LONDON A-Z An alphabetical journey through the capital's museums Handel House Museum
Location: 25 Brook Street, Mayfair W1K 4HB [map] Open: Tuesday-Sunday (10am - 6pm) (late opening Sun, late closing Thu) Admission: £5 Brief summary: where the Messiah was writen Website:www.handelhouse.org Time to set aside: an hour
Exactly 250 years ago today, around eight o'clock in the morning, the great Baroque composer Handel breathed his last. In the heart of Mayfair. You might have thought that George Frideric was German, and indeed by birth he was, but he spent two thirds of his life in England and lived out his last 36 years at a townhouse in Brook Street. The ground floor at number 25 may now be a ladies' designer boutique, but upstairs the rooms have been restored as GFH might have known them. Normally visitors have to enter round the back, in exclusive Lancashire Court, but today (for one anniversary day only) Handel's front door will be open and access to his former home will be free of charge.
In 1723, when Handel moved in, this was a brand new Georgian terrace in a newly fashionable part of town. He was a very busy man, composing and staging Italian operas around the city and writing for the royal court. But here at number 25 he led a rather less gregarious life, allowing only close friends and musicians to visit, and keeping his private life very much to himself. 250 years later, courtesy of the HandelHouseMuseum, anyone can come poke round George's private chambers and see where he composed some of his greatest works. And you might be very surprised to discover which other musician once lived nextdoor.
First stop, at the top of the house, Handel's bedroom closet. It's just big enough to hold a small cinema (i.e. a couple of rows of chairs in front of a TV screen), and here you can watch a short introductory video where various musical Londoners gush generously about the composer's output. The emphasis is rather more on his music than his history, which feels appropriate, and a suitable reminder of the back catalogue's breadth and clarity. When you're suitably primed, step through the rear door into the museum proper. This dark wood-panelled room used to be Handel's dressing room, somewhere for him to try on a decorative waistcoat or puff a powdered wig. Today the room is merely decked out with portraits of 18th century cultural contemporaries, which you can read about on a big text-heavy laminated sheet dispensed by the room's curator. Squint carefully, there's much to discover.
Next into the bedroom, where a period four-poster with red drapes props up the far wall. It's not the precise bed in which George died on 14th April 1759, that's long gone, but it has been sourced and accesorised as far as possible to match the inventory taken after his death. Try not to look out of the window - the glitzy shop windows of Mayfair shatter the Regency illusion somewhat. Then tread downstairs to the first floor rehearsal room. Here Handel first performed his prototype works, sometimes solo but often with invited instrumental accompaniment. Centrepiece is an ornate single-manual harpsichord, still used for live performance today - indeed the museum's owners encourage Baroque musicians to come practice in this room for free. Nextdoor is a rather smaller spinet, this in Handel's official Composition Room. Here he turned out his triumphal Messiah in three weeks flat, here too originated Zadok The Priest and the Music For The Royal Fireworks. Few London spaces have a richer legacy.
Nip nextdoor through a connecting passage into 23 Brook Street and you'll be able to explore a brand new (just-opened last week) exhibition - Handel Reveal'd. A range of Handellian aretfacts are on display across two floors, including a handwritten score completed on Christmas Day, a "life mask" and one of George's share certificates. There's also muted speculation into the composer's confirmed bachelorhood, and a chance to plug yourself into a Walkman to hear the odd overture while you peruse. It's only on the upper floor that Handel's unlikely musical neighbour is revealed. For a few brief months 40 years ago this flat was home to guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, shacked up in a 60s lovepad with girlfriend Kathy Etchingham. Present visitors get to see nothing more than a few press photographs shot here, but these are enough to make you envisage the room in a completely different way. Two geniuses for the price of one, that's Brook Street for you. by tube: Bond Street
Exactly 250 years ago today, around eight o'clock in the morning, the great Baroque composer Handel breathed his last. In the heart of Mayfair. You might have thought that George Frideric was German, and indeed by birth he was, but he spent two thirds of his life in England and lived out his last 36 years at a townhouse in Brook Street. The ground floor at number 25 may now be a ladies' designer boutique, but upstairs the rooms have been restored as GFH might have known them. Normally visitors have to enter round the back, in exclusive Lancashire Court, but today (for one anniversary day only) Handel's front door will be open and access to his former home will be free of charge.
First stop, at the top of the house, Handel's bedroom closet. It's just big enough to hold a small cinema (i.e. a couple of rows of chairs in front of a TV screen), and here you can watch a short introductory video where various musical Londoners gush generously about the composer's output. The emphasis is rather more on his music than his history, which feels appropriate, and a suitable reminder of the back catalogue's breadth and clarity. When you're suitably primed, step through the rear door into the museum proper. This dark wood-panelled room used to be Handel's dressing room, somewhere for him to try on a decorative waistcoat or puff a powdered wig. Today the room is merely decked out with portraits of 18th century cultural contemporaries, which you can read about on a big text-heavy laminated sheet dispensed by the room's curator. Squint carefully, there's much to discover.
Nip nextdoor through a connecting passage into 23 Brook Street and you'll be able to explore a brand new (just-opened last week) exhibition - Handel Reveal'd. A range of Handellian aretfacts are on display across two floors, including a handwritten score completed on Christmas Day, a "life mask" and one of George's share certificates. There's also muted speculation into the composer's confirmed bachelorhood, and a chance to plug yourself into a Walkman to hear the odd overture while you peruse. It's only on the upper floor that Handel's unlikely musical neighbour is revealed. For a few brief months 40 years ago this flat was home to guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, shacked up in a 60s lovepad with girlfriend Kathy Etchingham. Present visitors get to see nothing more than a few press photographs shot here, but these are enough to make you envisage the room in a completely different way. Two geniuses for the price of one, that's Brook Street for you.
