The Life of Handel

A biography of Handel of 1857, ahead of its time because of the author's extensive research into primary sources.

Victor Schœlcher (Author)

9781108004503, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 20 July 2009

480 pages
21.6 x 14 x 2.7 cm, 0.61 kg

Victor Schoelcher (1804–93) was a French writer chiefly remembered for his part in the fight for the abolition of slavery. In America on business in 1829–30, he was so appalled by the conditions he found that he became an abolitionist campaigner, concentrating his writings on conditions in the French Caribbean islands. He became President of the French commission for abolition and achieved his goal when in 1848 the French government abolished slavery in all its colonies. Schoelcher went into political exile for nearly twenty years after the coup d'etat of Louis Napoleon, and during this time he pursued his other great interest, music. His Life of Handel, translated into English by James Lowe, was published in 1857. It was regarded as one of the finest biographies ever written, and it was ahead of its time in the amount of research into primary sources which the author had undertaken.

Preface
1. 1685–1708
2. 1708–1720
3. 1720–1729
4. 1729–1732
5. 1733
6. 1733–1737
7. 1737–1741
8. 1741–1742
9. 1742–1752
10. 1752–1759
11. Handel's will
12. The personal appearance of Handel
Appendix
Index.

Subject Areas: Baroque music [c 1600 to c 1750 AVGC3]