Composers Datebook

On today's date in 1750, this alarming notice appeared in a London newspaper: "Mr. Handel, who went to Germany to visit his friends some time since, and between the Hague and Harlem had the misfortune to be overturned, by which he was terribly hurt, is now out of danger." To translate into modern journalistic prose: While visiting the continent, London-based composer George Frideric Handel, age 65, was injured in a traffic accident – his coach somehow toppled over with Handel inside. The exact details of the accident are not known, nor are the extent of Handel's injuries, but the composer seems to have recovered from the accident. Upon his return to London, Handel completed a new organ concerto for his 1751 oratorio season. This concerto — which we're sampling — was published as his Op. 7, no. 3, and turned out to be Handel's last major orchestral work. Although he lived for another 9 years, Handel's health took a turn for the worse in 1751. With some difficulty he completed his last great oratorio, "Jeptha", and spent the remaining years of his life reviving earlier works and putting his music and affairs in order. In our own time, we note with sadness that at least three American composers have died as a result of road accidents in the last decade: composers Stephen Albert, at age 51, in 1992, Eric Stokes, at age 69 in 1999, and Vivian Fine, at age 86, in the year 2000.