Today’s cultural moment — social distancing edition
July 14, 2020
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comfort & joy, musical offerings | Tagged: George Frideric Handel, Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain | 
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Posted by bluebird of bitterness
Musical offering for Easter Sunday
April 12, 2020
6 Comments | comfort & joy, musical offerings | Tagged: Easter, George Frideric Handel, Messiah, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra | Permalink
Posted by bluebird of bitterness
Happy birthday, George
February 23, 2020In celebration of the birthday of George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), here is the Sarabande from his Keyboard Suite in D minor, arranged for string quartet.
4 Comments | comfort & joy, musical offerings | Tagged: George Frideric Handel, Random String Quartet, Sarabande | Permalink
Posted by bluebird of bitterness
Happy birthday, George
February 23, 2019In celebration of the birthday of George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), here is a hornpipe from The Water Music, composed in 1717.
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Posted by bluebird of bitterness
Musical offering for the second day of Christmas
December 26, 2018
2 Comments | comfort & joy, musical offerings | Tagged: Christmas, George Frideric Handel, Messiah, Sofia Vokalensemble | Permalink
Posted by bluebird of bitterness
Happy birthday, George
February 23, 2018It’s the 333rd birthday of the English baroque composer George Frideric Handel. Although he was born in what is now Germany and spent several years in Italy, he made the eminently sensible decision as a young man to move to England, where he spent the remainder of his life. He enjoyed a long and successful career as a composer, producing forty-two operas, twenty-nine oratorios, sixteen organ concerti, and many other compositions. When he died at the age of seventy-four, more than three thousand mourners attended his funeral, and his remains were interred in Westminster Abbey.
Handel composed this Bell Sinfonia in 1738 as part of his opera Saul.
10 Comments | comfort & joy, musical offerings | Tagged: Bell Sinfonia, City of London Sinfonia, George Frideric Handel | Permalink
Posted by bluebird of bitterness
Happy birthday, George
February 23, 2017George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) composed his oratorio Solomon in 1748, and the sinfonia that introduces the third act, “The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba,” turned out to be one of his greatest hits. Originally scored for oboes and strings, the piece has been adapted to any number of instruments and combinations of instruments, including even some instruments that did not exist in the eighteenth century when the piece was composed. I especially like this version for solo harp (an instrument that has been with us since Biblical times).
7 Comments | comfort & joy, musical offerings | Tagged: Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, George Frideric Handel, harp | Permalink
Posted by bluebird of bitterness
Happy birthday, George
February 23, 2016George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) composed his Music for the Royal Fireworks in 1749 for King George II, to celebrate the signing of the treaty that ended the War of the Austrian Succession. Here is the fourth movement from the suite.
4 Comments | comfort & joy, musical offerings | Tagged: George Frideric Handel, Music for the Royal Fireworks | Permalink
Posted by bluebird of bitterness
It takes a village
December 3, 2014Of all the many versions of the Hallelujah Chorus with subtitles I’ve seen, this one, performed by residents of Quinhagak, Alaska, is my favorite — the cringe-inducing misplaced apostrophes notwithstanding.
Comments Off on It takes a village | comfort & joy, musical offerings | Tagged: George Frideric Handel, Messiah | Permalink
Posted by bluebird of bitterness
And He shall reign for ever and ever
December 22, 2013One roast beef sandwich coming right up. Would you like some Handel with it?
3 Comments | comfort & joy, musical offerings | Tagged: Christmas, flash mob, George Frideric Handel, Messiah | Permalink
Posted by bluebird of bitterness
