On 10 January, our friend and colleague Dr h. c. Terence Best passed away at the age of 94. As long-time Editorial Director of the Halle Handel Edition, he shaped the character and profile of this historical-critical edition like no other; he compiled a total of 21 volumes for this edition, an achievement of the century. His achievements in fostering understanding and cultural exchange between Great Britain and both the divided and reunited Germany can hardly be measured. Terence Best has regularly attended the Handel Festival in Halle since 1973, and many people here have grown fond of him like a brother. Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg awarded him an honorary doctorate for his contribution to Handel research, he was a Vice President of the International Handel Society for many years and was declared an honorary member in 2010. In Terence Best we have lost a great researcher, an admirable person and an endearing friend. The Handel Society will honour his memory forever.

Halle, on 16 January 2024

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hirschman
President of the George Frideric Handel Society and Editorial Director of the Halle Handel Edition

Here you will find a Deutschlandfunk feature on the cancellation of the Handel oratorio “Israel in Egypt” from the program of the RIAS Chamber Choir’s New Year’s Concert. An interview with Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hirschmann, musicologist from Halle and President of the Georg Friedrich Händel Society, and Bernhard Heß, Director of the RIAS Chamber Choir:

https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/cancel-culture-israel-in-egypt-aus-dem-rias-chor-programm-gestrichen-dlf-7346bfe3-100.html

https://www.uferstudios.com/de/dance/veranstaltungen/

Call for Papers

International Scholarly Conference at the Handel Festival in Halle an der Saale, 27 to 29 May 2024

Unendliche Schönheiten. Georg Friedrich Händel und die Musikkultur Frankreichs – Une infinité de belles choses. Georges Frédéric Haendel et la culture musicale française – Endless beauties. George Frideric Handel and French Music Culture

If one can trust the Mémoires d’un Musicien of 1756, then George Frideric Handel had in his library numerous volumes of operas by Jean-Baptiste Lully, André Campra, Jean-Marie Leclair and Jean-Philippe Rameau. These volumes included Rameau’s works for keyboard and treatises on music. In 1733 Abbé Antoine François Prévost mentioned that Handel had “emprunté le fond d’une infinité de belles choses de Lully, et surtout des Cantates Françaises”. This is a good reason to set up an International Conference to reconsider the conditions, requirements, scope and significance of the impact of French music on Handel’s oeuvre. These influences affect nearly all genres in his oeuvre: the Italian operas based on French librettos (Teseo, Amadigi di Gaula), and the English oratorios based on French plays (Esther, Athalia, Theodora, Jephtha), the overtures and suites for orchestra, and for harpsichord. The influences are also visible in the cantatas (of which the French Sans y penser is certainly a special case), in Handel’s church music, the music for the stage drama Alceste, and in the collaboration with the French dancer Marie Sallé.

The conference aims to explore the transfer routes of French music to Germany, Italy and England as well as the adaptations and transformations of French models in Handel’s works. Other focal points will be the history of the impact and performance of Handel’s music and the changing images of Handel in France from the 18th century to the present. Comparative reflections on the reception of French music by Handel’s contemporaries are also very welcome.

The organisers invite interested scholars to participate in the conference with a 25-minute paper and ask for an application with a proposal and abstract by 15 October 2023. Travel and accommodation costs will be covered for the conference days (three nights 26/27, 27/28, 28/29 May).

Organisers:

• Georg-Friedrich-Händel-Gesellschaft e.V., Internationale Vereinigung
• Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Institut für Musik, Medien- und Sprechwissenschaften, Abteilung Musikwissenschaft
• Stiftung Händel-Haus Halle

Contact:

• Dr. Annette Landgraf: landgraf@musik.uni-halle.de
• Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hirschmann: wolfgang.hirschmann@musik.uni-halle.de
• Dr. Juliane Riepe: leitung.bibliothek@haendelhaus.de
• Ulrike Harnisch: gesellschaft@haendel.de

Please download the Call for Papers:

Call for papers Handel Conference 2024 [105KB/pdf]
Call for papers Händel-Konferenz 2024 [104KB/pdf]

Wednesday, 24.05.2023, 19:30, Handel House, Renaissance Room

“Il Messia”. Handel’s most famous work is heard for the first time on the European mainland – in Florence and in the Italian language

Speaker: Dr. Juliane Riepe (Halle)

Unlike Bach, Telemann or Vivaldi, Handel is one of those few composers of the early modern period who did not have to be rediscovered by later generations – his work has been an uninterrupted part of European musical practice right up to the present day. On closer inspection, however, things are more complicated. Handel’s operas disappeared from the stages shortly after their first performance and remained unperformed for more than a century and a half. Until the 20th century, the composer’s posthumous fame was based primarily on his oratorios written in Great Britain and Ireland, which were, however, only performed there during his lifetime. After Handel’s death in 1759, several years passed before one of his oratorios was heard for the first time in mainland Europe – in Italy and in an Italian arrangement. In 2019, the Handel House Foundation acquired the oldest known source for this Italian version; in 2023, Il Messia will be heard for the first time at the Handel Festival in Halle. The lecture will present the Italian Messiah and trace its fascinating context of origin.

Georg Friedrich Händel: Giulio Cesare in Egitto, HWV17

Premiere: Saturday 1 April 2023 | 7 pm | Oper Leipzig

https://www.oper-leipzig.de/

The musicologist and president of the George Frideric Handel Society, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hirschmann, has also been invited to the speech of the British King Charles III at the German Bundestag. Read the article on Campus Halensis:https://www.campus-halensis.de/artikel/charles-iii-in-berlin-bundestag-ladt-handel-forscher-wolfgang-hirschmann-ein/

Please read an article about the Halle Handel Edition here:

https://www.akademienunion.de/forschung/zahl-der-woche