Who are Handel and Haydn?
G. F. Handel (1685-1759) was one of the greatest composers of the eighteenth century, a revered figure in his own lifetime whose music has remained popular from his day to our own. German by birth, Handel was a true cosmopolitan, ending up first in Italy before journeying to England in 1713. Handel worked in London for the rest of his life. There he produced an extraordinary range of music, including Italian operas, English oratorios, sacred anthems, instrumental concertos, and chamber music. One of the brightest lights of the Viennese Classical period, Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) had become the most famous composer in all of Europe by the 1780’s. Haydn spent much of his career working as the court composer for Prince Esterházy on his estate near Vienna, where he had the freedom to develop his compositional genius fully, with the excellent players of the Prince’s orchestra always at his disposal. His fame spread as his string quartets, symphonies, and piano sonatas became known acro
