Handel House

One of my favorite things in the whole world is Handel's Oratorio Messiah.  I have sung in the Ripon Oratorio Society's presentation of it every year for at least the last quarter of a century, and my formerly soft-cover score has been hard bound and had my name embossed on the front (a Christmas gift from my husband who knows how much I love it!).  So of course I wouldn't miss out on a chance to visit Handel's birthplace!  The images above are of a score of Messiah open to the Hallelujah Chorus written by Handel himself. This manuscript resides in the treasure room of "Handel House," which is now a museum.

The house is quite large and encompasses not only the building you see on the corner below but also the one with the steep roof next to it.  This is the house in which Handel was born and is where he spent the first 18 years of his life.

Though I adore Messiah to the point of near obsession, I didn't think I'd necessarily spend a whole lot of time in this museum dedicated to its composer - was figuring half an hour to forty-five minutes.  I'm not sure how long I spent here, but it was quite a bit longer than that.  The museum is so large and well presented, and the descriptions of the displays were so interesting; I think I read every single thing that was posted.  The room shown below shows a map of the city streets and also buildings that were significant in Handel's life - such as his home, the Market Church, the cathedral, and so on.

Many descriptions and quotations were painted right on the walls.  I don't know that I'd seen that done before, but it worked well.  Some of the larger signs were words of his friends or admirers.  I especially like the one from Beethoven (two pictures down).

Another wall painting was this map of where Handel had lived.  I had no idea he'd lived so many places!  Next to this on the wall was a timeline of his life and when it was he had been in each place, for what reasons he had moved, etc.

It's interesting how the next image resonated with me as being similar to childhood stories of some of the mathematicians I've been studying.  Apparently Handel's father had forbidden him to pursue music, which had become an "absorbing passion" for him.  For a time the family thought their house was haunted, as they were hearing sounds coming from the attic, but a trip up there one night found Handel playing under cover of darkness.

Handel was born on February 23, 1695 and was baptized the next day in the Marienkirche (also known as the Marktkirche or Market Church).  The church and baptismal font are pictured below.

 The church is the four-towered structure in the center of the picture, and the statue in the foreground is of Handel.  For more pictures of the church (inside and out, above and below), click here.

According to one of the wall displays in the museum, Handel "had his first and only musical education from Fredrich Wilhelm Zachow (1663-1712), the organist of [this] church.  The small organ above the altar, built by Georg Reichel in 1664, was available to the boy from the beginning.  He would have seen the large organ [at the back of the church], built by Christoph Cunzius and whose original outer case is still visible today, only on his later visits to Halle.  None other than Johann Sebastian Bach wrote a report on this organ in 1716; between 1746 and 1764 his eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710-1784) was organist here  .  .  ."

Halle Cathedral (or "Dom") is pictured below - as seen from the top of the Marienkirche.  Handel was hired to be organist here in 1702.  In 1688 the church had been handed over to the newly-arrived Calvinists as their parish church.  Handel was Lutheran, so he was appointed to a one-year probationary term only.  Since the Calvinist worship was relatively limited musically, Handel had to restrict himself, though on feast days he probably had a choir available to him from the local reformed grammar school.

It was interesting to me to read of worship music concerns of the day.  As they say, "The more things change, the more they remain the same!"  Below is a picture of a "Cheerful Hymn-book" that Handel would have been familiar with.  The picture below that expresses the concern of orthodox Lutheran theologians of the "deeply subjective piety" of the texts and the "cheerful worldliness of its melodies."

Much of the museum is dedicated to the history of musical instruments in general (not necessarily having belonged to Handel).

Glass Harmonica

"Harmonium" - I never knew it was called that; my parents have one, and I've always called it a "pump organ."

In the market place is a statue of Halle's famous son, George Frederic Handel, and I must say I'm quite happy, upon closer inspection, to see what he is depicted holding in his hand.

And I can't finish without including the following products of Halle's chocolate factory (the oldest in Germany), the Halloren Schokoladenfabrik.

(The white bits on the chocolate are salt, which Halle/Saale is also famous for and is named for!)

Worship in London

St. Paul's London, view from the north

Westminster Abbey, western facade

I'm continuing to post from home - picking up on things I didn't get a chance to post while in Europe.  I had begun chronicling my worship experiences in Scotland and England, but I fell behind with that.  So here's London from Sunday, April 24, 2016.  My challenge that day was to decide where to worship - St. Paul's Cathedral or Westminster Abbey.  I guess if one has to struggle with a choice, these are not bad options to be caught between!  

Since Westminster Abbey had an organ recital at night, which I didn't want to miss, I decided to head to St. Paul's in the morning.  I wish I had set out earlier.  As I approached the church the bells were ringing out, calling people to worship.  I did capture a bit of it, roughly, on the nine-second video clip below as I rushed to the door!

St. Paul's Cathedral, London, west facade 

Other than the few people talking while gawking (rather than worshiping) it was a wonderful experience!  It began with the processional hymn which was the, to me, very familiar hymn All Creatures of Our God and King.  The familiarity of it made me, once again, to feel the oneness of the body of Christ, and to sing this in such magnificent surroundings was breathtaking.  (Sadly I have no pictures of the inside, but they are easily found through a google search.)

Let all things their Creator bless,

And worship Him in humbleness,

O praise Him, Alleluya!

Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,

And praise the Spirit, three in One:

O praise Him, O praise Him,

Alleluya, Alleluya, Alleluya!

We also said together the Nicene Creed, which too made me feel the oneness of the body as we made that profession with united voice.

St. Paul's Cathedral, London - as seem from Millennium Bridge to the south

Both of these churches have multiple worship services on a daily basis, and they are closed to tourists at these times.  This may sound standard, but this was not what I experienced in Notre Dame; I've also recently heard from family members who traveled in Spain that it was very hard to worship in the two cathedrals they went to because tourists were milling about and snapping pictures (and, in one case, hugging the statue of St. James at the front of the church) as services were being held.  Not only is touring not allowed during worship, but it is the case at Westminster Abbey that during times that are open to tourists a prayer is said from the pulpit each hour.  Everyone in the abbey is asked to stand still and remain silent while the prayer is being said.  This is part of the way that the primary function of the Abbey is shown to be that of a church, which it is.  These hourly prayers encompass the world, all people and all families, and I found them to be very meaningful and calming.  In fact, I hope it comes to my mind from time to time as I go about my everyday life now that each hour I too am encompassed in the prayers said there.

After a day of much wandering about the city I queued with many others at Westminster Abbey for the organ recital.  I was pleased to find out that there was an evening service after the half-hour organ recital, so I stayed for that as well.

Buttresses of Westminster as seen from the cloisters

From the cloisters

From the southeast

It seems to me that the view of Westminster Abbey that is most familiar is that of the western facade with its two towers, which can be seen in the second picture of this post and to the far right in the post below.  I remember the first time I visited Westminster Abbey (2003) that when I entered through a door on the northern facade that I did not recognize this as the Abbey that I had seen so often in pictures and on television.  I'm including the views below in order to show both of these facades and how they connect.

Detail of one of the north doors

North facade

Here too was the sense of oneness in many ways.  We began with the hymn Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven, we said The Lord's Prayer in unison, and we ended with Now Thank We All Our God (my favorite hymn). I found the worship service to be as ecumenical as the hourly prayers said throughout the day.  The way in which the minister began the main prayer of the service was to ask God to be with all Christians: "Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Reformed, Pentecostal, Charismatic  .  .  .  ."  Thus recognizing us all to be of one body and sharing one faith.  I felt a humility and love here both in my touring and in my worship.  The image I close this post with is that of an engraving on the western facade (just to the left as you face the western doors).  From what I have experienced here it seems to me that this is truly the desire and aim of those at the Abbey, and that they are doing their best to partner with God in bringing grace, peace and concord.

Update from Back in the States

A "good-bye" through simultaneous photos at the Hauptbahnhof ("railway station") on Saturday, May 14, 2016 between me and Dr. Manfred Stern before I zoomed off to end my sabbatical travels - leaving behind this new dear friend and northern Europe and the beautiful city of Halle, Germany.

I bounced into California for three days before bouncing back eastward across much of the American continent for my son's college graduation.

And now, as of today, I am finally hanging out in one time zone for the foreseeable future!  However, this does not mean I am done posting!  I have mathematicians and locations I haven't touched on yet but will be posting about (though somewhat more slowly than during my travels), and I have posts that are yet "In Progress" that I will be finishing.

Here is what I yet plan to do at the moment - perhaps more as well!  I will change this post to reflect what has been completed as I finish each one:

Planned Upcoming Posts:

Worship in London                                                             (Completed May 26, 2016)
Handel House                                                                   (Completed May 28, 2016)
G. H. Hardy                                                                      (Completed June 4, 2016)
Long-overdue London Wrap-up                                            (Completed June 7, 2016)
More Mathmaticians & Miscellaneous Math Stuff                 (Completed July 13, 2016)
Closing Highlights                                                             (Completed July 15, 2016)

Posts in Progress:

Poet Robert Fergusson                                                       (Completed July 27, 2016)
David Hilbert                                                                      (Completed July 19, 2016)
Mathematical Gottingen                                                      (Completed August 5, 2016)

I'm also beginning to sort through all the many threads of information about people, places and events that I encountered in this trip and these studies, am needing to determine exactly how to weave them together into the talks I will be giving in the fall - as well as into elements that I can effectively incorporate into my teaching.  Somehow I'll also need to find a way to write up a final report in a full yet succinct way for the college.  Manfred and I found that we have many interests in common, so I hope as well to do some collaboration with him.  My travels may be done, but the sabbatical is going to echo in my life and in my teaching for a long time and in many ways.

But for now,  a couple more brief glimpses of that final city for me, Halle, the city of the five towers.  These videos were taken in the marketplace early in the morning before I hopped on the train - a view from below, and a view from above.  (The market booths were just getting set up, and there was some event taking place behind me in the marketplace - hence the loud speaker.)