num_pages: 48
description: George Frideric Handel was not your everyday eighteenth-century composer. And in a manner befitting its subject, this witty, rigorously researched, and accessible biography captures Handel's essential spirit--from a child who smuggled a clavichord into the attic to make music against his father's orders to a young man who imported forty-five pounds of mountain snow to chill wine for a gala. Los Angeles Times Book Prize winner M. T. Anderson depicts not only Handel's triumphs but also his struggles, chronicling the illness, ill fortune, and despair that led to his greatest achievement, the Messiah. With impeccable detail and a wink at the reader, Kevin Hawkes illustrates this singular story of Handel and the music through which he lives on.
language: English
title: Handel: Who Knew What He Wanted
titlecomplete: Handel: Who Knew What He Wanted
characters: George Frideric Handel
genres: Biography Memoir, Art, Music, Childrens, Nonfiction, History, Historical, Picture Books, Germany, Biography
ratings_count: 223
awards: awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Vermont Golden Dome Book Award
publisher: Walker Books