George Frideric HandelGeorge Frideric Handel (23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a composer of the Baroque era, with an impressive repertoire of compositions. Handel did not grow up in an environment rich in music, but in reality his father had forbidden him to touch any musical instrument, but he found time when everyone else was asleep to play a clavichord which he had smuggled into an upstairs room of the house. . He grew up in Halle, Germany, and at the age of 18 went to Hamburg and took a job as a violinist at the Hamburg Opera House. He supported himself by giving private lessons and eventually published his first work, Almira. This occurred in 1703. By the end of 1710 he had completed an Italian tour that included visits to Florence, Rome, Naples, and Venice. He had also moved and settled in Britain and written plays for the Queen's Theatre. It was later renamed the King's Theater in 1714 after the Elector of Hanover ascended the British throne, but was still in their employ. Handel became director of the Royal Academy of Music in 1719. This company was designed to introduce Italian ...