THE biographies that have moulded our understanding of Handel, man and icon – a musician of supreme talent, a master of musical ideas, emotions, and people – have been an explicit part of this study because there is no other way for us to learn about the man and his life. The authors of those biographies brought unique combinations of talents and prejudices to their subject and we have seen how their views shaped their books. The ideas that have continued to be used to interpret Handel's life – such as independence and popularity – have, in turn, been adopted by the writers of music histories and textbooks in order to tell a broader story, but one that is even less true to the circumstances Handel encountered. This book is the first to attempt to discern the composition and attitudes of the actual historical audience for music and to approach a composer and his works from the audience’s perspective. That was not a necessary condition for understanding Handel anew, but, by reducing the privileges traditionally accorded a biography's subject, we have been able to increase clarity. It remains for me to highlight some of the themes we have pursued, drawing together points that are less obvious if only because they are scattered through the previous chapters.

Popularity and Opposition

HANDEL has come to have a cultural presence almost akin to Shakespeare’s. When and how he came to have it are topics for another book, though biographies have made a signal contribution to that effort. One aspect of cultural presence, namely popularity during his lifetime, is relevant here because of its prevalence; ‘popularity’ is used by authors so frequently that we are almost bludgeoned into accepting it. Along with such words as ‘famous’ and ‘great’, it is used to create an aura of invincibility, inevitability, and acceptance. But the popularity of oratorios, for example, is not inherent to the genre or to the individual works, nor does it lie in the claims (almost all of which are unsubstantiated) made by authors. Rather, it arises from the action of performers and audiences, actions that are based only in part upon a perception of aesthetic superiority.