George Frideric Handel

Herbert Francis PeyserProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 102K words
Chapters: 11

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.George Frideric Handel by Herbert F. PeyserAuthor: Peyser, Herbert F. (Herbert Francis), 1886-1953,Language: English, Class: ML: Music: Literature of music, Release Date: Jun 17, 2015

Editor's review

Written by Herbert F. Peyser, this biography of Handel belongs to the type of popular musician biography from the first half of the twentieth century. Its strength lies in placing Handel's creative career within the courtly, theatrical, and sacred music environments of his time; the language is relatively plain, with little score analysis and more emphasis on the composer's life and the circumstances in which his works arose. For readers who want to build an overall impression of Handel before listening to his works, this kind of biography is a friendly entry point. Note that the book was written long ago, and some historical judgments and formulations bear the marks of their era; it should not be treated as the latest scholarship. It is best read alongside listening to the representative works mentioned, matching the narrative with auditory experience for a more concrete gain.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Classical music lovers seeking an initial understanding of Handel's life and creative background
Music teachers who need an introductory biography for non-specialist readers
Amateur listeners who prefer to read a life story before hearing the works

Not a good fit for

Professional researchers needing the latest scholarly findings and detailed score analysis
Readers impatient with early twentieth-century biographical style
Visual readers hoping for abundant images and manuscript facsimiles

Reading tips

Read in chapter order, and after each section find and listen to the corresponding work to deepen the impression.
Stay cautious with historical judgments and compare them with more recent Handel scholarship.
Focus on the creative environment sections and skim overly literary embellishments.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

How scholarly is this biography?

It is a popular biography for general readers, not a strict academic monograph. The narrative centers on life and creative background, with little score analysis, and its historical citations carry the limitations of their time. It suits beginners building a framework, not replacing modern scholarship.

How much music theory do I need before reading?

Basically none. The book focuses on life experience and the environment in which the works arose rather than technical analysis. General interest in Baroque music and familiarity with common genres suffice; if you have no exposure to classical music, listen to a few representative Handel works first.

Why does it bear the marks of its era?

Peyser was active in the first half of the twentieth century, when biographies often mixed literary imagination and moral judgment, and some historical judgments have since been revised. Readers should treat the narrative as a historical document, not a final conclusion.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Herbert Francis Peyser Author · American · 1886–1953

Herbert F. Peyser (1886–1953) was an American music critic and writer born in New York. He served as chief critic for Musical America and as European music correspondent for The New York Times, and from 1949 wrote concert program notes for the New York Philharmonic Society. The library holds nine of his works, mostly biographies and commentaries on composers, including Bach, Handel, Haydn, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Schumann and Richard Strauss. He combined composers' lives and working environments with discussion of individual works, writing for general concert-goers in a style both informative and readable. These books helped spread knowledge of classical music among English-speaking readers and are commonly classified under inspirational growth.