If you are familiar with the BBC Ten Pieces, you will enjoy this KS2 Music quiz about the life and works of the British/German composer, George Frideric Handel.
Handel (though born in Germany) is hailed as one of Britain's greatest composers of ceremonial and other music. He moved to England in his twenties and spent the rest of his life there, becoming famous for his oratorios, operas and organ concertos. One of his works, Zadok the Priest, which was written for King George II's coronation, has been performed at the coronation of every British monarch since. Handel died in 1759 and he was buried in Westminster Abbey with full state honours.
You may be familiar with The Messiah, but how well do you know Handel's other works? Have a go at this quiz and see if you can get top marks!
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You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC - KS2: George Frideric Handel - Zadok the Priest
Bach and Handel were each born in what is now Germany, in that same year
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Hence the 'Georgian' style label for the architecture, art, fashions, music, drama etc. of that period
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Though Handel did write single pieces with titles similar to 'symphony' (e.g. the Pastoral Symphony in Messiah), the Symphony as we have since known it was created by Haydn, who lived after Handel
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It was first heard in Ireland. There are stories that the work was so popular, audiences in London were told on their tickets that men should leave their swords at home and women not wear their big skirt-hoops, so more people could fit into the space to listen!
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'Foundlings' are 'little people who have been found by someone else' (typically, and sadly, unwanted babies). The Foundling Hospital gave them food, shelter and a better start in life
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'Jesu, joy' is by Handel's contemporary, JS Bach
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Do listen to this piece if you can, or at least some of it; it should bring a smile to your face as you picture the man singing as he worked (and a smile on Handel's face too perhaps, as the merry piece took shape in his mind and onto paper)!
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If the music was magnificent enough for King George, it's magnificent enough for everyone else, over 250 years later. It is an accepted tradition that everyone stands for this part of the oratorio (except those who sit to play their instruments)
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There are a number of famous pieces among these works, which you might enjoy exploring
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Many famous people down the centuries have been buried there. One might like to think of him somehow smiling as successive Coronations take place in the Abbey
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