A Database of
Musical Compositions by
George Frideric Handel
(1685-1759)

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All information contained in the G.F. Handel database was assembled and organized by Brad Leissa. He is responsible for the accuracy of all information contained within the ClassiCat^tm for Windows G.F. Handel database. If you have comments/questions about the database, please contact TDWARE directly, and where applicable, these communications will be forwarded onto Brad Leissa.

To successfully download and import the G.F. Handel database, you must be a registered user of ClassiCat^tm for Windows and the ClassiCat^tm for Windows Import/Export Utility.

An Introduction to the Database -- By Brad Leissa, M.D.

This database is an evolving project and is dedicated to the fascinating composer and personality, the "Dear Saxon", George Frideric Handel.

Where information is incomplete, the composition title is followed by an asterisk (*). This means that future updates of the database will attempt to fill in these gaps (e.g., compositional movements; See the Movements tab.). When information about the composition is considered "complete," the asterisk will be removed. This will allow users of ClassiCat^tm for Windows to update their personal copy of the database.

The source information that went into compiling the database came from the following references:

• "Handel" by Donald Burrows. From "The Master Musicians" series. (Editor - Stanley Sadie.) Schirmer Books.
• "The New Grove Handel" by Winton Dean with Anthony Hicks. W.W. Norton and Company.
• "Handel" by Christopher Hogwood. Thames & Hudson.
• Numerous compact disc booklet essays
• Internet Usenet newsgroup postings/discussions
• Handel-L listserve postings/discussions

Additional information about G.F. Handel AND a text form of the HWV catalog (in HTML) exist and can be located at the G.F. Handel Home Page.

Within ClassiCat^tm for Windows, from the Outline View of the Views form, the database is organized so that users may browse the database in the following ways:

• By composition title ("Outline View" = Work)
• By HWV listing ("Outline View" = ID)
• By genre ("Outline View" = Genre-Work)
• By key ("Outline View" = Key-Work) -- Where applicable.

Unfortunately, since dates surrounding the musical compositions of G.F. Handel are frequently either deduced (therefore approximate) or unknown, date fields (i.e., "Year Start", "End", and "Published") usually must be left blank. For further information about composition dates, the user is referred to the Notes tab within the Composition window for the work of interest.

The Notes tab deserves further explanation: In preparing the database, I've consistently named and used a finite number of "Note Titles." Each composition contains its own set of "Note Titles." These "Note Titles" are explained below:

• Borrowings -- Where available and applicable.
  • Handel is often criticized by musicologists for having "borrowed" a great deal of music from other composers. How often did he do this and from whom? Check out this section. (Note: This section continues to evolve.)
• Composed -- When known.
  • Contains either the approximate or exact dates from onset to completion of a composition.
• Completed score -- When known.
  • Contains either the approximate or exact date for completion of a composition. (i.e., when the onset of composition is unknown)
• First performance -- When known.
  • Contains information about the location and date when the composition was first perfomed.
• HG -- Where available.
  • Contains information for which HG edition the composition appeared.
• HHA -- Where available.
  • Contains information for which HHA edition the composition appeared.
• Libretto -- Where applicable. (e.g., vocal compositions)
• Notes
  • Contains miscellaneous information of general interest about the composition(s)
• Published
  • This section is used only when the published date is incompatible (e.g., exact or approximate date known) with the Published: field in the Composition tab.
• Revival -- Where available and applicable.
  • Several of Handel's compositions (especially oratorios and operas) were revived and performed over several concert seasons. Frequently, the revivals represented significant changes from the original composition. This section contains the dates and locations of these revivals.

Handel Editions

HG: G.F. Händel's Werke: Ausgabe der Deutschen Händelgesellschaft (German Handel Society), ed. Friedrich W. Chrysander and Max Seiffert)

• Between 1858 and 1903, Friedrich Chrysander embarked on his own complete edition of Handel's works under the auspices of the German Handel Society. Over a period of 45 years he and his successor, Max Seiffert, managed to publish a complete edition that ran to over 100 volumes. Early on, the publisher dropped out, and Chrysander published the volumes himself setting up an engraving shop in his home in Bergedorf, Germany near Hamburg, and when money was short, he sold fruits and vegetables he raised in his garden. Chrysander's edition was reprinted after WW II by Gregg press in England, and until a few years ago was available from E. F. Kalmus (Belwyn Mills). The quality of Chrysander's edition is variable, but one hastens to add that his achievement was stupendous.

• • NOTE: Includes Handel-L listserve information from Howard Serwer, University of Maryland, College Park

HHA: Hallische Händel-Ausgabe (Halled Handel Edition) im Auftrage der Georg-Friedrich-Händel Gesellschaft, ed. M. Schneider, R. Steglich, et al.

• "In 1955, the Georg-Friedrich-Händel-Gesellschaft, based in what was then the German Democratic Republic (DDR) began to produce volumes of what was supposed to be a practical edition: The Hallische-Händel-Ausgabe (HHA). The first ones were badly received, and the HHA revised its editorial standards to conform to those of the new editions of the works of Bach and Mozart. The HHA is available through Baerenreiter Verlag of Kassel and through Baerenreiter's American agents."

• Initially, the HHA was intended only as a supplement to the HG. In 1958, it was transformed into a full critical edition.

• • NOTE: Includes Handel-L listserve information from Howard Serwer, University of Maryland, College Park

HWV: Verzeichnis der Werke Georg Friedrich Händel by Bernd Baselt (as set out in Eisen and Eisen, "Händel-Handbuch", i-iii).

• "The Händel-Handbuch refers to the thematic catalogue of Handel's works published in three volumes from 1978 to 1986. The work of the late Bernd Baselt of the Martin Luther University of Halle (Saale) in Germany, it is a classified list of every piece of music Handel is known to have written (and includes a few concerning which there is some doubt). The catalogue includes the first few bars of each piece and large amounts of factual information (manuscript sources, early prints, etc.) concerning each. These volumes serve Handel scholarship in the same way that the Koechel Catalogue serves Mozart scholarship."

• • NOTE: Includes Handel-L listserve information from Howard Serwer, University of Maryland, College Park

Go to the ClassiCat Import-Export Download Files page to download the Handel catalog

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