Handel Stories
This is where you flaunt your admiration for Handel with personal anecdotes. The caption to the left is Beethoven’s quote, "Handel is the greatest composer who ever lived; I would bare my head and kneel at his grave." Quite a strong endorsement from a guy who knew a thing or two about music himself.
If you have good stories relating to Handel or your fanaticism, email them to and they will get posted in this section (assuming they are not vulgar or anything, and I cannot yet imagine why they would be). I pride myself on being quite a Handel fanatic, and would like to hear from the other ones out there.
My own stories:
I did visit Handel’s grave recently on a trip to London. The signs in Westminster Abbey say to turn off cameras, but I had my heart set on a shot of the monument. But I can solemnly swear that besides the one photo, I was completely compliant. (The picture is the one seen in the fifth Biography page of this site; a bit blurry, but I’ll treasure it forever.)
Perhaps photographing the statue carries some sort of curse, because the vacation was ill-fated with regard to Handel. I arrived about a week too late to see the Oxford Handel Festival, and a week too early to see Theodora performed in London. I was there to see a friend rather than shows. This taught me a valuable lesson, and henceforth I will structure my trips around local performances. And although going to Europe for a single performance is a bit beyond my means, I am planning a trip to San Francisco in April to see Belshazzar.
Oh, and last November 22nd I hosted a St. Cecilia’s Day party. It was to consist of hanging out, snacking, and listening to Handel’s wonderful ode to music. But shortly before the Big Night I had a terrible nightmare in which the party was a catastrophe. Everything went wrong. There was no food, I couldn't not find the right CD, and soon a throng of rowdy, uninvited people showed up. They proceeded to spill their drinks everywhere and make a mess, while I bustled about trying to control the situation and get them out the door. In actuality, the party went pretty smoothly. But to this day I would not wish St. Cecilia’s Day Anxiety on my worst enemy.