchestral music. His concertos and suites hold a key position in the history of the orchestra as well as in the development of Handel's own compositional technique. In his well-known Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks suites, for example, Handel developed a special style designed to be effective in outdoor performance, taking full advantage of his gift for the creation of grand designs and luscious harmonies. His orchestral concertos display a remarkable transitional quality, as Handel adheres to the Baroque model provided by Corelli yet also incorporates elements of the rising symphonic style. And in his organ concertos, Handel established a novel genre, one that would be widely adopted by later English composers. The book begins with a chapter on the orchestra as it developed during Handel's time. The next six chapters