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With clarity, and admirable simplicity keyed to the understanding of
children, Opal Wheeler has traced the many-sided career of George
Frederic Handel, whose restless nature vied always with his tremendous
ability as a composer and director.
Handel’s strange boyhood, clouded by the fact that his father did
not want him to become a musician, and the later years when, thanks to
the patronage of the Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, his music was played
before the greatest music lovers of Europe makes for fascinating
reading. The selections of Handel’s music included are those best
understood and most apt to be mastered by young musicians.
One evening, back in 1691, conservative Doctor Handel was shocked
and dismayed to find his small son carrying the torch at the head of a
band of singers wandering through the little town of Halle. The good
doctor never quite understood the all-consuming love of music which
drove his son from childhood on and on to the great heights he
eventually attained as the beloved Father of the Oratorio, the composer
of the magnificent MESSIAH.
Opal Wheeler has given us here the most finished, most completely
satisfying book on her list of fine music biographies. Handel at the
Court of Kings should be a favorite of all children who love music,
whether they are young musicians themselves or not.