George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1685) was a German-born
British Baroque composer, famous for his operas,
oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born
in 1685, in a family indifferent to music. He received
critical musical training in Halle, Hamburg and Italy
before settling in London (1712) and becoming a
naturalised British subject in 1727. By then he was
strongly influenced by the great composers of the
Italian Baroque and the middle-German polyphonic choral
tradition.
Hand...(+)
George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1685) was a German-born
British Baroque composer, famous for his operas,
oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born
in 1685, in a family indifferent to music. He received
critical musical training in Halle, Hamburg and Italy
before settling in London (1712) and becoming a
naturalised British subject in 1727. By then he was
strongly influenced by the great composers of the
Italian Baroque and the middle-German polyphonic choral
tradition.
Handel is regarded as one of the greatest composers of
all time, with works such as Water Music, Music for the
Royal Fireworks and Messiah remaining popular. Handel
composed more than forty operas in over thirty years,
and since the late 1960s, with the revival of baroque
music and original instrumentation, interest in
Handel's operas has grown. His operas contain
remarkable human characterisation, especially for a
composer not known for his love affairs.
Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Julius Caesar in Egypt, HWV
17), commonly known simply as Giulio Cesare, is an
Italian opera in three acts written for the Royal
Academy of Music by Handel in 1724. The libretto was
written by Nicola Francesco Haym who used an earlier
libretto by Giacomo Francesco Bussani, which had been
set to music by Antonio Sartorio (1676).
This Sinfonia is from Act III Scene II and although
written for Opera, I created this arrangement for
Woodwind Quartet (Flute, Oboe, Bb Clarinet & Bassoon).