Zitate von Georg Friedrich Händel
Georg Friedrich Händel
Geburtstag: 23. Februar 1685
Todesdatum: 14. April 1759
Georg Friedrich Händel war ein deutsch-britischer Komponist des Barocks. Sein Hauptwerk umfasst 42 Opern und 25 Oratorien – darunter Messiah mit dem weltbekannten Chor „Halleluja“ –, Kirchenmusik für den englischen Hof, Kantaten, zahlreiche Werke für Orchester sowie Kammer- und Klaviermusik.
Händel, dessen künstlerisches Schaffen sich auf alle musikalischen Genres seiner Zeit erstreckte, war gleichzeitig als Opernunternehmer tätig. Er gilt als einer der bedeutendsten Musiker der Geschichte.
Zitate Georg Friedrich Händel
„You have taken far too much trouble over your opera. Here in England that is mere waste of time. What the English like is something that they can beat time to, something that hits them straight on the drum of the ear.“
Richard Alexander Streatfeild Handel (2005) p. 195, citing Anton Schmid Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck (1854) p. 29
In conversation with Gluck.
„I should be sorry if I only entertained them, I wish to make them better.“
James Beattie, letter of May 25, 1780, published in William Forbes An Account of the Life and Writings of James Beattie, LL.D. (1806) p. 331.
In reply to Lord Kinnoull, who had complimented him on his Messiah, "the noble entertainment which he had lately given the town". Beattie had this on the authority of Kinnoull himself.
„Handel is so great and so simple that no one but a professional musician is unable to understand him.“
Samuel Butler Notebooks (2004) p. 153.
Criticism
„Händel is the unattained master of all masters. Go and learn from him how to achieve vast effects with simple means.“
Criticism
Original: (de) Händel ist der unerreichte Meister aller Meister. Gehen Sie und lernen Sie von ihm, wie gewaltige Wirkungen mit einfachen Mitteln zu erreichen ist.
Beethoven, quoted by Ignaz von Seyfried. Published in Friedrich Kerst Beethoven der Mann und der Künstler, wie in seinen Eigenen Words enthüllt no. 111 http://www.bucheralle.org/6C76626D613131/ch35.html; Friedrich Kerst (trans. Henry Edward Krehbiel) Beethoven, the Man and the Artist, as Revealed in his own Words (1964), p. 54.
„This man is the master of us all.“
Er ist der Meister von uns allen!
Haydn, at a performance of Messiah. Quoted in John Galt George the Third, His Court and Family (1824) p. 34, and in Leopold Schmidt Joseph Haydn (1898) p. 86.
Criticism
„Whether I was in my body or out of my body I know not. God knows it!“
Quoted in The Harvard Magazine (December 1862), p. 141.
On composing the "Hallelujah Chorus" in 1741.
„His hallelujahs open the heavens. He utters the word "Wonderful," as if all their trumpets spoke together. And then, when he comes to earth, to make love amidst nymphs and shepherds (for the beauties of all religions found room within his breast), his strains drop milk and honey, and his love is the youthfulness of the Golden Age.“
Leigh Hunt Table-Talk (1851) pp. 147-8.
Criticism
„Every Englishman believes that Handel now occupies an important position in heaven. If so, le bon Dieu must feel toward him very much as Louis Treize felt toward Richelieu.“
George Bernard Shaw in Ainslee's Magazine, May 1913.
Criticism
„Handel paralysed music in England for generations and they have not yet quite got over him.“
Frederick Delius, letter to Ethel Smyth, February 17, 1909; Lionel Carley Delius: A Life in Letters vol. 2 (1988) p. 9.
Criticism
„Händel is the greatest and ablest of all composers; from him I can still learn.“
Händel ist der Größte und Fähigste aller Komponisten; von ihm kann ich immer noch lernen.
Beethoven on his deathbed, speaking to Gerhard von Breuning. Published in Friedrich Kerst Beethoven der Mann und der Künstler, wie in seinen Eigenen Words enthüllt no. 111 http://www.bucheralle.org/6C76626D613131/ch35.html; Friedrich Kerst (trans. Henry Edward Krehbiel) Beethoven, the Man and the Artist, as Revealed in his own Words (1964), p. 54.
Criticism
„I did think I did see all heaven before me, and the great God himself.“
Horatio Townsend An Account of the Visit of Handel to Dublin (1852) p. 93, citing Laetitia Matilda Hawkins Anecdotes, Biographical Sketches and Memoirs vol. 1 (1822).
His reply on being asked what his feelings were while writing the "Hallelujah Chorus".
„Händel is the greatest composer that ever lived. I would uncover my head and kneel on his grave.“
Händel ist der größte Komponist, der je lebte. Ich würde meine Kopfbedeckung abnehmen und auf seinem Grab knien.
Beethoven, speaking to J. A. Stumpff in the autumn of 1823. Published in Friedrich Kerst Beethoven der Mann und der Künstler, wie in seinen Eigenen Words enthüllt no. 112 http://www.bucheralle.org/6C76626D613131/ch35.html; Friedrich Kerst (trans. Henry Edward Krehbiel) Beethoven, the Man and the Artist, as Revealed in his own Words (1964), p. 54.
Criticism
