Composer Study: George Frideric Handel
Class Contributor: Jenn Stec, Overstone Cooperative School, Lexington, KY
Composer
George Frideric Handel
Born: 1685, Halle, Germany
Died: 1759, London, England
Musical Period: Baroque
Living Books
Handel at the Court of Kings, Opal Wheeler (for elementary and middle school children)
The Complete Book of the Great Musicians, Percy F. Scholes (for older children)
Websites
The George Frideric Handel page
Handel House Museum
Composer Study Resources
If you would like more information on how to lead Composer Study in your home school or educational community, please read this Composer Study Tutorial.
Co-op Study Description
We studied Handel for 6 weeks out of 12 one term. The odd weeks were dedicated to Artist Study. I found this a good way to cover both subject areas and still encourage children to retain the information on the composer and continue listening to his works throughout the term. Ideally, you could make a CD for the children, or they could listen to the Spotify list that was created to accompany this study.
In the first week, I introduced the Handel, providing his picture, birth and death dates, country of birth and other countries in which he lived and worked (for example, though Handel was born in Halle, Saxony (modern-day Germany), he moved to England and served the royal family there until his death). We looked at these countries on a globe. If you or the children have a timeline or Book of Centuries, you can place the composer’s picture in it. If you have a timeline of music, Handel fits in the Baroque period.
I would then read a small portion of his biography and have the children narrate it. For our young children, I used Handel at the Court of Kings because this started out with Handel's childhood, which they really enjoyed. I also used this book for older children, but as Handel aged, I read selections from The Complete Book of the Great Musicians, which provides a bit more depth and more musical terms. I would then play the selected piece for the day and ask children to narrate the piece. If this is the first term of composer study, I suggest that their narrations could include the following elements:
If there is time and if there is a performance of the piece available on YouTube (always preview!), then children really enjoy watching the performers and the conductor and identifying instruments. For example, in this Handel composer study, we listened to "Zadok the Priest," the coronation anthem that Handel composed for the new British King. This anthem is still used today, most recently of course for Queen Elizabeth II. There is a wonderful clip of her coronation, set to Zadok the Priest, here on YouTube.
In one case, a piece had particular meaning (Handel's Fireworks was for real fireworks, his Water Music was composed for the King's processional down the River Thames), so I played the piece one time without giving any background information to the children and let them imagine what was happening. They came up with all sorts of interesting stories. Then I provided the background information and let them listen again. It was delightful to mark the keen observations that the children made with no background information at all!
Sample Listening Selections
Click Here for a Spotify list of the music below.
Online Resources
iTunes Apps
The Orchestra (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-orchestra/id560078788?mt=8)
Listening Online or via Apps
http://www.Spotify.com
http://www.pandora.com
http://www.kcme.org
http://www.wdav.org
Downloading Music for Free
http://www.gardnermuseum.org/music/listen/music_library?filter=composer
http://archive.org/details/audio_music (archived music in the public domain)
http://www.artsreformation.com/records/ (includes “A Child’s Introduction to the Orchestra” - absolutely delightful)
Composer
George Frideric Handel
Born: 1685, Halle, Germany
Died: 1759, London, England
Musical Period: Baroque
Living Books
Handel at the Court of Kings, Opal Wheeler (for elementary and middle school children)
The Complete Book of the Great Musicians, Percy F. Scholes (for older children)
Websites
The George Frideric Handel page
Handel House Museum
Composer Study Resources
If you would like more information on how to lead Composer Study in your home school or educational community, please read this Composer Study Tutorial.
Co-op Study Description
We studied Handel for 6 weeks out of 12 one term. The odd weeks were dedicated to Artist Study. I found this a good way to cover both subject areas and still encourage children to retain the information on the composer and continue listening to his works throughout the term. Ideally, you could make a CD for the children, or they could listen to the Spotify list that was created to accompany this study.
In the first week, I introduced the Handel, providing his picture, birth and death dates, country of birth and other countries in which he lived and worked (for example, though Handel was born in Halle, Saxony (modern-day Germany), he moved to England and served the royal family there until his death). We looked at these countries on a globe. If you or the children have a timeline or Book of Centuries, you can place the composer’s picture in it. If you have a timeline of music, Handel fits in the Baroque period.
I would then read a small portion of his biography and have the children narrate it. For our young children, I used Handel at the Court of Kings because this started out with Handel's childhood, which they really enjoyed. I also used this book for older children, but as Handel aged, I read selections from The Complete Book of the Great Musicians, which provides a bit more depth and more musical terms. I would then play the selected piece for the day and ask children to narrate the piece. If this is the first term of composer study, I suggest that their narrations could include the following elements:
- Any instruments they hear (remember the voice is an instrument)
- How the music makes them feel
- The author’s mood when he/she composed it
- Is the music telling us a story? If so, what story does the child imagine the music is telling?
- How does it compare to the other pieces of this composer?
- If you’ve studied this period of history, does the music “fit” with this period of history?
- Is it fast or slow, loud or soft, or both?
If there is time and if there is a performance of the piece available on YouTube (always preview!), then children really enjoy watching the performers and the conductor and identifying instruments. For example, in this Handel composer study, we listened to "Zadok the Priest," the coronation anthem that Handel composed for the new British King. This anthem is still used today, most recently of course for Queen Elizabeth II. There is a wonderful clip of her coronation, set to Zadok the Priest, here on YouTube.
In one case, a piece had particular meaning (Handel's Fireworks was for real fireworks, his Water Music was composed for the King's processional down the River Thames), so I played the piece one time without giving any background information to the children and let them imagine what was happening. They came up with all sorts of interesting stories. Then I provided the background information and let them listen again. It was delightful to mark the keen observations that the children made with no background information at all!
Sample Listening Selections
Click Here for a Spotify list of the music below.
- Water Music Suite No. 2 in D major, HWV 349: 1. Overture
- Water Music Suite No. 2 in D major, HWV 349: Alla Hornpipe
- Water Music in F: Air No. 6
- Zadok the Priest, HWV 258, “Coronation Anthem #1”
- Music for the Royal Fireworks, HWV 351 - Réjouissance
- Messiah, HWV 56, Comfort Ye, My People and Ev’ry Valley Shall Be Exalted
- Messiah, HWV 56, For Unto Us a Child Is Born
- Messiah, HWV 56, Pastoral Symphony
- Messiah, HWV 56, Hallelujah Chorus
- Concerto Grosso #4 in A minor, Op. 6, No. 4, HWV 322 - Allegro
- Concerto Grosso #6 in G minor, Op. 6, No. 6 HWV 324 - Larghetto E Staccato, Allegro
- Concerto Grosso #8 in C minor, Op. 6, No. 8 HWV 326 - Andante Allegro
Online Resources
- Timeline of Classical Music
- Listen to Individual Musical Instruments
- Learn About Music Instruments
- Ways to Listen
- Definitions of Music Categories and Terms
iTunes Apps
The Orchestra (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-orchestra/id560078788?mt=8)
Listening Online or via Apps
http://www.Spotify.com
http://www.pandora.com
http://www.kcme.org
http://www.wdav.org
Downloading Music for Free
http://www.gardnermuseum.org/music/listen/music_library?filter=composer
http://archive.org/details/audio_music (archived music in the public domain)
http://www.artsreformation.com/records/ (includes “A Child’s Introduction to the Orchestra” - absolutely delightful)