Citizens' Campus: George Frideric Handel – A musical journey from the Saale to the Thames

"Handel is the greatest composer who ever lived. I would take off my headgear and kneel on his grave," said Beethoven in 1823, who on his deathbed four years later described him as the "greatest and most capable of all composers", from whom he could "still learn". This is also the view of the speaker, who, as a native of Halle, absorbed Handel with his mother's milk, so to speak, and - as can be seen in the photo - followed him all the way to Rome.

The lecture will shed musical light on the most important stages of the brilliant composer's life - Halle, Hamburg, Italy, Hanover and London. As virtually nothing is known about his private life, Handel's musical works, which in turn exist in great abundance, will speak directly to us.

Let us take Joseph Haydn seriously, who told us in 1824: "Handel is the unrivaled master of all masters. Go and learn from him how powerful effects can be achieved with simple means." Haydn was not the only one to diligently study Handel's "Messiah and Co" for his oratorio "The Creation", as can be heard on 14.03.26, 5 pm, in St. Jakobuskirche in Ilmenau. Let us invite you on a musical study trip from the Saale via the Elbe, the Tiber and the Leine to the Thames!

Speaker Steffen Rieche worked as a cantor in Halle from 1982-1990 and then in Ilmenau until 1997. Since then, he has enjoyed and continues to enjoy traveling musically with other people.

Admission: 5 Euro