It’s hard to describe Handel in a single word. He could write works as lilting as The Harmonious Blacksmith, as soaring as the Messiah, and as stodgy as some of his later oratorios. Maybe I’ve judged him too harshly ...
Agreed. Handel wrote the exuberant Music for the Royal Fireworks and the inspirational yet intensely personal And He Feed His Flock in the Messiah. So it really is difficult to describe any of these great composers or compositions in one word or as the greatest ever. I used to think Bach’s Mass in B Minor was the greatest work. Then I performed the Berlioz Requiem. Two great works but very, very different. How is it possible to say one is “greater” than the other when they are so different?
I actually don't think you judged Handel harshly at all. It is difficult to describe such composers work using a single word, but I must say you did pretty well - and stirred the debate towards an interesting direction.
I think that Handel was in some ways "staid" - because his traditionalism was comforting - at least some of his work is comforting to me. Because of Handle's deep faith in Christ, his work tended to reflect order. In order, we find God. That is why I despise postmodernism (especially in the arts). It is disordered, disjointed, illogical, and mocking - everything that the Creator is not.
I forgot about the Harmonious Blacksmith.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajk110pLZf8
Wonderful.
Again, I think you captured old Wolfgang perfectly by describing him as "exuberant."
In many ways, he was "out there" - but that is where his magnificance shines through. What do you think?