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dramatic power and lyrical beauty inherent in all his music. Handel was born on February 24, 1685, in Halle, Germany, to a family of no musical distinction. His own musical talent, however, manifested itself so clearly that before his tenth birthday he began to receive, from a local organist, the only formal musical instruction he would ever have. As a young man, Handel moved to Hamburg, the center of Germany's operatic world, and composed his first opera, Almira, which achieved great success the following year. Following this he moved to Italy, where he enjoyed the patronage of nobility and clergy, and composed a series of operas, oratorios, and many small secular cantatas. Handel left Italy for a job as court composer and conductor in Hannover, Germany, where he arrived in the spring of 1710. By the end of 1710 Handel had left for London, where with Rinaldo (1711), he once again scored an operatic triumph. By 1719 Handel had won the support of the King George 1 to start the Royal Academy of Music for performances of opera. The Academy presented some of Handel's greatest operas: Radamisto (1720), Giulio Cesare (1724), Tamerlano (1724), and Rodelinda (1725). In 1727 Handel became a naturalized British subject, but by 1729 he suffered a stroke which prompted him to temporarily retire.



In the 1730s, Handel made a comeback with the composition of several English dramatic oratorios, notably Athalia (1733) and Saul (1739). He also composed a steady diet of instrumental music used in conjunction with the oratorios, including some of some of his greatest concertos-the solo concertos of op. 4 (1736) and the 12 concerti grossi of op. 6 (1739). In 1742 Messiah, the work for which he is best known, was first performed in Dublin. Handel continued composing oratorios at the rate of about two a year, including such classic works as Samson (1743) and Solomon (1749), until 1751, when his eyesight began to fail. Handel died in London on April 14, 1759; the last musical performance he heard, on April 6, was of his own Messiah.