abandoning his plan; so he turned his eyes again towards London. Having tested the soil of England, and judged it favourable, Handel decided to establish himself there. He received regular news from England whilst in Hanover.[1] Since his departure no opera could hold its own except Rinaldo. The English amateurs recalled him, and Handel, burning to depart, asked for a new leave from the Court of Hanover. This was granted on the easiest of terms: "on condition that he returned after a reasonable time."[2]
He returned to London towards the end of November, 1712, in time to supervise the representation of a pastoral, Il Pastor Fido, a hasty work, from which he abstracted the best airs later on.[3] Twenty days later he had finished writing Teseo, a tragic opera in five very short acts,[4] full of haste and of genius, which was given in January, 1713.
Handel endeavoured to settle himself firmly in England. He associated himself with the loyalty and pride of the nation by writing for political celebrations. The conclusion of the Peace of Utrecht, a glorious day for England, approached. Handel prepared a Te Deum, which was already
- ↑ One sees by the letters of 1711 that Handel applied himself, even in Germany, to perfecting his knowledge of English.
- ↑ The House of Hanover was, as one knows, an aspirant for the succession to the throne of England, and it behoved it to keep on good terms with Queen Anne, who was partial to Handel.
- ↑ For his second version of this work in 1734 he then added some choruses.
- ↑ It is the only opera of Handel's which is in five acts. The poem was by Haym.
