Handel’s father intended for him to study law and discouraged any interest in music, even forbidding him from having a musical instrument. Handel nevertheless sneaked a clavichord into the attic. On a subsequent visit to his considerably older half brother in nearby Weissenfels, Handel’s organ playing impressed the duke. Handel’s father did relent and allowed the boy to study music while also preparing for a career in law. Consequently. Handel received solid instruction in organ, harpsichord, violin, theory and composition.

The German “Apprentice Period”

In 1703, Handel moved to Hamburg, which at the time boasted the only regular opera company in Germany. He landed a job as violinist in the opera orchestra. Shortly thereafter, Handel began writing operas with spotty success. His writing was described as strong in harmony and counterpoint (typical German strengths) but weak in melody. Many of his keyboard and instrumental works, though later revised, presumably originated in this same period.

The Italian “Journeyman Period”

Handel’s skill as a composer took an enormous leap forward during his years in Italy, 1706-1710. Italy was the home of opera and oratorio as well as important instrumental forms. There he came into contact with important patrons and other prominent composers, including Arcangelo Corelli and both Alessandro and Dominico Scarlatti. 

According to musicologist Manfred Bukofzer, “What Handel still lacked was neither contrapuntal skill nor melodic inventiveness, but the cantabile style of the melody, the unmistakable idiom of the Italian bel canto.”

In Italy, Handel was exposed more broadly to Italian opera and became a superb melodist. Moving through Florence, Rome, Venice, and Naples, Handel produced an impressive body of music, including two operas (Rodrigo and Agrippina), two oratorios (Il trionfo del Temp e del Disinganno and La Resurrezione), and as many as 150 cantatas.