Lost Handel Work Discovered
in British Music Library
A lost composition by George Frideric Handel found in the library of the British Royal Academy of Music saw its world premiere at the school March 15. The score was discovered by Handel expert Hans Joachim Marx, who was in the library doing research for a complete catalog of the composer’s work. According to the March 12 Times of London, Marx said that when he saw the piece for the first time, “I realized its significance immediately. It was a wonderful feeling, a great moment. But I thought, I have to do a lot of work to prove it”
Curtis Price, the academy’s principal, told the Times, “This is an exciting discovery, though slightly embarrassing that such an important piece was found under my nose. The music is fresh, exuberant, and a little wild in places, but unmistakably Handel.” However, the academy’s library holds around 150,000 uncataloged music-related manuscripts and documents.
The piece is in seven movements and arranged for solo soprano and strings. Scholars believe it was composed in Rome around 1707 and has not been performed since the time of its creation.
Posted March 19, 2001.
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