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J. S. BACH Jonathan Berkahn - Victoria University - Victoria ...

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of the mark. 4<br />

Handel’s influence can be seen in the fact that, long after his death, composers<br />

continued to favour mid-century genres: the oratorio, the organ concerto, the trio<br />

sonata, the fugue, and the keyboard suite. Even genres not exploited by Handel (and<br />

for all his centrality, there were many indigenous genres to which he hardly<br />

contributed)—the organ voluntary, the Anglican service, the glee, the symphony, the<br />

song—were often strongly influenced by his style. Much as Milton’s Paradise Lost<br />

had set a public standard for blank verse and Addison’s essays had for prose, the<br />

oratorios and instrumental music of Handel provided a universally accepted lingua<br />

franca for musical composition.<br />

A number of circumstances contributed to his uninterrupted and unstoppable<br />

rise in popularity after around 1750. Most important was his invention of the English<br />

oratorio, a felicitous harmonising of commercial, artistic, charitable, religious, and<br />

nationalist interests.<br />

It is startling, in retrospect, how fortuitous the chain of circumstances that led to its<br />

birth in 1732 was. In that year Handel’s Esther, a work written in Cannons around<br />

1718, was revived for a private, staged performance in celebration of his birthday (23<br />

February) at the Crown and Anchor Tavern. The first—unauthorised—public<br />

performance followed on 20 April, and it was to forestall such unauthorised<br />

representations that Handel announced his own performance of an enlarged version on<br />

2 May. As is well known, the Bishop of London stepped in to prevent the work from<br />

being staged theatrically, and therefore the announcements read: ‘There will be no<br />

Action on the Stage, but the House will be fitted up in a decent Manner, for the<br />

4 E. Routley, The musical Wesleys (London: Herbert Jenkins, 1968), pp.78-79.<br />

112

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