XII. Confessions and Memories

Paul Brunton

Messiah – the original libretto. Dublin 1742.
Foundling Museum, London.

I met him on my eighteenth birthday, unexpectedly… I received a box with three vinyl records and a libretto in German – Messiah – Georg Friedrich Händel.

Beauty, lightness, playfulness, strength and intensity, a feeling of joy and unity with everything, all was completely new to me. I “heard” the music with my whole body, every cell, my heart, I was open and waves of vibrations, a feeling of grandeur, passed through me.

I flirted a little with Vivaldi, but Händel was my first, true love.
My life changed, without exaggeration, thanks to the three ‘LPs’.
I started listening to other works by Händel, Baroque composers and others, reading Shakespeare, the New Testament, later the Old Testament, medieval mystics, Jakub Böhm, I discovered Martin Buber, Květoslav Minařík, etc. And so I, an immature girl, was transformed by the influence of the Messiah…

And according to the law of “like attracts like”, I soon met kindred spirits– friends with whom we founded the Czech Handel Society when it was possible (in 1990). This was followed by trips throughout Europe, especially England, Italy and Germany. Concerts, friendly meetings with artists, musicologists and critics, as well as generous sponsors and kind patrons. We are all connected by music that is more than three centuries old, yet can fill us and elevate us to realms where everything is perfectly harmonious and beautiful.

G. F. Handel was born in the sensitive sign of Pisces, in which many excellent musicians were born, on February 23^rd, 1685 in Halle an der Saale, then Saxony, Germany. Geniuses are often born to older parents, his father was 63 and his mother was 34. His father was a surgeon and his mother was the daughter of a Lutheran pastor. Until very recently, musicologists researched the possibility that Pastor Taust's family came from Bohemia.

We know little about the childhood of the great Baroque musician, but there is a story about how little George discovered a spinet at home and began to play it with complete ease.
It is documented that he gave his first public performance at the age of eleven, and it was in Berlin.

Handel first graduated from grammar school and, as an obedient son, submitted to his father's will and enrolled in the law school. At the age of seventeen, he obtained a position as an organist and enchanted the audience with his improvisations, which also prompted his decision to quit his law studies and devote himself exclusively to music after his father's death. At the age of 18, he went to Hamburg, which was then one of the European musical centers.

It is certain that three men influenced his youth. It was his father, his first music teacher F. N. Zachow (organist and composer), and J. Matheson (conductor, singer, jack-of-all-trades), who almost caused the world to lose one of the best composers of all time. He touched the young Handel with his criticism and he was challenged to a duel.

Sometimes our lives are decided by little things, in this case it was a button on a coat that the sword stopped on and saved the valuable contents of the coat.

The Master's first work for theatre – the opera Almira, Queen of Castile – was performed in Hamburg in January 1705. It was received with great acclaim, as was another opera – Love Achieved by Blood and Murder– Nero.

Thereafter Handel devoted himself to teaching, working and saving money for his long-term study stay in Italy. His departure was also prompted by an invitation from the son of the Tuscan Grand Duke G. G. Medici. And so he left for Florence, the cradle of opera (opera was born in this Renaissance pearl of Tuscany), in the autumn of 1706.

Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665): Dance to the Music of Time (c. 1634–1636). Oil on canvas, 82.5 × 104 cm. Wallace Collection, London (Wikimedia Commons).
Four figures – most often identified as Labour, Poverty (Disillusionment, Truth), Wealth (Beauty), and Pleasure – dance in a circle, while Time is an old man playing the lyre on the right. The scene takes place early in the morning. Aurora, the goddess of dawn, is followed in the sky by Apollo's chariot.
The painting is often associated with Handel's oratorio.

He then stayed in Rome, where he became acquainted with the intellectual and artistic elite then, with members of the Arcadian Academy, which brought together not only artists, but also noblemen and clergy. During this period, he composed the oratorio Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno (The Triumph of Time and Truth, first version). The allegorical concept expresses the victory of Time and Truth over the transience of Beauty and Pleasure. He also composed the first ‘Italian‘ opera Rodrigo, in the libretto of which we find, inter alia, the words “…to overcome oneself is the greatest victory.”

The young Handel managed to win over and enthral the demanding Italian audience, he was not only an excellent composer, but also an organist and harpsichordist. The spirited Italian opera fans welcomed him with the cry of “Viva il caro Sassone” – long live the dear Saxon, which was completely unheard of for ‘foreigners‘ at the time, the Italian music scene was dominated by domestic artists such as A. Corelli, A. Scarlatti, B. Marcello and also A. Vivaldi.

After the success of Rodrigo, he dared to conquer the mecca of opera – the city on the lagoon – Venice.
His opera Agrippina opened the carnival season in December 1709, and its 27 reprises met with an extraordinary response from the spoiled Venetians. He learned a lot in Italy, he remembered this period for the rest of his life, but his restless spirit and ambition drove him on and within six months he accepted the position of the Kapellmeister at the Hanoverian court.

However, the threads of fate tangle and twist – after a visit to England – London he decided to take a big step in life and spent the next 47 years of his life in the island country, where he became the official composer of the English court and composed his greatest works.
Even in the life of this great man there were dark times, failure, lack of finances, illness and abandonment, yet he managed to elevate his spirit over matter and, while ill, composed his best-known and most famous work – the oratorio Messiah. And he continued to create – Samson, Balthasar, Judas Maccabeus, Joshua, Solomon, Music for the Fireworks and, as almost blind, Theodora and Jeptha.

He reaped deserved recognition, at the peak of his life he experienced success, support, but his body weakened. Handel died on April 14^th, 1759, and his remains were laid to rest in Westminster Abbey, in the good company of famous writers C. Dickens, T. Hardy, R. Kipling and other titans.

‘The Charming Brute’. Famous Handel caricature by Joseph Goupy (?1689–1769) from 1754 (Wikimedia Commons).

to other people, they behave ‘their way’, they do not submit to general standards of ‘decency’. They live as they want, their spirit is free…
Many stories are told about the Master; like all great men, he had a unique sense of humour. He spent a lot of time at the theatre and during rehearsals spoiled prima donnas, hysterical castrati and other members of the ensemble often showed up, so he used the gift properly.
During one rehearsal, a singer started shouting from the choir at Handel – “…if you don't accompany me better, I'll jump down onto your harpsichord and smash it to pieces!” Handel agreed – “Do it, just please tell me when. I'll put it in the programme, and I'm sure more people will come to watch your jump than would come to listen to you.”

As a true Baroque man, Handel was no ascetic. When visiting one restaurant, he ordered 16 different courses, soups, fish, roasts, poultry, desserts, pancakes, cheeses, and beer, wine and liqueurs. The waiter wrote down the order, set the table and waited. The angry Master asked him – “what are you waiting for” and the waiter replied – “for company…” And Handel thundered – “do it and bring it to the table, presto, prestissimo, I am the company!”

One ​​of his contemporaries says: “I had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Handel and talking to him. Among other virtues he was in possession of a great stock of humour. No one had ever told stories to such an effect. However, the listener had to understand at least four languages – English, French, Italian and German, because Handel mixed them together.”

Handel was born in the last sign of the zodiac, Pisces, which is the synthesis of all signs. People born under Pisces are sensitive and receptive, they tend to be artistically gifted, especially musically. The idealistic double sign of Pisces is moody, kind-hearted, and generous. It is known that the Master liked to help others, often donating funds to orphanages and those in need. He was very quirky, but also compassionate, which is also evidenced by his strongly emotional work.

The ruling planet of Pisces is Neptune, which is also found in this sign, which further strengthens his Neptunian nature. Idealism, great sensitivity, but also a possible escape from reality into the world of fantasy, beauty, and various addictions. Handel loved good food and did not avoid drinking wine.

His Mercury, the planet that represents intellect, communication, and friendly relations with others, is in the idealistic sign of Aquarius. It can be easily guessed that he was far ahead of his contemporaries in his ideas and inspirations. This Mercury ‘gives’ a person a creative way of thinking, independence, many social contacts, and a friendly and kind-hearted nature.

Venus, the planet of love and relationship to beauty and art, is also in the sign of Aquarius, bringing freedom-mindedness. We know that Handel never married, and had various flirtations, mostly with singers. These people usually do not want to live like others, they are looking for new, more free and more open forms of relationships, unless they find a partner who is truly inspiring, fun and tempting, they do not commit themselves to the relationship.

Mars, the planet of energy, men and sexuality, is in the determined and combative sign of Scorpio. It gives a person very intense feelings and perseverance, the possibility of achieving great life successes. It can be inferred from a passionate attitude towards life, harsher behavior, outbursts of anger, an uncompromising attitude, which results in complicated relationships with others.

The mysterious Moon, the bearer of emotions and instincts, is also in the sign of Scorpio, thus revealing the Master's complicated psyche. For partnerships and emotional life, this position is too intense and combative. Another influence of this Moon is emotional closure, a deep and intense inner life, which Handel undoubtedly managed to transform into his music. He created his work with the desire not only to entertain the listener, but also to elevate and improve him.

In Handel's horoscope, the water and air elements, emotions and intellect prevail. He has the largest occupancy of intuitive signs – Pisces, Aquarius and Scorpio, which yields a great connection with the spiritual sphere, the so-called direct line…

Finally, I must add that the Master's Uranus, the planet of intense and sudden changes, is in the third degree of Taurus, exactly where my Sun is. Astrology says that it is a truly fascinating, magnetic influence. ‘Uranus’ stimulates creative power, originality and creativity, intuition and develops the talent of the ‘Sun’.

Thank you, Master!

Věra Várady

Entered 21^st February 2025.

Factographic and data information is based on the work of Pavel Polka, founder and chairman of the Czech Handel Society. The article was published in the magazine Regenerace.

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