A biography of Handel

Yesterday, it was the 326th anniversary of the birth of George Frideric Handel and today is the 300th anniversary of the first performance of Rinaldo, an opera he composed which also happened to be the first Italian opera written for the London stage. I think the universe is hinting to me that it is time I wrote about Handel (which, handily, is code for "I really like lists").

10 Facts About George Frederic Handel:

1) When he was born, Handel's father was already 63, and had high hopes for his son. He envisaged a career in law for the boy, but it soon became apparent that he had an enormous talent for music - and not only this, but he enjoyed spending hours playing instruments. Georg Handel Sr. was so alarmed by this development that he strictly forbade his son from going near any musical instrument, but Handel Jr. was having none of this. He somehow found a way to sneak a clavichord (a kind of early keyboard) into an attic room at the top of his house, and he would creep up there at night when everyone had gone to bed, to teach himself how to play.

2) During Handel's early teens, he took a trip with his father to go and visit his half-brother Carl, who at the time was a valet to Duke Johann Adolf I. Legend has it that whilst he was there, the Duke overheard him playing on the church organ, and was delighted by what he heard. This helped Handel to convince his father that he should be allowed lessons in composition and keyboard technique, and so he studied under Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow. During this time, he played for Frederick I of Prussia, and met many contemporary composers, including Bononcini and Telemann.

3) In 1702, Handel went to the University of Halle to study Law as his father had wished, but did not enjoy it. After only a year, he dropped out and became instead a violinist at the Hamburg Opera House. Between 1705 and 1708, he wrote and possibly directed four operas which were performed there.

4) Handel met a member of the famous de' Medici family around 1706, and accepted their invitation to spend some time living in Rome with them. At the time, operatic music was banned by the Papal States, so instead he composed choral music for the church for performances in the city. He continued, however, to write operas which were performed elsewhere in Europe, including Agrippina, which had a then unprecedented run of 27 performances, and was the object of much critical acclaim. 

5) In 1710, Handel became Kapellmeister to the man who was soon to become King George I of England, and so moved to London when George did, in 1714. A Kapellmeister was a man who was in charge of music-making, and so Handel's role for the rest of his life was to compose as much music as possible, something he did to great aplomb.In July 1717, the Water Music was performed for the first time along the Thames, where it went down a storm. At around this point also, Handel decided that he was bored of composing operas, and ignored them entirely for about five years.

6) Fiscally, Handel was very lucky - he invested in the famous South Sea Company in 1716, but managed to sell his stocks in 1720, before the bubble burst, leaving him a very rich man. During his lifetime, he was heavily involved with charities, and gave much money to the Foundling Hospital in London, as well as to charities which helped impoverished musicians and their families.

7) His time in Britain can be split into three main periods. Between 1719 and 1734, he was employed by the Royal Academy of Music, during which time he continued to compose at an extremely fast rate. Some of his most famous works from this time include the operas Giulio Cesare and Rodelinda and Zadok the Priest, which he was commissioned to write for the coronation of George II, and has been been performed at every coronation ceremony since.

8) After his contract at the Royal Academy ended, it was expected by many people that Handel would retire; instead he chose to start a new company with his friend John Rich at Covent Garden Theatre. From 1734 until 1741, he composed whilst Rich directed, introducing many more theatrical elements to the performances for some of the first times. During this period, in the summer of 1737, Handel, aged 52, suffered a stroke. It was assumed he would never be able to perform, let alone compose, again, as the illness had seemed to affect his understanding, but he took himself off to a German spa town, where he would spend many hours a day in the hot baths. He was able to give impromptu piano recitals to the surprised costumers of the spa, and by the following year was well enough to return to composing in London.

9) His later life produced some of his most prolific works. On 13 April 1742, 26 men and five boys put on the first performance of the Messiah, a piece that remains as popular today as it was on first performance. A few years later, in 1749, he wrote the Music for the Royal Fireworks, and when it premiered, over 10,000 people attended. This was to be his last major composition - in August 1750 he suffered serious injury in a carriage accident and a couple of years later, he went blind. He survived until 1759, when he finally died on 14 April.

10) He was given a state funeral in Westminster Abbey, and over 3,000 mourners attended. His works had been incredibly popular, and though in the nineteenth century they were to fall out of favour, in more recent years he has regained his popularity. He never married, and in his will he left most of his possessions to his niece Johanna, though his art collection was auctioned posthumously. Often referred to as the "musician's musician", Handel was a favourite of Bach, who attempted to meet him on several occasions but was always unsuccessful, and later Mozart and Beethoven, who described him as, "he master of us all... the greatest composer that ever lived. I would uncover my head and kneel before his tomb".     

Monopoly

So I was just talking with a friend about everybody's favourite board game - Monopoly - when I happened to chance upon an article on the game in today's Guardian. The article mentioned that the game itself will be turning 75 this week, so this seemed as good a time as any to list 75 (or thereabouts) facts about the streets and stations featured on the UK edition. Let's go! (Award yourself £200...)

Old Kent Road:

Originally, Old Kent Road was part of a Roman road which ran from Dover to Holyhead, which is quite a way. Roads were vitally important to the Roman Empire, because they were the lines of communication and supply, the two most important things for a conquering army. Famously, they were built in dead straight lines, with no corners, as this was believed to reduce the number of attacks on lone travellers, as would-be attackers would have nowhere to hide behind, which is quite a sensible idea. I still wouldn't want to walk all the way from Kent to Wales, though... Old Kent Road is the only street in what is considered South London to be included on the Monopoly board, and in 1550, was regarded as the limit of the City of London's authority.

Whitechapel Road:

The oldest manufacturing company in Britain is located on Whitechapel Road - the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, which you may not be surprised to learn, makes bells (mostly for churches) and 'bell accessories' (though I'm not quite sure what they are...fancy rope from which to ring the bell? Who knows...). The company officially dates back to 1570 (though there were people making bells there at least as early as 1420) and it has been located in its present premesis since 1670, in a building which is now Grade II listed. The bells in the children's rhyme Oranges and Lemons were all produced here, as were the bells of Westmister Abbey, Big Ben, many churches and cathedrals - some as far away as Australia - and the Liberty Bell.

The Angel Islington:

The only street in Monopoly to not actually be a street, Angel is a district of London which is part of the borough of Islington. The Angel Inn, which lies on the Great North Road, is believed to be where Thomas Paine wrote parts of the Rights of Man (he stayed there for a while after returning from France in 1790), which was a book defending the French Revolution, which states that "popular political revolution is permissible when a government does not safeguard its people, their natural rights, and their national interests", which is something I believe we should all get behind, with this current government...

Euston Road:

Officially opened as part of the New Road in 1756, Euston Road was built in the 1740s as London's first bypass, and its primary function was to allow sheep and cattle to be easily driven to Smithfield Market. It was only given its current name in 1852, by the Fitzroy family, who owned all the terraced houses along it, and who decided that it needed to be named after their luxurious country mansion, Euston Hall, which I'm sure those who were dwelling in the back-to-back housing really appreciated.

Pentonville Road:

Wikipedia doesn't have an entry on Pentonville Road There was little of Historical interest to ever happen here, so there's very little I can say about it, other than the fact that it was given its name in 1857. Moving on...

Pall Mall:

In the early nineteenth century, Pall Mall was the centre of the arts scene in London. The Royal Academy, the National Gallery and Christie's auction house were all once located along here, but by the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the street had lost its reputation for being a high class arts centre, and gained a reputation for being home to the most Gentleman's clubs in London... 

Whitehall:

Whitehall today is synonymous with the civil service and government in Britain, and a lot of very important government buildings are situated along it (Downing Street itself is one of the roads which leads off it). As well as this, it is also famous for being the place of Charles I's execution (royalists still commemorate this regicide every year on the anniversary of his death - 30 January), and housing the UK's principle war memorial - the Cenotaph.

Northumberland Avenue:
Northumberland Avenue was long associated with the Percy family, who later became the Dukes of Northumberland. The first Duke of Northumberland was a Tudor courtier who was Lord Protector to Edward VI when he was too young to rule alone, and father in law to Lady Jane Grey, who often stayed in their London property (the original house was knocked down and replaced in the 1650s). Jane was England's famous 'Queen for nine days' - by all accounts a very reluctant monarch, who was beheaded by the Catholic Mary when she assumed the throne so that she wouldn't prove a Protestant 'rallying point'. 

Bow Street:
Bow Street is a thoroughfare in Covent Garden, which today is most famous for the Opera House situated there (which was opened in 1732). The street is also famous for being (surprisingly enough) the foundation point of the Bow Street Runners, London's first professional police force, founded in 1749 by Henry Fielding. They solved petty crimes and made arrests of criminals for a fee, and helped inspire the Metropolitan Police Force. The officers themselves never called themselves 'runners' as they believed the term to be derogatory.

Malborough Street:
Originally a very fashionable area of London, where much of the aristocracy lived, by the mid-Victorian period, Marlborough Street had become very commercial, and remains so today. It's main 'claim to fame' (other than being a Monopoly street) is that Malboro cigarettes' (today the biggest selling brand in the world) original factory was based on the street.

Vine Street:
Poor old Vine Street doesn't seem to have a lot going for it. It's very short and narrow, and mostly contains the back entrances of buildings which open onto more salubrious streets. It is also the only street on the Monopoly board not to have a single pub, which proves very annoying for those who are trying to participate in the Monopoly Pub Crawl (which sounds like a lot of fun...) 

Strand:
Another street with a very old History, the Strand was originally part of a Roman road, and is recorded in 1198 as being Stronde and in 1220 as la Stranda, both Old English names which mean bank or shore (referring to the fact that it was originally along the edge of the then much wider River Thames). By the late middle ages however, it had become the main route which linked the City of London (the Civil and Commercial areas of the city) and the Palace of Westminster (the political centre of the city, and the country as a whole). It is also home to a very large number of aristocratic houses and palaces.

Fleet Street:
Obviously Fleet Street's most famous resident is it's demon barber, Sweeney Todd, but it has also become synonymous with the British press. It was the home of British journalism until the 1980s (the last news agency to move out was Reuters, in 2005) with almost all major national papers at one point having an office there. Even today, with no remaining papers situated there, Fleet Street remains a metonym for the press.

Trafalgar Square:
Possibly the most famous Square in the UK, Trafalgar Square was named after the Battle of Trafalgar, Britain's great naval victory in the Napoleonic wars. Today, it doesn't really serve any purpose other than being a tourist attraction - it is often used in background shots of films and TV shows to suggest a generic London location, and for celebrations, such as New Year's Eve parties and welcoming returning sports victors. 

Leicester Square:
In the early 17th century, the 2nd Early of Leicester bought the area around what is today Leicester Square, built a house and closed off the grounds to the local residents of St. Martin's Parish. This meant that the commoners were not allowed to use the common land - a tradition which dated back to Norman times - so they appealed to King Charles I in large numbers - such large numbers, in fact, that Charles was supposedly fearful of what would happen to him should he refuse their demands. It was therefore ordered that the area of land surrounding the house be reopened to the public, and it became known as Leicester Square.

Coventry Street:
Apparently, someone has measured that, at the weekend up to 150,000 people walk along Coventry Street. This has to be one of the most random statistics ever... Coventry Street is most famous for being the home of Charles Hirsch's Librairie Parisienne, which between 1890 and 1900, ran a clandestine trade in expensive pornography, with the help of Oscar Wilde. It is claimed that Hirsch and Wilde wrote Teleny, or, The Reverse of the Medal together - the first work of homosexual pornography. The book is still in print, if you are curious...

Piccadilly:
Until the 17th Century, Piccadilly was known as Portugal Street. However, during the later part of this century, a tailor named Robert Baker was able to amass a large fortune by selling piccadills - "stiff collars with scalloped edges and a broad lace or perforated border" - which were very fashionable at the time. He made so much money that he was able to purchase much of the land on the street, and renamed it after his large property, Piccadilly House. Well, I guess they already had a Baker Street...

Regent Street:
After the Great Fire of London in 1666, when a large part of the city was destroyed, there was a desire by leading figures of the day to impose order on the city's medieval streets, which were a complete mess. Whilst some areas were rebuilt quickly, the Regent Street area wasn't touched until 1811, when the architect John Nash designed and built a new area of London, which completely ignored the old street layout and redesigned the streets so they lay parallel and perpendicular to each other. This idea didn't really catch on in Britain, but really took off in the new cities which were being built over in America. It was also one of the very first areas of London to be built primarily as a shopping district. 

Oxford Street:
Like it's neighbouring street, Oxford Street has been known as a shopping district since the nineteenth century and today is home to 548 stores, making it the busiest shopping area in Europe. Most of the UK's flagship stores are situated along it, and it is also home to Marble Arch, one of London's most famous landmarks.

Bond Street:
Bond Street technically does not exist - it is actually two separate sections, Old Bond Street  - the southern section - and New Bond Street - the northern section - (though you can see why no one really bothers to differentiate between the two). Originally just consisting of Old Bond Street, which was named after Sir Thomas Bond who developed the area in the late 1600s, New Bond Street was tacked onto the end in later years when it became clear just how fashionable the green squares area was becoming.  

Park Lane:
Considering it is the second most expensive property on the Monopoly board, Park Lane doesn't actually have that much going for it. Until the early nineteenth century, it was literally just a lane on the edge of Hyde Park, where it became a fashionable residential address and later home to Grosvenor House, the residence of the Duke of Westminster, which, when it was first built, was the largest privately owned home in London. And that is literally it - today it's famous for being a place where rich people lived, and being a free through route in the congestion charge zone, which feels slightly anticlimactic... 

Mayfair:
As on the Monopoly board, the Mayfair area has one of the highest rent prices in the UK. These days, it is home to many commercial and corporate headquarters; private banks and hedge funds and government embassies - most famously the United States' UK embassy. Though the area is so obsessed with wealth, it is actually named after the May Fair which originally happened annually in the area until the residents complained that it 'lowered the tone of the area' and demanded it move elsewhere. The fair organisers obliged, but the name had already stuck.

If you got to the end of that, I would like to take a moment to congratulate you, and offer you a further £200 - you deserve it!

     

                           

London Calling

17 October seems to be a somewhat deadly day for Londoners, so, if you are one, I implore you to be extra careful today. I hope this didn't make you panic, as I may have exaggerated slightly there - the number of people killed on this day is pretty low. It's more that the circumstances of their deaths are unusual to say the least...

Firstly, we shall take a trip to 17 October 1091 - though I'd advise you to bring your wellies and possibly a change of clothes, as we're about to experience one of Britain's largest storms - so large, in fact, that it was actually a tornado. It was the earliest recorded tornado on mainland Britain and still holds the record for being the severest. Winds exceeded 200mph and caused London Bridge to fall down, as well as around 600 houses and the church of St. Mary-le-Bow. Astonishingly, records claim that only two people were killed as a result of the storm (reckoned to be a T8 category tornado, for those to whom that may mean something). 

Of course, this being medieval England, everything happened for a reason because God was displeased, and boy, did God have his reasons for being displeased. The King  at the time, William Rufus, the second son of William I (a.k.a the Conqueror), was a bit of a dodgy chap and there were many of his actions which may have resulted in God being pissed enough to send a tornado London's way. He allowed his soldiers to do as they pleased in Britain and lead by example - stealing from churches to fund his extravagant lifestyle of hunting and feasting. He also removed the Archbishop of Canterbury and other religious leaders who disagreed with him and mocked those who decided to go on Crusade, saying that they were engaging in a pointless waste of time and money. It is easy to see why people believed he wouldn't exactly be in God's best books...  

Fast forward a few hundred years, and we're still in London, even though now it's 1814. You could still do with having your wellies and waterproofs with you though, in case you get covered in beer. I am ashamed to say that I initially laughed at this story, but actually it's pretty horrible because it involves eight people dying, three of whom were children. But it should still be filed under 'what a way to go', I think...

The eight were killed on this day in 1814 when several vats of beer in a brewery on Tottenham Court Road ruptured, spilling more than 323,000 imperial gallons  into the street and causing the basements of the houses on the road to fill up with beer. The brewery was taken to court over the accident, but in the end did not have to pay the damages as the event was ruled an Act of God. I shall try not to draw any conclusions about God from this...

Many people rushed out onto the streets (the accident happened in one of the slums of London, so there were a lot of people around) with pots, pans and any other receptacles they could find to prevent the beer from going to waste, whilst others simply lapped it up where they were standing (or lying, after a while...). The final casualty came a few days later, in the form of a man who died from alcohol poisoning, who had clearly tried very hard to stem the flow. A hero, of sorts...