The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia

Cambridge University Press, 10/24/2013
EAN 9781107666405, ISBN10: 1107666406

Paperback, 857 pages, 22.7 x 15.2 x 3.7 cm
Language: English

George Frideric Handel was born and educated in Germany, flourished in Italy, and chose to become British. One of the most cosmopolitan of the great composers, much of Handel's music has remained in the popular repertory since his lifetime, and a broad variety of his music theatre works from Italian operas to English oratorios have experienced a dramatic renaissance since the late twentieth century. A large number of publications devoted to Handel's life and music have appeared from his own time to the present day, but The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia gathers the full range of present knowledge and leading scholarship into a single volume for convenient and illuminating reference. Packed with well over 700 informative and accessible entries, both long and short, this book is ideal for performers, scholars, students and music lovers who wish to explore the Handelian world.

Preface
Foreword Christopher Hogwood
A-Z general entries
Appendix 1. Worklist
Appendix 2. Chronology
Appendix 3. Handel's family tree
Appendix 4. Handel iconography
Appendix 5. Genealogical table of the ruling houses of Britain and Hanover
Appendix 6. Handel's music on CD and DVD
Appendix 7. An overview of fifty Handel performers, 1959–2009
Appendix 8. Handel organizations and websites
Select bibliography.

'Scrupulous in its scholarship, with a breadth and richness of scope befitting its subject, The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia is indeed 'the perfect Baedeker', as Christopher Hogwood avers in his engaging Foreword.' Richard Wigmore, Gramophone

'[This book] achieves a small miracle in delivering an overview that drills deep into biography, social context and the music with wide-ranging ease and a commanding but approachable authority … What emerges is an impressive achievement, a multifaceted portrait of the composer and a kaleidoscopic perspective of the music's place in its own time and across the changing fashions and fads of the past two and a half centuries.' Classical Music

'This is an outstanding book, in scope, in scholarship and in presentation. Its 88 contributors read like a roll-call of the great and good in the field of Handel studies. Not simply an essential resource for Handelians, but alluringly readable for the most innocent newcomer to the composer's world.' George Pratt, BBC Music Magazine

'An incredible achievement! Articles are extensive, both well documented for scholars and eminently readable. No stone appears to have been left unturned and the result is an amazingly comprehensive A-Z of anyone and anything connected to the great master of the baroque and the legacy with which he has enriched our lives.' Harry Christophers, conductor of The Sixteen and artistic director of the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston

'The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia is remarkable: a well-researched, elegantly written, often times witty, cornecopia of Haendelian lore and miscellany.' William Christie, conductor

'The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia is a fitting tribute to one of the greatest composers. It is extremely comprehensive, dealing not only with the background to Handel's musical masterpieces, but also with his contemporaries, colleagues, friends and singers who performed in his operas and oratorios. 86 experts from a range of scholarly disciplines examine Handel's life and work from a wide variety of aspects, and the encyclopedia will serve to emphasise the composer's genius in such a wide range of musical styles. The editors are to be congratulated on producing such an indispensable adjunct to every musical library.' Sir Charles Mackerras, conductor

'The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia will be warmly welcomed by all Handelian scholars and performers. The descriptions of musical works are concise and to the point; the numerous biographical entries are especially interesting, and recreate the vivid and colourful musical worlds of Germany, Italy and London that formed the background to Handel's great works.' Paul McCreesh, conductor

'What a glorious resource this book is! It is an absolute must for all lovers of Handel's music. It is a terrific mine of information about his music and the fascinating cast of characters who performed it.' Nicholas McGegan, conductor

'The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia will never gather dust on my bookshelf. The wealth of information that it contains is so enticing that frequent reference is inevitable, and it is impossible to restrict myself to a single topic of enquiry at any one time. Music lovers, performers and scholars should not be without this book.' Trevor Pinnock, harpsichordist, conductor and founder of the English Concert

'This amazing enterprise runs to over eight hundred pages and contains some seven hundred articles, both long and short, covering Handel's life, music, people and places associated with him, performance style, performers and scholars … For both professionals and amateurs this book will form an admirable reference and it is a truly magnificent piece of scholarship.' Robert Hugill, Music and Vision

'No stone seems to have been left unturned, including the little-known aspects of the composer's life and personality. The result is an amazingly comprehensive A-Z dictionary giving insight into every single aspect of Handel's life and work and covering virtually all areas of Handelian scholarship. Entries range from places, venues and people to, no doubt more importantly, the musical works themselves - concisely, but always pertinently analysed - not to forget most of the current aesthetic issues directly or indirectly related to them.' Antoine Capet, Cercles

'The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia … marks the reassessment of the last four decades and is hugely informative about how Handel played the London market, borrowed on the musical exchange, gave munificently and composed.' David Martin, Times Literary Supplement