What saved Handel in his duel with his friend?
Bach was the great master of the polyphonic form, a fugal genius and Handel a melodist of immense power and sensitivity. The sacred output from Bach greatly outweighs that of Handel although he composed only one full Mass in B minor.
Who was a better composer Bach or Handel?
King George II
This brings us to the business of standing during that famous chorus, a tradition said to have begun in 1743, when King George II rose from his seat, enthralled by the beauty of the music. Not wanting to offend the king, the audience also stood – or so the story goes.
George Frideric Handel, composer of the famous “Hallelujah Chorus” from Messiah, once fought a deadly duel with his contemporary, Johann Mattheson in 1704. The two composers were both young men at the time (Handel was 19 and Mattheson was 23) and apparently got into a fight during a performance at the Hamburg Opera.
Who was the Baroque composer who spent his lifetime?
Mattheson was born and died in Hamburg. He was a close friend of George Frideric Handel, although he nearly killed him in a sudden quarrel, during a performance of Mattheson’s opera Cleopatra in 1704. Handel was saved only by a large button which turned aside Mattheson’s sword.
