For the Charles Gounod opera, see La reine de Saba.

This article contains Ethiopic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Ethiopic characters.

The Queen of Sheba (Hebrew: מלכת שבא‎, Malkaṯ Šəḇâ in Biblical Hebrew; Malkat Sh'va in Modern Hebrew; Ge'ez: ንግሥተ ሳባ, Nigiste Saba (Nəgəstä Saba); Arabic: ملكة سبأ‎, Malikat Sabaʾ) was a monarch of the ancient kingdom of Sheba and is referred to in Ethiopian history, the Bible, the Qur'an, Yoruba customary tradition, and Josephus. She is widely assumed to have been a queen regnant, although there is no historical proof of this; in fact, she may have been a queen consort.^[1] The location of her kingdom is believed to have been in Ethiopia and Yemen.

Diverse references[link]

The queen of Sheba has been called a variety of names by different peoples in different times. To King Solomon of Israel she was the Queen of Sheba. In Islamic tradition she was called Bilqis or Balqis by the Arabs, who say she came from the city of Sheba, also called Mareb, in Yemen or Arabia Felix. The Roman historian Josephus calls her Nicaule. The Ethiopian people claim her as Makeda or Maqueda. She is thought to have been born sometime in the 10th century BC. Her lineage was part of the Ethiopian dynasty established in 1370 BCE by Za Besi Angabo, which lasted 350 years; Makeda's grandfather and father were the last two rulers of this dynasty. Makeda's mother was known as Queen Ismenie. In 1005 BCE, Makeda's father appointed her as his successor from his deathbed.^[2]

To the early ancient Greeks, Ethiopia referred to an empire that encompassed a vast territory, extending to Arabia, Syria, Armenia, and the territory between the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean, and the Persian Gulf. This is the empire that the Queen of Sheba was said to have reigned over. In the Ethiopian Book of Aksum, she is described as establishing a new capital city at Azeba, while the Kebra Negast refers to her building a capital at Debra Makeda, or "Mount Makeda". The Yemenite kingdom of Himyar refers to her in its histories as well.^[3]

In the Hebrew Bible, a tradition of the history of nations is preserved in Genesis 10. In Genesis 10:7 there is a reference to Sheba, the son of Raamah, the son of Cush, the son of Ham, son of Noah. In Genesis 10:26-29 there is a reference to another person named Sheba, listed along with Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab as the descendants of Joktan, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, the son of Arphaxad, the descendant of Shem, another son of Noah.

Aharoni, Avi-Yonah, Rainey, and Safrai placed the Semitic Sheba in Southern Arabia in geographic proximity to the location of the tribes descended from their ancestor, Joktan. In addition to Sheba, Hazarmaveth and Ophir were identified. Semitic Havilah was located in Eastern Africa, modern day Ethiopia. Semitic Havilah (Beresh't 10:29) is to be distinguished from Cushite Havilah (Beresh't 10:7), the descendant of Cush, descendant of Ham; both locations for Havilah are thought by these scholars to have been located in present day Ethiopia.^[4]

Narratives concerning the Queen of Sheba[link]

Hebrew biblical accounts[link]

Claude Lorrain, The Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba

According to the Hebrew Bible, the unnamed queen of the land of Sheba heard of the great wisdom of King Solomon of Israel and journeyed there with gifts of spices, gold, precious stones, and beautiful wood and to test him with questions, as recorded in First Kings 10:1-13 (largely copied in 2 Chronicles 9:1–12).

It is related further that the queen was awed by Solomon's great wisdom and wealth, and pronounced a blessing on Solomon's God. Solomon reciprocated with gifts and "everything she desired." Solomon offered to give her everything his kingdom had to offer except the "royal bounty." Therefore, according to the Bible, "she turned and went to her country, she and her servants." The queen apparently was quite rich, however, as she brought four and a half tons of gold with her to give to Solomon (1 Kings 10:10).

In the biblical passages which refer explicitly to the Queen of Sheba there are no hints of love or sexual attraction between Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. The two are depicted merely as fellow monarchs engaged in the affairs of state.

Account in the New Testament[link]

The Queen of Sheba is believed^[who?] to be the Queen of the South referenced in Matthew 12:42 and Luke 11:31 in the New Testament, where Jesus indicates that she and the Ninevites will judge the generation of Jesus' contemporaries who rejected him. (Some arguments believe that The Queen of Sheba was not the Queen of the South, because she did not come from the Ends of the Earth.)

Qur'anic and other Middle Eastern accounts[link]

The Queen of Sheba, Bilqis, shown in a Persian miniature reclining in a garden - tinted drawing on paper c. 1595

The Qur'an, the central religious text of Islam, mentions the kingdom of the Queen by name (Sheba) in the 34th Chapter. Arab sources name her Balqis, Bilqis or Bilquis. The Qur'anic narrative, from sura 27 (An-Naml),^[5] has Suleiman (Salomon) getting reports from the Hoopoe bird about the kingdom of Saba (Sheba), ruled by a queen whose people worship the sun instead of God. Suleiman sends a letter inviting her to submit fully to the One God, Allah, Lord of the Worlds according to the Islamic text. The Queen of Sheba is unsure how to respond and asks her advisors for counsel. They reply by reminding her that they are "of great toughness" in a reference to their willingness to go to war should she choose to. She replies that she fears if they were to lose, Suleiman may behave as any other king would: 'entering a country, despoiling it and making the most honorable of its people its lowest'. She decides to meet with Suleiman in order to find out more. Suleiman receives her response to meet him, and asks if anyone can bring him her throne before she arrives. A jinn under the control of Suleiman proposed that he will bring it before Suleiman rises from his seat. One who had knowledge of the "Book" proposed to bring him the throne of Bilqis 'in the twinkling of an eye' and accomplished that immediately.^[6] The queen arrives at his court, is shown her throne and asked: does your throne look like this? She replied: (It is) as though it were it. When she enters his crystal palace she accepts Abrahamic monotheism and the worship of one God alone, Allah.

Ethiopian accounts[link]

An Ethiopian fresco of the Queen of Sheba travelling to Solomon.

The imperial family of Ethiopia claims its origin directly from the offspring of the Queen of Sheba by King Solomon.^[7] The Queen of Sheba (ንግሥተ ሣብአ nəgəśtã Śāb'ã), is named Makeda (ማክዳ Mākədā) in the Ethiopian account.

Story[link]

An ancient compilation of Ethiopian legends, Kebra Negast ('the Glory of Kings'), is dated to seven hundred years ago and relates a history of Makeda and her descendants. In this account King Solomon is said to have seduced the Queen of Sheba and sired her son, Menelik I, who would become the first Emperor of Ethiopia.

The narrative given in the Kebra Negast - which has no parallel in the Hebrew Biblical story - is that King Solomon invited the Queen of Sheba to a banquet, serving spicy food to induce her thirst, and inviting her to stay in his palace overnight. The Queen asked him to swear that he would not take her by force. He accepted upon the condition that she, in turn, would not take anything from his house by force. The Queen assured that she would not, slightly offended by the implication that she, a rich and powerful monarch, would engage in stealing. However, as she woke up in the middle of the night, she was very thirsty. Just as she reached for a jar of water placed close to her bed, King Solomon appeared, warning her that she was breaking her oath, water being the most valuable of all material possessions. Thus, while quenching her thirst, she set the king free from his promise and they spent the night together.

Other Ethiopian accounts make her the daughter of a king named Agabo or Agabos, in some legends said to have become king after slaying the mythological serpent Arwe; in others, to have been the 28th ruler of the Agazyan tribe. In either event, he is said to have extended his Empire to both sides of the Red Sea.^{[citation needed]}

The tradition that the Biblical Queen of Sheba was a ruler of Ethiopia who visited King Solomon in Jerusalem, in ancient Israel, is supported by the first century CE. Roman (of Jewish origin) historian Flavius Josephus, who identified Solomon’s visitor as a "Queen of Egypt and Ethiopia".^[8]

While there are no known traditions of matriarchal rule in Yemen during the early first millennium BC, the earliest inscriptions of the rulers of Dʿmt in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea mention queens of very high status, possibly equal to their kings.^[9]

Etymology of Makeda[link]

The etymology of her name is uncertain, but there are two principal opinions about its Ethiopian source. One group, which includes the British scholar Edward Ullendorff, holds that it is a corruption of "Candace", the Ethiopian queen mentioned in the New Testament Acts; the other group^[who?] connects the name Makeda with the Ethiopic version of the Alexander romance, which, like other translations, holds that 'Iskinder' (Alexander the Great) of Macedonia (Ethiopic Meqédon) met with Queen Candace (Kandake) of Nubia (c. 332 BCE), and that she dissuaded him from invading her realm.

The Italian scholar Carlo Conti Rossini, however, was unconvinced by either of these theories and, in 1954 stated that he believed the matter unresolved.^[10]

Other traditions[link]

In addition to the above cited accounts, at least one other traditional reference to the queen exists. The Yoruba Ijebu clan of Ijebu-Ode, Nigeria, claim that she was actually a noblewoman of theirs known as Oloye Bilikisu Sungbo. They also assert that a medieval system of walls and ditches, known as the eredo, that was built by their ancestors over the course of the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries, was a monument to the greatness of this personage by her people. After excavations in 1999 the archaeologist Patrick Darling was quoted as saying "I don't want to overplay the Sheba theory, but it cannot be discounted...The local people believe it and that's what is important...The most cogent argument against it at the moment is the dating."^[11]

Later receptions[link]

Christian interpretations[link]

Christian interpretations of the scriptures mentioning the Queen of Sheba in the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, typically have emphasized both the historical and metaphorical values in the story. The account of the Queen of Sheba is thereby interpreted by Christians as being both a metaphor and an analogy: the Queen's visit to Solomon has been compared to the metaphorical marriage of the Church to Christ where Solomon is the anointed one or the messiah and Sheba represents a Gentile population submitting to the messiah; the Queen of Sheba's chastity has also been depicted as a foreshadowing of the Virgin Mary; and the three gifts that she brought (gold, spices, and stones) have been seen as analogous to the gifts of the Magi (gold, frankincense, and myrrh). The latter is emphasized as being consistent with a passage from Isaiah 60:6; And they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring forth gold and incense; and they shall show forth the praises of the Lord.^[12] This last connection is interpreted^[who?] as relating to the Magi, the learned astronomers of Sheba who saw a new star and set off on a journey to find a new ruler connected to the new star, that led them to Bethlehem.

Medieval depictions[link]

Art in the Middle Ages depicting the visit of the Queen of Sheba includes the Portal of the Mother of God at the 13th century Amiens Cathedral, which is included as an analogy as part of a larger depiction of the gifts of the Magi.^[13] The 12th century cathedrals at Strasbourg, Chartres, Rochester and Canterbury include artistic renditions in such elements as stained glass windows and door jamb decorations.^[12]

Renaissance account[link]

Renaissance relief of the Queen of Sheba meeting Solomon - gate of Florence Baptistry

Boccaccio's On Famous Women (Latin: De Mulieribus Claris) follows Josephus in calling the Queen of Sheba, Nicaula. Boccaccio goes on to explain that not only was she the Queen of Ethiopia and Egypt, but also the queen of Arabia. She also is related to have had a grand palace on "a very large island" called Meroe, located someplace near the Nile river, "practically on the other side of the world." From there Nicaula crossed the deserts of Arabia, through Ethiopia and Egypt, and up the coast of the Red Sea, to come to Jerusalem to see "the great King Solomon".^[14]

Christine de Pizan's The Book of the City of Ladies continues the convention of calling the Queen of Sheba, Nicaula. Piero della Francesca's frescoes in Arezzo (ca 1466) on the Legend of the True Cross, contain two panels on the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon. The legend links the beams of Solomon's palace (adored by Queen of Sheba) to the wood of the crucifixion. The Renaissance continuation of the metaphorical view of the Queen of Sheba as an analogy to the gifts of the Magi also is clearly evident in the Triptych of the Adoration of the Magi (c. 1510), by Hieronymus Bosch. Bosch chooses to depict a scene of the Queen of Sheba and Solomon in an ornately decorated collar worn by one of the Magi.^[15]

Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus refers to the Queen of Sheba as Saba, when Mephistopheles is trying to persuade Faustus of the wisdom of the women with whom he supposedly shall be presented every morning.^[16]

Theories concerning the origin of the account[link]

Possible Egyptian derivation[link]

Josephus says in his Antiquity of the Jews, book 8 chapter 6, that it was the "queen of Egypt and Ethiopia" who visited King Solomon.

Recent archaeological discoveries[link]

Recent archaeological discoveries in Mareb, Yemen support the view that the Queen of Sheba ruled over southern Arabia, with evidence suggesting that the area was the capital of the Kingdom of Sheba.

A team of researchers funded by the American Foundation for the Study of Man (AFSM) and led by University of Calgary archaeology professor, Dr. Bill Glanzman, has been working to "unlock the secrets of a 3,000-year-old temple in Yemen." "We have an enormous job ahead of us," said Glanzman in 2007. "Our first task is to wrest the sanctuary from the desert sands, documenting our findings as we go. We're trying to determine how the temple was associated with the Queen of Sheba, how the sanctuary was used throughout history, and how it came to play such an important role in Arab folklore."^[17]

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Queen of Sheba

Look up Queen of Sheba in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Sheba
• Minaean
• King Solomon
• Old Testament
• Teleportation in Islam
• Bilocation
• Biblical narratives and the Qur'an

Bibliography[link]

References[link]

• Budge, E. A. Wallis, The Queen of Sheba and her only son Menelik, London 1932.
• Jankowski, A., Die Königin von Saba und Salomo, Hamburg 1987.
• Joseph, Antiquitates iudaicae, viii.6.2.
• Pliny the Elder, Naturalis historia, vi.32.154.
• Makeda, Queen of Sheba by Torrey Philemon.
• Queen of Sheba Temple restored (2000, BBC)
• The Queen Of Sheba by Michael Wood and the BBC.
• The Queen of Sheba, web directory with thumbnail galleries
• Jewish Encyclopedia with information on Jewish and Muslim traditions
• "Queen of Sheba mystifies at the Bowers" — Gladys Rama's review of a museum exhibit for UC Irvine's 'New U' publication
• Alessandro de Maigret. Arabia Felix, translated Rebecca Thompson. London: Stacey International, 2002. ISBN 1-900988-07-0
• Andrey Korotayev. Ancient Yemen. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-19-922237-1.

Footnotes[link]

Sheba Ge'ez: ሳባ, Saba,(Arabic: سبأ, Sabāʾ, South Arabian , Hebrew: שבא, Sh'va, also referred to as the people of Tubba) was a kingdom mentioned in the Jewish scriptures (Old Testament) and the Qur'an. Sheba features in Ethiopian, Jewish and Qur'anic traditions. Among other things it was the home of the Biblical "Queen of Sheba" (named Makeda in Ethiopian tradition and Bilqis in Islamic tradition).

The actual location of the historical kingdom is disputed. Owing to the connection with the Queen of Sheba, the location has become closely linked with national prestige, as various royal houses have claimed descent from the Queen of Sheba and Solomon. In the medieval Ethiopian cultural work called the Kebra Nagast, Sheba was located in Ethiopia. Ruins in many other countries, including Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia and Iran have been credited as being Sheba, but with only minimal evidence.

Modern archaeological evidence increasingly supports Sheba being located in modern Yemen at or near the site of the famous Marib Dam, which was first built more than 2500 years ago. They may have expanded at some point from Arabia into Africa to found trading posts in the lands currently called Eritrea and Somalia. Some scholars suggest a link to the Sabaeans of southern Arabia.

Biblical tradition[link]

Sheba is mentioned several times in the Bible. For instance, in the Table of Nations (Genesis 10:7), Sheba, along with Dedan, is listed as a descendant of Noah's son Ham (as sons of Raamah son of Cush). In Genesis 25:3, Sheba and Dedan are listed as names of sons of Jokshan, son of Abraham. Another Sheba is listed in the Table of Nations (Genesis 10:28) as a son of Joktan, another descendant of Noah's son Shem. Yet another Sheba is mentioned in 2 Samuel 20:1–22 who rebelled against King David, was beheaded and his head thrown over the wall by the people in the city of Abel in order to save their lives. Isaiah's prophecy, "all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense" (Isaiah 60:6), is understood as a prediction of the Biblical Magi bringing gifts of gold, myrrh and frankincense to the newborn Jesus.

In Ethiopian Orthodox tradition, the third of these Shebas (Joktan's son) is considered the primary ancestor of the original Semitic component in their ethnogenesis, while Sabtah and Sabtecah, sons of Cush, are considered the ancestors of the Cushitic element.

Jewish-Roman historian Josephus describes a place called Saba as a walled, royal city of Ethiopia, which Cambyses afterwards named Meroe. He says "it was both encompassed by the Nile quite round, and the other rivers, Astapus and Astaboras" offering protection from both foreign armies and river floods. According to Josephus it was the conquering of Saba that brought great fame to a young Egyptian Prince, simultaneously exposing his personal background as a slave child named Moses.^[1]

The Kitab al-Magall ("Book of the Rolls", considered part of Clementine literature) and the Cave of Treasures mention a tradition that after being founded by the children of Saba (son of Joktan), there was a succession of sixty female rulers up until the time of Solomon. The Biblical tradition of the "Queen of Sheba" (named Makeda in Ethiopian tradition and Bilqis in Islamic tradition) makes its first appearance in world literature in 1 Kings 10, describing her as travelling to Jerusalem to behold the fame of King Solomon.

Owing to the connection with the Queen of Sheba, the location has thus become closely linked with national prestige, as various royal houses have claimed descent from the Queen of Sheba and Solomon. The most vigorous claimant has been Ethiopia and Eritrea, where Sheba was traditionally linked with the ancient Axumite Kingdom.

Qur'anic tradition[link]

In the Qur'an, the people of Sheba are called the people of Tubba because "Tubba" was used as the title for Sheba's kings.^[2] The Qur'an mentions this ancient community along with other communities that were destroyed by God.^[3] Some Muslim scholars, including Ibn Kathir, related that the People of Tubba were Arabs from South Arabia.^[4]

Archaeological considerations[link]

Modern archaeological evidence increasingly supports Sheba being located in modern Yemen at or near the site of the famous Marib Dam, which was first built more than 2500 years ago.^[5][6][7][8]

Some scholars suggest a link to the Sabaeans of southern Arabia.^[9] A number of sources claim that the people of Sheba controlled trade in the Red Sea, and expanded at some point from Arabia into Africa to found trading posts in the lands currently called Eritrea and Somalia.^[10][11]

In the medieval Ethiopian cultural work called the Kebra Nagast, Sheba was located in Ethiopia.^[12] Some scholars therefore point to a region in northern Tigray and Eritrea which was once called Saba (later called Meroe), as a possible link with the Biblical Sheba.^[13] Other scholars link Sheba with Shewa (also written as Shoa, modern Addis Ababa) in Ethiopia.^[14]

Ruins in many other countries, including Somalia, Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia and Iran have been credited as being Sheba, but with only minimal evidence. There has even been a suggestion of a link between the name "Sheba" and that of Zanzibar, and a massive earthenware monument of the Yoruba people all the way in West Africa known as Sungbo's Eredo actually caused mild excitement when it was first studied by Western scholars due to the tribal folk tradition that the divine personage it was built in honour of was none other than the Queen of Sheba herself.

Bibliography[link]

• Alessandro de Maigret. Arabia Felix, translated Rebecca Thompson. London: Stacey International, 2002. ISBN 1-900988-07-0
• Andrey Korotayev. Ancient Yemen. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-19-922237-1.
• Andrey Korotayev. Pre-Islamic Yemen. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 1996. ISBN 3-447-03679-6.

See also[link]

• First Kings
• Genesis
• Sabaeans
• Eritrea
• Ethiopia
• Islamic view of the Queen of Sheba
• King Solomon
• Queen of Sheba
• Rulers of Sheba
• Rulers of Saba and Himyar – a reconstruction of the lineage of the rulers of Saba and Himyar based on extant inscriptions. Based on the work of Dr. Javad Ali.
• Second Chronicles
• Yemen
• Qataban

References[link]

External links[link]

• "Queen of Sheba mystifies at the Bowers" – UC Irvine news article on Queen of Sheba exhibit at the Bowers Museum
• "A Dam at Marib" from the 'Saudi Aramco World' online – March/April 1978
• Queen of Sheba Temple restored (2000, BBC)

George Frideric Handel, born in the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach and Domenico Scarlatti. By Thomas Hudson (1749)

George Frideric Handel Signature

George Frideric Handel (German: Georg Friedrich Händel; pronounced [ˈhɛndəl]) (23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music. He received critical musical training in Halle, Hamburg and Italy before settling in London (1712) and becoming a naturalised British subject in 1727.^[1] By then he was strongly influenced by the great composers of the Italian Baroque and the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition.

Within fifteen years, Handel, a dramatic genius, started three commercial opera companies to supply the English nobility with Italian opera, but the public came to hear the vocal bravura of the soloists rather than the music. In 1737 he had a physical breakdown, changed direction creatively and addressed the middle class. As Alexander's Feast (1736) was well received, Handel made a transition to English choral works. After his success with Messiah (1742) he never performed an Italian opera again. Handel was only partly successful with his performances of English Oratorio on mythical and biblical themes, but when he arranged a performance of Messiah to benefit the Foundling Hospital (1750) the critique ended. The pathos of Handel's oratorios is an ethical one. They are hallowed not by liturgical dignity but by the moral ideals of humanity.^[2] Almost blind, and having lived in England for almost fifty years, he died a respected and rich man.

Handel is regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time, with works such as Water Music, Music for the Royal Fireworks and Messiah remaining popular. Handel composed more than forty operas in over thirty years, and since the late 1960s, with the revival of baroque music and original instrumentation, interest in Handel's operas has grown. His operas contain remarkable human characterisation—especially for a composer not known for his love affairs.

Early years[link]

Handel's baptismal registration (Marienbibliothek in Halle)

Handel was born in 1685 in Halle, Duchy of Magdeburg, to Georg Händel and Dorothea Taust.^[3] His father, 63 when his son was born, was an eminent barber-surgeon who served to the court of Saxe-Weissenfels and the Margraviate of Brandenburg.^[4] According to Handel's first biographer, John Mainwaring, he "had discovered such a strong propensity to Music, that his father who always intended him for the study of the Civil Law, had reason to be alarmed. He strictly forbade him to meddle with any musical instrument but Handel found means to get a little clavichord privately convey'd to a room at the top of the house. To this room he constantly stole when the family was asleep".^[5] At an early age Handel became a skillful performer on the harpsichord and pipe organ.^[6]

Händel-Haus (2009) – birthplace of George Frideric Handel

Entrance of Teatro del Cocomero in Florence

Handel and his father travelled to Weissenfels to visit either Handel's half-brother, Carl, or nephew, Georg Christian,^[7] who was serving as valet to Duke Johann Adolf I.^[8] Handel and the duke convinced his father to allow him to take lessons in musical composition and keyboard technique from Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow, the organist of the Lutheran Marienkirche. He learned about harmony and contemporary styles, analysed sheet music scores, learned to work fugue subjects, and to copy music. In 1698 Handel played for Frederick I of Prussia and met Giovanni Battista Bononcini in Berlin.

From Halle to Italy[link]

The Hamburg Opera am Gänsemarkt in 1726

In 1702, following his father's wishes, Handel started studying law under Christian Thomasius at the University of Halle;^[9] and also earned an appointment for one year as the organist in the former cathedral, by then an evangelical reformed church. Handel seems to have been unsatisfied and in 1703, he accepted a position as violinist and harpsichordist in the orchestra of the Hamburg Oper am Gänsemarkt.^[10] There he met the composers Johann Mattheson, Christoph Graupner and Reinhard Keiser. His first two operas, Almira and Nero, were produced in 1705.^[11] He produced two other operas, Daphne and Florindo, in 1708. It is unclear whether Handel directed these performances.

According to Mainwaring, in 1706 Handel travelled to Italy at the invitation of Ferdinando de' Medici, but Mainwaring must have been confused. It was Gian Gastone de' Medici, whom Handel had met in 1703–1704 in Hamburg.^[12] Ferdinando tried to make Florence Italy's musical capital, attracting the leading talents of his day. He had a keen interest in opera. In Italy Handel met librettist Antonio Salvi, with whom he later collaborated. Handel left for Rome and, since opera was (temporarily) banned in the Papal States, composed sacred music for the Roman clergy. His famous Dixit Dominus (1707) is from this era. He also composed cantatas in pastoral style for musical gatherings in the palaces of cardinals Pietro Ottoboni, Benedetto Pamphili and Carlo Colonna. Two oratorios, La Resurrezione and Il Trionfo del Tempo, were produced in a private setting for Ruspoli and Ottoboni in 1709 and 1710, respectively. Rodrigo, his first all-Italian opera, was produced in the Cocomero theatre in Florence in 1707.^[13] Agrippina was first produced in 1709 at Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo, the prettiest theatre at Venice, owned by the Grimanis. The opera, with a libretto by cardinal Vincenzo Grimani, and according to Mainwaring it ran for 27 nights successively. The audience, thunderstruck with the grandeur and sublimity of his style,^[14] applauded for Il caro Sassone.

Move to London[link]

George Frideric Handel (left) and King George I on the River Thames, 17 July 1717, by Edouard Jean Conrad Hamman (1819–88).

In 1710, Handel became Kapellmeister to German prince George, Elector of Hanover, who in 1714 would become King George I of Great Britain.^[15] He visited Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici and her husband in Düsseldorf on his way to London in 1710. With his opera Rinaldo, based on La Gerusalemme Liberata by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso, Handel enjoyed great success, although it was composed quickly, with many borrowings from his older Italian works.^[16] This work contains one of Handel's favourite arias, Cara sposa, amante cara, and the famous Lascia ch'io pianga.

In 1712, Handel decided to settle permanently in England. He received a yearly income of £200 from Queen Anne after composing for her the Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate, first performed in 1713.^[17][18]

One of his most important patrons was the young and wealthy Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington.^[19] For him Handel wrote Amadigi di Gaula, a magical opera, about a damsel in distress, based on the tragedy by Antoine Houdar de la Motte.

The conception of an opera as a coherent structure was slow to capture Handel's imagination^[20] and he renounced it for five years. In July 1717 Handel's Water Music was performed more than three times on the Thames for the King and his guests. It is said the compositions spurred reconciliation between the King and Handel.^[21]

Cannons (1717–18)[link]

The Chandos portrait. The 1st Duke of Chandos was an important patron for Handel.

In 1717 Handel became house composer at Cannons in Middlesex, where he laid the cornerstone for his future choral compositions in the twelve Chandos Anthems.^[22] Romain Rolland stated that these anthems were as important for his oratorios as the cantatas were for his operas.^[23] Another work he wrote for the Duke of Chandos, the owner of Cannons, was Acis and Galatea: during Handel's lifetime it was his most performed work. Winton Dean wrote, "the music catches breath and disturbs the memory".^[24]

In 1719 the Duke of Chandos became one of the main subscribers to Handel's new opera company, the Royal Academy of Music, but his patronage of music declined after he lost money in the South Sea bubble, which burst in 1720 in one of history's greatest financial cataclysms. Handel himself invested in South Sea stock in 1716, when prices were low^[25] and sold before 1720.^[26]

Royal Academy of Music (1719–34)[link]

Handel House at 25 Brook Street, Mayfair, London

In May 1719 Lord Chamberlain Thomas Holles, the Duke of Newcastle ordered Handel to look for new singers.^[27] Handel travelled to Dresden to attend the newly built opera. He saw Teofane by Antonio Lotti, and engaged the cast for the Royal Academy of Music, founded by a group of aristocrats to assure themselves a constant supply of baroque opera or opera seria. Handel may have invited John Smith, his fellow student in Halle, and his son Johann Christoph Schmidt, to become his secretary and amanuensis.^[28] By 1723 he had moved into a Georgian house at 25 Brook Street, which he rented for the rest of his life.^[29] This house, where he rehearsed, copied music and sold tickets, is now the Handel House Museum.^[30] During twelve months between 1724 and 1725, Handel wrote three outstanding and successful operas, Giulio Cesare, Tamerlano and Rodelinda. Handel's operas are filled with da capo arias, such as Svegliatevi nel core. After composing Silete venti, he concentrated on opera and stopped writing cantatas. Scipio, from which the regimental slow march of the British Grenadier Guards is derived,^[31] was performed as a stopgap, waiting for the arrival of Faustina Bordoni.

In 1727 Handel was commissioned to write four anthems for the coronation ceremony of King George II. One of these, Zadok the Priest, has been played at every British coronation ceremony since.^[32] In 1728 John Gay's The Beggar's Opera premiered at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre and ran for 62 consecutive performances, the longest run in theatre history up to that time.^{[citation needed]} After nine years Handel's contract was ended but he soon started a new company.

The Queen's Theatre at the Haymarket (now Her Majesty's Theatre), established in 1705 by architect and playwright John Vanbrugh, quickly became an opera house.^[33] Between 1711 and 1739, more than 25 of Handel's operas premièred there.^[34] In 1729 Handel became joint manager of the Theatre with John James Heidegger.

A musical portrait of Frederick, Prince of Wales and his sisters by Philip Mercier, dated 1733, using Kew Palace as its plein-air backdrop

The Queen's Theatre in the Haymarket in London by William Capon

Handel travelled to Italy to engage seven new singers. He composed seven more operas, but the public came to hear the singers rather than the music.^[35] After two commercially successful English oratorios Esther and Deborah, he was able to invest again in the South Sea Company. Handel reworked his Acis and Galatea which then became his most successful work ever. Handel failed to compete with the Opera of the Nobility, who engaged musicians such as Johann Adolf Hasse, Nicolo Porpora and the famous castrato Farinelli. The strong support by Frederick, Prince of Wales caused conflicts in the royal family. In March 1734 Handel directed a wedding anthem This is the day which the Lord hath made, and a serenata Parnasso in Festa for Anne of Hanover.^[36]

Opera at Covent Garden (1734–41)[link]

In 1733 the Earl of Essex received a letter with the following sentence: "Handel became so arbitrary a prince, that the Town murmurs". The board of chief investors expected Handel to retire when his contract ended, but Handel immediately looked for another theatre. In cooperation with John Rich he started his third company at Covent Garden Theatre. Rich was renowned for his spectacular productions. He suggested Handel use his small chorus and introduce the dancing of Marie Sallé, for whom Handel composed Terpsichore. In 1735 he introduced organ concertos between the acts. For the first time Handel allowed Gioacchino Conti, who had no time to learn his part, to substitute arias.^[37] Financially, Ariodante was a failure, although he introduced ballet suites at the end of each act.^[38] Alcina, his last opera with a magic content, and Alexander's Feast or the Power of Music based on John Dryden's Alexander's Feast starred Anna Maria Strada del Pò and John Beard.

In April 1737, at age 52, Handel apparently suffered a stroke which disabled the use of four fingers on his right hand, preventing him from performing.^[39] In summer the disorder seemed at times to affect his understanding. Nobody expected that Handel would ever be able to perform again. But whether the affliction was rheumatism, a stroke or a nervous breakdown, he recovered remarkably quickly .^[40] To aid his recovery, Handel had travelled to Aachen, a spa in Germany. During six weeks he took long hot baths, and ended up playing the organ for a surprised audience.^[41]

Deidamia, his last and only baroque opera without an accompagnato, was performed three times in 1741. Handel gave up the opera business, while he enjoyed more success with his English oratorios.^{[citation needed]}

Oratorio[link]

Handel by Philip Mercier

Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, an allegory, Handel's first oratorio^[42] was composed in Italy in 1707, followed by La Resurrezione in 1708 which uses material from the Bible. The circumstances of Esther and its first performance, possibly in 1718, are obscure.^[43] Another 12 years had passed when an act of piracy caused him to take up Esther once again.^[44] Three earlier performances aroused such interest that they naturally prompted the idea of introducing it to a larger public. Next came Deborah, strongly coloured by the Anthems^[45] and Athaliah, his first English Oratorio.^[46] In these three oratorios Handel laid foundation for the traditional use of the chorus which marks his later oratorios.^[47] Handel became sure of himself, broader in his presentation, and more diverse in his composition.^[48]

It is evident how much he learnt from Arcangelo Corelli about writing for instruments, and from Alessandro Scarlatti about writing for the solo voice; but there is no single composer who taught him how to write for chorus.^[49] Handel tended more and more to replace Italian soloists by English ones. The most significant reason for this change was the dwindling financial returns from his operas.^[50] Thus a tradition was created for oratorios which was to govern their future performance. The performances were given without costumes and action; the performers appeared in a black suit.^[51]

Caricature of Handel by Joseph Goupy (1754)

In 1736 Handel produced Alexander's Feast. John Beard appeared for the first time as one of Handel's principal singers and became Handel's permanent tenor soloist for the rest of Handel's life.^[52] The piece was a great success and it encouraged Handel to make the transition from writing Italian operas to English choral works. In Saul, Handel was collaborating with Charles Jennens and experimenting with three trombones, a carillon and extra-large military kettledrums (from the Tower of London), to be sure "...it will be most excessive noisy".^[53] Saul and Israel in Egypt both from 1739 head the list of great, mature oratorios, in which the da capo and dal segno aria became the exception and not the rule.^[54] Israel in Egypt consists of little else but choruses, borrowing from the Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline. In his next works Handel changed his course. In these works he laid greater stress on the effects of orchestra and soloists; the chorus retired into the background.^[55] L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato has a rather diverting character; the work is light and fresh.

During the summer of 1741, the 3rd Duke of Devonshire invited Handel to Dublin to give concerts for the benefit of local hospitals.^[56] His Messiah was first performed at the New Music Hall in Fishamble Street, on 13 April 1742, with 26 boys and five men from the combined choirs of St Patrick's and Christ Church cathedrals participating.^[57] Handel secured a balance between soloists and chorus which he never surpassed.

The use of English soloists reached its height at the first performance of Samson. The work is highly theatrical. The role of the chorus became increasingly import in his later oratorios. Jephtha was first performed on 26 February 1752; even though it was his last oratorio, it was no less a masterpiece than his earlier works.^[58]

Later years[link]

George Frideric Handel in 1733, by Balthasar Denner (1685–1749)

In 1749 Handel composed Music for the Royal Fireworks; 12,000 people attended the first performance.^[59] In 1750 he arranged a performance of Messiah to benefit the Foundling Hospital. The performance was considered a great success and was followed by annual concerts that continued throughout his life. In recognition of his patronage, Handel was made a governor of the Hospital the day after his initial concert. He bequeathed a copy of Messiah to the institution upon his death.^[60] His involvement with the Foundling Hospital is today commemorated with a permanent exhibition in London's Foundling Museum, which also holds the Gerald Coke Handel Collection. In addition to the Foundling Hospital, Handel also gave to a charity that assisted impoverished musicians and their families.

In August 1750, on a journey back from Germany to London, Handel was seriously injured in a carriage accident between The Hague and Haarlem in the Netherlands.^[61] In 1751 one eye started to fail. The cause was a cataract which was operated on by the great charlatan Chevalier Taylor. This led to uveitis and subsequent loss of vision. He died eight years later in 1759 at home in Brook Street, at age 74. The last performance he attended was of Messiah. Handel was buried in Westminster Abbey.^[62] More than three thousand mourners attended his funeral, which was given full state honours.

Handel never married, and kept his personal life private. His initial will bequeathed the bulk of his estate to his niece Johanna. However four codicils distributed much of his estate to other relations, servants, friends and charities.^[63]

Handel owned an art collection that was auctioned posthumously in 1760.^[64] The auction catalogue listed approximately seventy paintings and ten prints (other paintings were bequeathed).^[64]

Works[link]

Senesino, the famous castrato from Siena

Main articles: List of compositions by George Frideric Handel and List of operas by Handel.

Handel's compositions include 42 operas, 29 oratorios, more than 120 cantatas, trios and duets, numerous arias, chamber music, a large number of ecumenical pieces, odes and serenatas, and 16 organ concerti. His most famous work, the oratorio Messiah with its "Hallelujah" chorus, is among the most popular works in choral music and has become the centrepiece of the Christmas season. Among the works with opus numbers published and popularised in his lifetime are the Organ Concertos Op.4 and Op.7, together with the Opus 3 and Opus 6 concerti grossi; the latter incorporate an earlier organ concerto The Cuckoo and the Nightingale in which birdsong is imitated in the upper registers of the organ. Also notable are his sixteen keyboard suites, especially The Harmonious Blacksmith.

Handel introduced previously uncommon musical instruments in his works: the viola d'amore and violetta marina (Orlando), the lute (Ode for St. Cecilia's Day), three trombones (Saul), clarinets or small high cornetts (Tamerlano), theorbo, horn (Water Music), lyrichord, double bassoon, viola da gamba, bell chimes, positive organ, and harp (Giulio Cesare, Alexander's Feast).^[65]

Handel's works have been catalogued in the Händel-Werke-Verzeichnis and are commonly referred to by an HWV number. For example, Messiah is catalogued as HWV 56.

Legacy[link]

A Masquerade at the King's Theatre, Haymarket (c. 1724)

Handel's works were collected and preserved by two men in particular: Sir Samuel Hellier, a country squire whose musical acquisitions form the nucleus of the Shaw-Hellier Collection,^[66] and abolitionist Granville Sharp. The catalogue accompanying the National Portrait Gallery exhibition marking the tercentenary of the composer's birth calls them two men of the late eighteenth century "who have left us solid evidence of the means by which they indulged their enthusiasm".^[67]

After his death, Handel's Italian operas fell into obscurity, except for selections such as the aria from Serse, "Ombra mai fù". The oratorios continued to be performed but not long after Handel's death they were thought to need some modernisation, and Mozart orchestrated a German version of Messiah and other works. Throughout the 19th century and first half of the 20th century, particularly in the Anglophone countries, his reputation rested primarily on his English oratorios, which were customarily performed by enormous choruses of amateur singers on solemn occasions.

Since the Early Music Revival many of the forty-two operas he wrote have been performed in opera houses and concert halls.

Handel's music was studied by composers such as Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven

Recent decades have revived his secular cantatas and what one might call 'secular oratorios' or 'concert operas'. Of the former, Ode for St. Cecilia's Day (1739) (set to texts by John Dryden) and Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne (1713) are noteworthy. For his secular oratorios, Handel turned to classical mythology for subjects, producing such works as Acis and Galatea (1719), Hercules (1745) and Semele (1744). These works have a close kinship with the sacred oratorios, particularly in the vocal writing for the English-language texts. They also share the lyrical and dramatic qualities of Handel's Italian operas. As such, they are sometimes performed onstage by small chamber ensembles. With the rediscovery of his theatrical works, Handel, in addition to his renown as instrumentalist, orchestral writer, and melodist, is now perceived as being one of opera's great musical dramatists.

A carved marble statue of Handel, created for the Vauxhall Gardens in 1738 by Louis-François Roubiliac, and now preserved in the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Handel's work was edited by Samuel Arnold (40 vols., London, 1787–1797), and by Friedrich Chrysander, for the German Händel-Gesellschaft (105 vols., Leipzig, 1858–1902).

Handel adopted the spelling "George Frideric Handel" on his naturalisation as a British subject, and this spelling is generally used in English-speaking countries. The original form of his name, Georg Friedrich Händel, is generally used in Germany and elsewhere, but he is known as "Haendel" in France. Another composer with a similar name, Handl or Händl, was an Austrian from Carniola and is more commonly known as Jacobus Gallus.

Musician's musician[link]

Handel has generally been accorded high esteem by fellow composers, both in his own time and since.^[68] Bach attempted, unsuccessfully, to meet with Handel while he was visiting Halle.^[69] Mozart is reputed to have said of him, "Handel understands affect better than any of us. When he chooses, he strikes like a thunder bolt."^[70] To Beethoven he was "the master of us all... the greatest composer that ever lived. I would uncover my head and kneel before his tomb".^[70] Beethoven emphasised above all the simplicity and popular appeal of Handel's music when he said, "Go to him to learn how to achieve great effects, by such simple means".

Homages[link]

Handel Commemoration in Westminster Abbey, 1784

After Handel's death, many composers wrote works based on or inspired by his music. The first movement from Louis Spohr's Symphony No. 6, Op. 116, "The Age of Bach and Handel", resembles two melodies from Handel's Messiah. In 1797 Ludwig van Beethoven published the 12 Variations in G major on ‘See the conqu’ring hero comes’ from Judas Maccabaeus by Handel, for cello and piano. Guitar virtuoso Mauro Giuliani composed his Variations on a Theme by Handel, Op. 107 for guitar, based on Handel's Suite No. 5 in E major, HWV 430, for harpsichord. In 1861, using a theme from the second of Handel's harpsichord suites, Johannes Brahms wrote the Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24, one of his most successful works (praised by Richard Wagner). Several works by the French composer Félix-Alexandre Guilmant use Handel's themes, for example his March on a Theme by Handel uses a theme from Messiah. French composer and flautist Philippe Gaubert wrote his Petite marche for flute and piano based on the fourth movement of Handel's Trio Sonata, Op. 5, No. 2, HWV 397. Argentine composer Luis Gianneo composed his Variations on a Theme by Handel for piano. In 1911, Australian-born composer and pianist Percy Grainger based one of his most famous works on the final movement of Handel's Suite No. 5 in E major (just like Giuliani). He first wrote some variations on the theme, which he titled Variations on Handel's ‘The Harmonious Blacksmith’ . Then he used the first sixteen bars of his set of variations to create Handel in the Strand, one of his most beloved pieces, of which he made several versions (for example, the piano solo version from 1930). Arnold Schoenberg's Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra in B flat major (1933) was composed after Handel's Concerto Grosso, Op. 6/7.

Veneration[link]

Handel is honored together with Johann Sebastian Bach and Henry Purcell with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on 28 July.

He is commemorated as a musician in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church on 28 July, with Johann Sebastian Bach and Heinrich Schütz.

He is commemorated as a musician along with Johann Sebastian Bach on 28 July by The Order of Saint Luke in their calendar of saints prepared for the use of The United Methodist Church.^[71]

Editions[link]

Between 1787 and 1797 Samuel Arnold compiled a 180-volume collection of Handel's works—however it was far from complete.^[72] Also incomplete was the collection produced between 1843 and 1858 by the English Handel Society (found by Sir George Macfarren).^[73]

The 105-volume Händel-Gesellschaft edition was published in the mid 19th century and was mainly edited by Friedrich Chrysander (often working alone in his home). For modern performance, the realisation of the basso continuo reflects 19th century practice. Vocal scores drawn from the edition were published by Novello in London, but some scores, such as the vocal score to Samson are incomplete.

The still-incomplete Hallische Händel-Ausgabe started to appear in 1956 (named for Halle in Saxony-Anhalt Eastern Germany, not the Netherlands). It did not start as a critical edition, but after heavy criticism of the first volumes, which were performing editions without a critical apparatus (for example, the opera Serse was published with the title character recast as a tenor reflecting pre-war German practice), it repositioned itself as a critical edition. Influenced in part by cold-war realities, editorial work was inconsistent: misprints are found in abundance and editors failed to consult important sources. In 1985 a committee was formed to establish better standards for the edition.

See also[link]

	Book: Georg Friedrich Händel
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

• Handel Reference Database
• Letters and writings of George Frideric Handel
• List of compositions by George Frideric Handel
• List of operas by Handel
• Publications by Friedrich Chrysander
• Valentine Snow
• Will of George Frideric Handel

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Abraham, Gerald (1954), Handel: a symposium, Oxford University Press 
• Burrows, Donald (1994), Handel, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-816470-X 
• Burrows, Donald (1997), The Cambridge Companion to Handel, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-45613-4 
• Chrissochoidis, Ilias. "Early Reception of Handel's Oratorios, 1732–1784: Narrative – Studies – Documents" (PhD dissertation, Stanford University, 2004), available through UMI.
• Chrissochoidis, Ilias. "Handel at a Crossroads: His 1737–1738 and 1738–1739 Seasons Re-Examined", Music & Letters 90/4 (November 2009), 599–635.
• Chrissochoidis, Ilias. "Handel, Hogarth, Goupy: Artistic intersections in Handelian biography", Early Music 37/4 (November 2009), 577–596.
• Chrissochoidis, Ilias. "'hee-haw ... llelujah': Handel among the Vauxhall Asses (1732)", Eighteenth-Century Music 7/2 (September 2010), 221–262.
• Dean, Winton; Knapp, John Merrill (1987). Handel's Operas, 1704–1726. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-816441-6. 
• Dean, Winton (2006). Handel’s Operas, 1726–1741. The Boydell Press. http://www.boydell.co.uk/43832682.HTM. 
• Deutsch, Otto Erich (1955). Handel: A Documentary Biography. 
• Dent, Edward Joseph (2004). Handel. R A Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 1-4191-2275-4. 
• Frosch, W.A., The "case" of George Frideric Handel, New England Journal of Medicine, 1989; 321:765–769, 14 September 1989. content.nejm.org
• Harris, Ellen T. (general editor) The librettos of Handel's operas: a collection of seventy librettos documenting Handel's operatic career New York: Garland, 1989. ISBN 0-8240-3862-2
• Harris, Ellen T. Handel as Orpheus. Voice and Desire in the Chamber Cantatas Harvard University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-674-00617-8
• Hogwood, Christopher. Handel. London: Thames and Hudson, 1984. ISBN 0-500-01355-1
• Keates, Jonathan. Handel, the man and his music. London: V. Gollancz, 1985. ISBN 0-575-03573-0
• Keates, Jonathan (1985). Handel, the man and his music. New York: St Martin's Press. 
• Larsen, J.P. (1972). Handel's Messiah. London: Adams and Charles Black Limited. 
• Leopold, Silke. "Händel die Opern" Bärenreiter 2009, ISBN 978-3-7618-1991-3
• Meynell, Hugo. The Art of Handel's Operas The Edwin Mellen Press (1986) ISBN 0-88946-425-1
• National Portrait Gallery. Handel. A Celebration of his Life and Times 1685–1759. 
• Young, Percy Marshall (1966). Handel. New York: David White Company. 

External links[link]

• Howell, Ian. "How to Handle Spelling Händel". The Countertenor Voice (Feb 2011). http://blog.counterpointspublishing.com/2011/02/how-to-handle-spelling-handel/. 
• Howell, Ian. "Guiding Handel's Legacy: An Interview with Handel House Museum Director Sarah Bardwell". The Countertenor Voice (May 2011). http://blog.counterpointspublishing.com/2011/05/1721/. 

Find more about George Frideric Handel on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Images and media from Commons
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource

• Edward Dent's Handel biography from Project Gutenberg
• Works by George Frideric Handel at Project Gutenberg
• The second volume of Winton Dean for "Handel's Operas" covering the years 1726–1741
• Friedrich Chrysander's Handel biography (in German)
• Biographical details web site
• Handel Houses:
  • The Handel House Museum
  • The Händel-Haus in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt
• Works by or about George Frideric Handel in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• References on Handel
• Handel Reference Database

Scores and recordings[link]

• Free scores by George Frideric Handel at the International Music Score Library Project: includes Complete Works Edition (Ausgabe der Deutschen Händelgesellschaft)
• Free scores by George Frideric Handel in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
• The Mutopia Project provides free downloading of sheet music and MIDI files for some of Handel's works.
• Free typeset sheet music of Handel's works from Cantorion.org
• Free scores by George Frideric Handel in the Werner Icking Music Archive (WIMA)
• Handel cylinder recordings, from the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.
• Handel's Sheet Music by free-scores.com
• Kunst der Fuge: George Frideric Handel – MIDI files
• Water Music, Organ Concertos op. 4, Tamerlano, etc. Creative Commons recordings

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Jackson, Samuel Macauley, ed. (1914). "^{article name needed}". New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls. 

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2010)

Dolly Dots
Dolly Dots in 1980 on the Dutch version of Runaround
Background information
Origin	Netherlands
Genres	Pop, Dance, MOR
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1979–1988, 1998, 2006–2007
Labels	Warner Bros. Records
Past members
Angela Groothuizen Angéla Kramers Anita Heilker Esther Oosterbeek Patty Zomer Ria Brieffies

Dolly Dots were a popular Dutch girl band in the 1980s. With their style of upbeat dance/pop, they scored many hits throughout Europe. The sextet consisted of Angela Groothuizen, Angéla Kramers, Anita Heilker, Esther Oosterbeek, Patty Zomer and Ria Brieffies.

Biography[link]

The Dolly Dots had many hits between 1979 and 1988. They were most successful in the Netherlands, but they also scored hits in the rest of Europe. Their single "Radio" was a big hit in Japan. "P.S." was a Top 50 Billboard Hot Dance Club Play hit in 1981. They also enjoyed hits in Turkey, Lebanon, Iceland, and toured through Egypt.

At the peak of their success in 1984 the Dolly Dots had their own TV series, Barbie dolls, wallpaper and a number one hit, "Love Me Just a Little Bit More (Totally Hooked On You)". At the end of the following year, Anita Heilker left the group to have a daughter. She later became the Dutch voice of Donald Duck. The rest of the band continued as a five-piece. Heilker had already launched her own career. In 1986 she released four solo singles ("You've Got Me Keyed Up", "Into The Night", "Dancing On The Moon" and "Don't Treat Me Like This"), as well as a solo album (The Girl In Black).

Since the success of the TV series in 1984, there had been plans to record a Hollywood movie. In the summer of 1986 the five remaining Dolly Dots finally went to the US to work with an unfinished script and made a movie called Dutch Treat, which was released later that same year. The movie as well as the soundtrack were a modest success in The Netherlands but were not released in the USA due to poor reviews. The group broke up in 1988. Their last single was an attempt to break into the UK market. The Dolly Dots teamed up with hit producers Stock Aitken Waterman and released the song "What a Night". It reached number 18 in the Dutch charts, but was not successful in the UK.

On October 2, 1988 the Dolly Dots played a farewell show at the Amsterdam Escape. After more than nine years they felt the time was right to go their separate ways; as Ria Brieffies would later say, "There's more to life than being a Dolly Dot".

Solo careers[link]

In 1989 Anita Heilker taped a sitcom with satirical duo Henk Spaan and Harry Vermeegen (Die 2) for early 1990 broadcast on Veronica.

Angela Groothuizen teamed up with Ruud Mulder, former guitarist of disco/funk-contemporaries Spargo, to record as Angela & the Rude. She also began a television hosting career for AVRO starting in 1990 with an adaptation of Challenge Anneka; this was followed by "Sex with Angela" and "Who's the Mole ?". Her contract expired in 2005 and was not renewed. Groothuizen has since moved to RTL 4 where she was a panel judge for X Factor and The Voice of Holland. She is currently negiotiating new personality shows with SBS.

Patty Zomer became a fashion stylist for several well known Dutch artists and magazines. In the early 2000s she co-hosted "The Fashion Police" with footballer's wife Nada van Nie.

On October 1, 1998 all six Dolly Dots were interviewed by Paul de Leeuw and surprised everyone by singing a medley of three of their biggest hits. Two months later they reunited for a one-off concert to celebrate their 10th split anniversary, and the release of a compilation album of all their hits, called The Collection.

In 2003, Aad Ouberg, who was closely involved with the group, was responsible for getting a Dolly Dots musical off the ground. The musical Love Me Just a Little Bit More played at The Chassé Theatre in Breda and around the Netherlands during 2004.

As result of renewed interest in the group after the musical, Warner Bros. Records released a Dolly Dots greatest hits compilation album of the group as well as a DVD. In 2007, all original six members reunited for a series of guest performances during Vrienden van Amstel Live. Their success there led to three concerts of their own in Ahoy Rotterdam. The DVD of those concerts reached gold status in Holland. In 2008 a tour followed, called 'Goodbye For Now'.

Ria Brieffies, who went on to pursue culinary interests, was diagnosed with cancer in November 2008; she died on July 20, 2009. Angela Groothuizen announced that without Brieffies, the Dolly Dots would never perform again. In 2011 Anita Heilker makes here comeback as a solo artist in a Dutch show called: The Winner Is...

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dolly Dots

• Unofficial website
• "Dolly Dots" at the Internet Movie Database