Bach and Handel

[HaydnFan]

Not asking for your preference

I know Bach and Handel never met but did Handel ever get to hear Bach's music? If he did, was he blown away? If not, do you think he would have been blown away considering he was a musician and obviously understood music and its difficulty levels, etc., refering to the fact that the musically-bland public did not care for Bach (as incomprehensible as that is to us today)

[Peter]

They came very close to meeting on one occasion in 1719 when on a visit to Halle he missed Bach's arrival in the same city by one day! We know of Bach's admiration for Handel, and Handel must have been familiar at least with Bach's reputation if only from his brief visits back to Germany, only 50 miles from where Bach was living at the time. They both suffered from cataracts in old age and incredibly were operated on by the same eye surgeon John Taylor who ironically also ended up going blind!

------------------
'Man know thyself'

[This message has been edited by Peter (edited 10-18-2005).]

[Rod]

Originally posted by HaydnFan:
Not asking for your preference

I know Bach and Handel never met but did Handel ever get to hear Bach's music? If he did, was he blown away? If not, do you think he would have been blown away considering he was a musician and obviously understood music and its difficulty levels, etc., refering to the fact that the musically-bland public did not care for Bach (as incomprehensible as that is to us today)

As far as I am aware there is no direct evidence of Handel reading or hearing a Bach score, though it would be possible as Handel was always interested in the musical trends in Europe. But we know for a fact Bach read some of Handel's. I doubt Handel would have been too blown away as he all but abandoned the strict German style favoured by Bach at a very early age.


------------------
"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[This message has been edited by Rod (edited 10-18-2005).]

[Joy]

Originally posted by Peter:
They came very close to meeting on one occasion in 1719 when on a visit to Halle he missed Bach's arrival in the same city by one day! We know of Bach's admiration for Handel, and Handel must have been familiar at least with Bach's reputation if only from his brief visits back to Germany, only 50 miles from where Bach was living at the time. They both suffered from cataracts in old age and incredibly were operated on by the same eye surgeon John Taylor who ironically also ended up going blind!

So I'm assuming the procedure did not go well as I have heard Bach went blind in his older age. Was Handel also blind in his later years?



------------------
'Truth and beauty joined'

[HaydnFan]

Yes,Handel did go blind. Both had the same surgery performed by the same surgeon (or so I've heard).

Bach actually died because of an infection caused by the unclean equipment used (or so I've been told). As for Handel, the surgery di dnot help at all.

[Chaszz]

Bach's strongest reputation during his lifetime was as a master organist and Handel would probably have known of him mostly in this way. He was not considered a particularly important composer, but instead one who sought to perfect the older polyphonic style. This was being replaced by early tendencies toward monophony, leading eventually to the Classical style. These tendencies can be heard in Handel and Telemann.

[PDG]

Originally posted by Peter:
They both suffered from cataracts in old age and incredibly were operated on by the same eye surgeon John Taylor who ironically also ended up going blind!

So a case of the blind leading the blind? Had he been going deaf I suppose he could have treated Beethoven!