Over the last two decades a complete revolution in Handel's status has
taken place. He is now seen both as a titanic figure in music, and as
one of the world's favorite composers, with snatches of his work
accompanying weddings, funerals, and television commercials the world
over. Though unquestionably one of the greatest and best-loved of all
composers, George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) had received little
attention from biographers before Jonathan Keates's masterful biography
appeared in 1985. This fully updated and expanded edition charts in
detail Handel's life, from his youth in Germany, through his brilliantly
successful Italian sojourn, to the opulence and squalor of Georgian
London. Written with sympathy and penetration about this extraordinary
genius, it details Handel's career which abounded in reversals that
would have crushed anyone with less resilience and willpower, but his
influence was deeply felt by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Interwoven
with the account of Handel's life are commentaries on all his major
works, as well as many less familiar pieces by this most inventive,
expressive, and captivating of composers.