Edu365.cat

This April marks the 250th anniversary of the death of the composer George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), considered to be not only one of the greatest musicians of the Baroque period, but also of the whole of Western music.

The anniversary will, of course, have special significance in Germany, particularly in Halle, the city where Handel was born, and where a festival in his honour has been held since 1922. However, it will also have significance in England, where the composer spent most of his adult life, and where he was granted British citizenship in 1727.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the Handel House Museum in London, located in the house where Handel spent the last 36 years of his life, has a whole programme of commemorative events lined up. One highlight is the 'Handel Reveal'd' exhibition, which focuses on the more human side of the composer: his businesses, his love life, his gluttony, the blindness that affected him in the last years of his life, etc.

It should be said, however, that Handel is not just associated with Germany and England. He was a cosmopolitan man with an open spirit who enriched himself with the traditions of other countries. For example, he spent four years (1706-1710) in Italy, the centre of music in Europe at the time.

His musical legacy is universal and includes more than 600 pieces of various genres: operas, oratorios, cantatas, serenatas, instrumental music, etc.