Handel was invited to Dublin to perform a season of subscription fundraising concerts for charities, including Mercer's Hospital and the Charitable Infirmary, to raise money for poverty relief after the famine.
Compositional Technique
Handel wrote down an Irish folk tune called 'Der arme Irische Junge' (The Poor Irish Boy) in a manuscript alongside sketches for his oratorio Messiah, suggesting his admiration for Irish folk music.
Composer Biography
Handel's decision to go to Dublin was advantageous because his business in London was at a low ebb due to a backlash against Italian opera and rivalry with other musicians.
Cultural Impact
Alexander Pope, a supporter of Handel, satirized Handel's enemies in his work The Dunciad, depicting Handel as a threat to the influence of Italian opera.
Historical Context
Handel's visit to Ireland in 1741 occurred during a period of severe famine, known as the Bliain an Áir (Year of Slaughter), caused by the Great Frost of 1739-41.
Historical Context
Dublin was a thriving musical city in the 18th century, regarded as the second largest city in the British Isles after London by 1750.
Composer Biography
George Frideric Handel, at age 56, arrived in Dublin in 1741 for a creative sojourn that lasted nearly nine months.
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