Was handel gay
The Mysteries, Myths, and Truths about Mr Handel
Not so long ago George Frideric Handel was best acknowledged to the general public for a few predictable things: Messiah, being 'German', his obesity, and for going blind. Thankfully that confined perception has substantially altered over the last 30 years. Nowadays we admire that his career was often as dramatic in its ups, downs and incredible twists as the plot of one of his operas. Moreover, Handel has become the composer who most epitomises 'European-ness', and from our 21st-century perspective he represents an exemplary historical precedent for what it means to be multi-national. As much as we know about him, though, there are still riddles to be solved. Some of which we can begin to answer.
What do we know for sure? He was born at Halle in Lower Saxony on February 23, 1685. His barber-surgeon father intended for him to pursue the study of statute at the historic local university, but was persuaded to let the male child study music with the local church organist Friedrich Zachow. Having acquired a good foundation in counterpoint and organ-playing, Handel obtained his first music employment in March 1702 as organist at the local C
15 LGBTQ+ composers in classical music history that you probably already know
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Edward Benjamin Britten is one of the finest composers of English operas, choral works, and songs, many of which he wrote for his life boyfriend , tenor Sir Peter Pears.
Britten started writing music as young as nine, when he wrote an oratorio. He studied under Frank Bridge, John Ireland and Arthur Benjamin among others, and was also a fine pianist.
His ground-breaking operas, which involve Peter Grimes (1945), and The Twist of the Screw (1954) – and his famous War Requiem – tackle contemporaneous issues around psychology and post-war trauma, as adequately his own homosexuality, which was illegal in Britten’s lifetime.
Britten founded the Aldeburgh Festival in Suffolk with Pears and librettist Eric Crozier.
Dame Ethel Smyth (1858-1944)
Ethel Smyth was a prolific composer and an active member of the women’s suffrage movement, and she made no secret of her relationships with women.
Born in South-East London, Smyth studied at the Leipzig Conservatory and there met composers that included Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Clara Schumann and Brahms. Her best-known works are the ope
When I was about 8 and my younger brother was about 7 we sang in our village Methodist chapel’s short performance of Handel’s “Messiah”. My Dad was a life-long member of the choir and my Grandad used to be it’s secretary, so its likely they “persuaded” us.
Handel was never one of the composers I ever idea of as being gay, not until relatively recently. Preparing for this year’s music theme I was surprised at how many famous classical composers like Handel could be considered “queer” in their sexuality.
The case for Handel’s sexuality is persuasive, but I’m still undecided. Like a lot of historical characters George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) never mentioned or referred to any sexual desires in his lifetime. Most of the current theories revolve around what he didn’t say and more on where he went. Only “straight” people in history could flaunt their sexuality as any homosexual activity was illegal for centuries.
Questions about his sexuality were apparently raised during his own lifetime, or so a later story goes. It may be just apocryphal, but it is said that when Handel was livin
George Frideric Handel
Career
Handel's father discouraged his early interest in harmony, and he studied commandment for a time. His first two operas were produced in 1705, and in 1706 he travelled to Italy, producing revered music and operas. He moved to England in 1712, and composed tune for Queen Anne and Lord Burlington. In 1717 he became house composer at Cannons in Middlesex, the home of the Duke of Chandos, for whom he composed the Chandos Anthems. Many of his operas and oratorios were first performed at the King's Theatre in the Haymarket (now Her Majesty's Theatre) or at the Theatre Royal Covent Garden, but his most famous oratorio, Messiah, using words from the King James Bible, was first performed in Dublin in 1742.
While in Germany, Handel had been Kapellmeister to the Elector of Hanover, who later became King of England as George I. Handel wrote the very