ABSTRACT
Handel passed by a church in London and heard one of his sacred choruses sung off pitch in a wretched ensemble. “Almighty Lord!” he exclaimed. “This is not the music I wrote for Thy Glory.”
Even more than his exact contemporary Bach, Handel has become a symbol of exalted classicism. His corpulent figure, weighing about 210 pounds, the air of authority, stately dignity, the magnificence of his countenance, and the splendid wig which seemed to be firmly glued to his natural hair, all these external qualities are reflected in his music. The adjectives elicited from writers for more than two centuries constitute a whole thesaurus of synonyms: noble, majestic, grand, imposing, glorious, resplendent, lofty, great, sublime, mighty, dignified, stately, lordly, princely, peerless, immortal, illustrious, and lustrous.
