The 18th century began with music in a static and restricted state, but fifty years later it was a vibrant and complex art form. Two composers that helped this transformation take place were Handel and Bach. Both were born in Germany, in the same year, but were very different men with very different styles of music. Handel created his compositions in the secular world of opera, while Bach's works were more religious and spiritual in nature.
Handel and Bach
(Turabian Citation)
The first half of the 18th century was a time of tumultuous change in the musical arts. In the five or so decades that spanned that period, almost everything associated with music changed dramatically. At the start of the 18th century, music was restricted by what was known as "counterpoint," and the laws of counterpoint kept music constricted and tight. But by the second half of the 18th century, music had been liberated by an emphasis on what is known as "harmony." The transition from counterpoint to harmony in the first half of the 18th century was dominated by two strikingly different composers: Fredrik Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach. While each contributed to the overall transition in music, each did so in unique and somewhat different ways. Handel was a traditionalist, and looked to the past for his inspiration, while Bach continually tried to break free of the restrictions of the past and his gaze was toward the future. Strangely enough, the media they chose to present their works seem to be somewhat contradictory. Handel, who was enamored with the past, composed works for the media of the future, public theaters and opera houses. On the other hand, Bach, who always seemed to be running from the past, composed mostly spiritual and religious music.
As previously stated, music at the beginning of the 18th century was restrictive and consisted of what has been described as "masses of harmony." (Fuller-Maitland 1902, vi) However, this traditional type of musical composition had, by the middle of the 18th century, "succeeded to the movement of interweaving parts." (Fuller-Maitland 1902, vi) With the advent of many interwoven parts of the composition, melody and the dynamics of music took on a greater importance. Instruments were gradually improved and the structure of the orchestra was developed so that greater range and variety could be achieved.
Both Handel and Bach may have been born in the same year, and have been contemporaries in the musical world, although they did not interact, each contributed to the development of music independently of each other. "For Handel, the older composers and his own contemporaries existed as a treasure-house from which he might appropriate the ideas he was too busy to invent for himself." (Fuller-Maitland 1902, 3) Handel was a truly international figure and his incessant traveling from one country to the next forced his to become knowledgeable and proficient in the many styles of music traditional to the many countries he visited. One description of him stated that "Handel wrote in more forms and with far more variety that any of his contemporaries." (Nichols 2008, 34) Although he was considered by himself to be a composer for the theater, Handel single-handedly revolutionized the opera. The transformation from the "pure' form of opera sera to the novel and 'mixed' form of oratorio marks Handel's career from those of his contemporaries." (Hogwood 1984, 7) Handel completely transformed opera and played a significant role in how it would progress in the years to come.
But opera was a public exposition of music, a more joyful and celebratory style. Bach was a very different type of composer with a far narrower range and "entered far more deeply into the spirit of those he knew." (Fuller-Maitland 1902, 3) Bach did not travel widely and stayed mostly in and around Germany, and his staunch Lutheranism guided his work. His work can be explained as being theological in nature and may be divided by what he believed to be the three articles of faith. The first article is about God's creation of the world, and undoubtedly Handel thought of his work in this way also. Handel's musical works were a hymn of praise about God and his creation. The second article of faith can be described as "salvation," or a belief that Jesus Christ was the son of God and that he suffered and died on the cross for our sins and was resurrected. Suffering is a strong component of Bach's style. He "identified not with the heroic stories of opera figures but with the history of salvation through Jesus Christ." (Geck 2006, 658) The third and final article of faith is the Holy Ghost, and Bach's music seems to be similar to "the statement from the Gospel of St. John about the Holy Ghost: 'the wind blows where it will'." (Geck 2006, 658)
The difference between the two composers is strikingly different, not only is style but in inspiration and theme. Handel was one of the first truly international composers and studied as well as was inspired by the many, various traditions located throughout Europe. He composed his music for a mainly a secular, and non-religious audience, and while a theater man at heart, completely transformed the art form of opera. For such an influential man in the transformation of opera and music in general, his looking to the past for his inspiration is a bit of an anomaly. Since, in the past, religion was the main audience and source of inspiration, one might think it to be a contradiction to revolutionize music through an obsession with the past, but Handel seems to have accomplished just that. But he did it for opera, and in doing so changed it and sent it in a completely new direction of evolution. It is remarkable how Handel's link to the past gave opera a push into the future.
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