Dictionary of Music - Birding America

172 hallinghalling (hä′ling , hal′ing ) Norwegian. A livelydance in 2/4 meter, usually accompanied on a typicalNorwegian folk instrument, the HARDANGER FID-DLE. Grieg used the halling in several of his instrumentalcompositions.Hammond organ Another name for electronicorgan (see under ELECTRONIC INSTRUMENTS).hand bells See under BELL, def. 1.Handel (han′dəl), George Frideric (jorjfrē′drik), 1685–1759. A German-born composerwho lived in England after 1712, and, together withJohann Sebastian Bach, is considered one of the twoleading composers of the late baroque period.Although a large proportion of Handel’s hundreds ofcompositions are operas, he is remembered more forhis oratorios and other choral music, as well as for arelatively small number of instrumental works(harpsichord suites, concerti grossi, Water Music,Royal Fireworks Music). His most famous work isthe oratorio Messiah, which many consider the finestoratorio ever written. In this work Handel succeededin combining the contrapuntal art of the Germanbaroque style with the dramatic style of Italian operaand the choral tradition of his adopted country,England.Handel was born in Halle (as Georg FriedrichHändel), where he studied law and music. After ayear at the university there he left for Hamburg,where he worked as a violinist at the opera. Handel’sfirst two operas were produced there. From 1706 to1710 he visited Italy, where he produced his firstItalian-style operas as well as two oratorios andother works. By 1712 Handel had decided to settlein England, where he anglicized his name. He soonreceived a lifetime pension from Queen Anne thatpermitted him to devote himself to composition evenif he should lack a patron. In 1717 he became musicaldirector for the Duke of Chandos, and in thispost he wrote the first of his works still famoustoday, the cantata Acis and Galatea, the ChandosAnthems, and a work that later became the oratorioEsther. During the next decades he wrote twentynew operas as well as an enormous amount ofinstrumental music, including eight suites for harpsichord.By 1741 the English public was turningaway from Italian opera, and Handel, encouraged bythe earlier success of Esther, devoted himself largelyto oratorios and other choral works. Totally blind forthe last years of his life, he nevertheless continued tocompose and perform (he was a fine harpsichordistand organist) until shortly before his death. His otherworks include the oratorios Athalia, Saul, Israel inEgypt, Semele, Theodora, Judas Maccabeus,Susanna, Joshua, and Jeptha; the secular choralworks Alexander’s Feast and Ode for St. Cecilia’sDay; the Utrecht, Chandos, and Dettingen TeDeums; a dozen organ concertos and a dozen concertigrossi; seventeen harpsichord suites; andnumerous songs. In recent years there has beenrenewed interest in Handel’s operas, a number ofwhich have been successfully revived. Among themare Agrippina, Rinaldo, Teseo (“Theseus”), GiulioCesare (“Julius Caesar”), Orlando, Samson, andSerse (“Xerxes”).hand hornSee under FRENCH HORN.Handy (han′dē), William Christopher, 1873–1958. An American composer, often called “thefather of the blues” (which he used as the title of hisautobiography). A bandmaster for minstrel shows,Handy organized his own band and toured throughoutthe southern United States for almost twentyyears (1903–1921). He is sometimes credited asthe first to transform gay ragtime music into thesad, nostalgic blues, a development in which hecertainly played a role. He also was one of the firstto write down jazz. Handy’s two most famous songs,“Memphis Blues” and “St. Louis Blues,” are stillfrequently played.Hanson (han′sən), Howard, 1896–1981. AnAmerican composer whose most important contributionwas the championing of other young Americancomposers, sponsoring performances of theirworks and festivals of American music. From 1924to 1964 Hanson was director of the EastmanSchool of Music in Rochester, New York, where heinfluenced many young composers and musicians.His own works, which are largely in the nineteenth-centuryromantic tradition, include seven