The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia [Hardcover]

'An incredible achievement! Articles are extensive, both well documented for scholars and eminently readable. No stone appears to have been left unturned and the result is an amazingly comprehensive A-Z of anyone and anything connected to the great master of the baroque and the legacy with which he has enriched our lives.' --Harry Christophers, conductor of The Sixteen and artistic director of the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston

'The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia is remarkable: a well-researched, elegantly written, often times witty, cornecopia of Haendelian lore and miscellany.' --William Christie, conductor

'The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia is a fitting tribute to one of the greatest composers. It is extremely comprehensive, dealing not only with the background to Handel's musical masterpieces, but also with his contemporaries, colleagues, friends and singers who performed in his operas and oratorios. 86 experts from a range of scholarly disciplines examine Handel's life and work from a wide variety of aspects, and the encyclopedia will serve to emphasize the composer's genius in such a wide range of musical styles. The editors are to be congratulated on producing such an indispensable adjunct to every musical library.' --Sir Charles Mackerras, conductor

'The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia will be warmly welcomed by all Handelian scholars and performers. The descriptions of musical works are concise and to the point; the numerous biographical entries are especially interesting, and recreate the vivid and colourful musical worlds of Germany, Italy and London that formed the background to Handel's great works.' --Paul McCreesh, conductor

'What a glorious resource this book is! It is an absolute must for all lovers of Handel's music. It is a terrific mine of information about his music and the fascinating cast of characters who performed it.' --Nicholas McGegan, conductor

'The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia will never gather dust on my bookshelf. The wealth of information that it contains is so enticing that frequent reference is inevitable, and it is impossible to restrict myself to a single topic of enquiry at any one time. Music lovers, performers and scholars should not be without this book.' --Trevor Pinnock, harpsichordist, conductor and founder of the English Concert

'The signed articles are expertly indexed and cross-referenced....useful to the reference librarian interested in easily locating those somewhat familiar passages that belong to another musical work....This volume is consistent in format and function with The Cambridge Mozart Encylopedia....Recommended.' --Choice

George Frideric Handel was born and educated in Germany, flourished in Italy, and chose to become British. One of the most cosmopolitan of the great composers, much of Handel's music has remained in the popular repertory since his lifetime, and a broad variety of his music theatre works from Italian operas to English oratorios have experienced a dramatic renaissance since the late twentieth century. A large number of publications devoted to Handel's life and music have appeared from his own time to the present day, but The Cambridge Handel Encyclopedia is the first resource to gather the full range of present knowledge and leading new scholarship into a single volume for convenient and illuminating reference. Packed with 700 informative and accessible entries both long and short, this book is ideal for performers, scholars, students and music lovers who wish to explore the Handelian world.