Was handel gay

In the king commissioned Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks : over 12, people attended its public rehearsal in Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, causing a three-hour traffic jam. Lord Burlington and the Duke of Chandos, his two principal British patrons, were both homosexual, she claims, as was Prince Francesco Maria Ruspoli, one of his Italian benefactors.

Categories : Composers deaths Selected articles births. There have been speculations that he might have been gay, but this can never be proved one way or the other. Navigation menu Personal tools Log in. This page was last modified on 21 Juneat This page has been accessed 17, times.

Views Read View source View history. Namespaces Page Discussion. Handel's father discouraged his early interest in music, and he studied law for a time. Arts & Entertainment 18 Queer Composers Who Made Music History Classical music wouldn't be what it is today without these great gay maestros.

He was believed to have been gay, moving in circles in Italy and London where same-sex desire was accepted. Many of his operas and oratorios were first performed at the King's Theatre in the Haymarket now Her Majesty's Theatre or at the Theatre Royal Covent Gardenbut his most famous oratorio, Messiahusing words from the King James Biblewas first performed in Dublin in Handel wrote the very popular Water Music for the king in In Handel wrote the coronation music for the king's successor Georg II; The anthem Zadok the Priest has been performed at every coronation since then.

Music historian Ellen Harris leads on the case for Handel’s homosexuality, arguing that his cantatas exhibit a clear homosexual subtext in her book Handel as Orpheus. Dr Ellis maintains that, as he got older, Handel became part of a homosexual circle that encouraged his work on the sexually ambiguous cantatas.

She illuminates the differences between Handel's writing for male and female characters, and shows how musical details can often support a same-sex interpretation of a work whose libretto is. George II is said to have asked him about his "love of women," to which Handel replied evasively that he had no time for anything but music.

Which Composers Were Gay : Can you imagine a world without the music of Handel, Tchaikovsky, or Britten? These great composers of the past are just a few of many important musical figures who did not identify as heterosexual

Handel never married, and there is no firm evidence that he ever had a romantic relationship with a man or woman. His first two operas were produced inand in he travelled to Italy, producing sacred music and operas. In he became house composer at Cannons in Middlesexthe home of the Duke of Chandosfor whom he composed the Chandos Anthems.

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