George Frideric HandelGeorge Frideric Handel (February 23, 1685 – April 14, 1759) was a composer of the Baroque era, with an impressive repertoire of compositions. Handel did not grow up in an environment rich in music, but in fact his father forbade him to touch a musical instrument, but he found time, while everyone was asleep, to play a clavichord which he had smuggled into an upstairs room of the house. . He grew up in Halle, Germany, and at the age of 18 he traveled to Hamburg and took a job as a violinist at the Hamburg Opera. He supported himself by giving private lessons and eventually published his first opera, Almira. This was in 1703. By the end of 1710 he had completed an Italian tour which included visits to Florence, Rome, Naples and Venice. He had also settled and settled in Britain and wrote operas for the Queen's Theatre. It was later renamed the King's Theater in 1714 after the Elector of Hanover acceded to the British throne, but it was still employed by them. Handel became director of the Royal Academy of Music in 1719. This society aimed to present Italian ...