img. Händel, Georg Friedrich: A song made for the gentlemen volunteers of the City of London / set to music by Mr. Handel. Stiftung Händel-Haus Halle CC BY-NC-SA, cropped, via Europeana

In the framework of the Europeana Migration project, Sofie Taes, musicologist and curator of the Photography and Migration thematic collections in Europeana provides another blog telling the story of archi-famous composer Georg Friedrich Händel and how migrating to London enhanced his carrier.

He was just appointed as ‘Kapellmeister’ at the court in Hanover, when Händel was invited to write an opera for London. This was a golden opportunity to expand his fame, as in the early 18th century London was truly the heart of the buzz for musicians. In facts, Händel realized that London was the place to be for his ambitions and carrier, to the point that by 1717 he had settled permanently in England and ten years later he was naturalized by Act of Parliament. After dedicating to operas, Händel moved toward the oratorio, a genre whose development in England can almost entirely be attributed to him, and of which the epic choir oratorio The Messiah (1741) is the most famous example. He also continued to produce new instrumental music and his organ concertos were performed widely, as London’s high society recognized his genius and did not want to miss any of his creations, making him a real celebrity.

img. Portrait of Händel in impressive attire, holding a sheet of music entitled ‘The Messiah – oratorio’. This mid-19th-century lithographic print was created by Wilhelm Jab after a painting by Hermann Hammann. Stiftung Händel-Haus Halle CC BY-NC-SA.

Read the full blog on Europeana’s Blog