T WO MUSEUMS – THREE EXHIBITIONS

IN HANDEL HOUSE "Handel – The European"

"Historical Musical Instruments"

IN WILHELM FRIEDEMANN BACH HOUSE"Halle, the City of Music"

Stiftung Händel-Haus

HANDEL HOUSE FOUNDATION

WELCOME!

Originally the house where the Baroque genius was born and lived, today a centre of Handel research and commemoration and a music museum with engaging permanent and special exhibitions and a varied calendar of events – that’s Handel House in Halle. Much has hap-pened since the museum was founded in 1948: the building has been renovated, the museum concept revised several times, new objects have been bought and music research has made new findings. Valuable paintings, drawings and prints, musical instruments, soundscapes and carefully written texts in the three permanent exhibitions "Handel – The European", "Historical Musical Instruments" and "Halle, the City of Music" help you discover all there is to know about Handel’s creative work and his artistic genius, and about musical instruments and illustrious con-temporary events. Besides its educational activities, Handel House also offers concert series, lectures, guided tours, an academic library service and, in the museum shop, a selected range of items reflecting the very diverse activities of the Handel House Foundation.We hope you find this musical voyage of discovery an exciting one. Enjoy your visit!

The Handel House Foundation is one of 23 “Cultural Lighthouses” listed in the German government’s Blue Book. The Blue Book designates German sites of cultural interest which are of both national and European importance.

Handel House Foundation

THE HOUSE WHERE GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL WAS BORN Handel’s father Georg bought the house called Zum gelben Hirschen („The Yellow Hart“) – today a well-conserved and important listed building – in 1666. This is where George Frideric Handel was born in 1685 and lived until his eighteenth year. The building remained in the possession of the Handel family until 1782. First documented in 1558, its foundations date back to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. These mediaeval origins are evident in the impressive Romanesque vaults of the cellars of Handel House, which are open to the public. Certain architectural elements in the upper storeys can be dated to the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. From some of the windows of the house, you have a beautiful view of the small, idyllic courtyard. In 1985, a neighbouring historical house from the Renaissance period with a large interior courtyard was added to the museum complex, one of the rooms of which (the Blockbohlenstube) is a timber-panelled room with the remains of paintings dating from the second half of the sixteenth century.In 2001, the Foundation’s exhibition of historical musical instruments was installed in a specially built annex to an adjoining house on the northern side, which originally also belonged to the Handel family. This interesting modern building is part of Händel-Karree, a building complex which, besides the university’s Institute of Music and the Protestant College of Church Music, also houses the Foundation’s library, which is open to the public.

Handel House

HANDEL – THE EUROPEAN Until his eighteenth year, George Frideric Handel lived in the house called Zum Gelben Hirschen – „The Yellow Hart“. The house of his birth, a listed historical monument, has been a museum since 1948 and today it welcomes visitors from all over the world. They come to visit the award-winning exhibition „Handel – The European“ which covers more than 600m² of floor space over two storeys and depicts the life and work of the composer with the aid of historical exhibits. The bright, cheerful rooms present historical musical instruments, paintings, drawings, prints and first editions, but also offer modern media stations and a small projection theatre where five to ten-minute-long excerpts from Handel’s operas can be viewed in a fun way. The very varied tour also takes you through the neighbouring Renaissance building with its timber-panelled room, the Blockbohlenstube. Audio guides are available free of charge; these allow you to hear samples of Handel’s works and explanatory comments through the speakers in the rooms.Besides the permanent Handel exhibition, visitors are also invited to view the interesting special exhibitions on a variety of themes.

Musical delights: the "Musik im Händel-Haus" series in the Cham-ber Music Room and the "Focus Bohlenstube" series in the historical timber-panelled room offer great concerts featuring famous musicians. More information is available in our publications and on the Internet at www.haendelhaus.de

Handel House Museum

Every first Sunday in the month, an event in the "Authentischer Klang" – meaning “authentic sound” – series takes place in which one exhibit from the musical instrument exhibition, such as the Johann Gottlieb Mauer organ from 1770, is played.

MUSICAL GEMS:HISTORICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS In an adjoining modern building accessible directly from the historic Handel House (including disabled access), the majority of the 750 historical musical instruments making up the collection are on display. Today, it represents one of the most important collections in Central Germany. Here you can view valuable exhibits of all types of musical instrument – and even hear some of them. The gems of the collection include a Flemish harpsichord from 1599, a fortepiano from the time of Mozart and a late Baroque church organ, as well as rare objects and curiosities ranging from a glass harmonica to an olifant and a cane violin and also including mechanical musical inst-ruments. The development of the keyboard instrument can be traced through exhibits such as the clavichord, the harpsichord and the fortepiano, right up to the modern grand piano. You can try playing a number of replicas yourself.Moreover, the Sound Studio invites you to take an active part. In a number of simple experiments, it shows how musical instruments and the human voice produce sound, explaining acoustic phe-nomena in a fun way.

Handel House Museum

A combined ticket is available giving discounted admission both to Handel House and Wilhelm Friedemann Bach House.

TIME TRIP: HALLE, THE CITY OF MUSIC

If you leave the historic city centre along Große Klausstraße and head towards the Klausbrücke bridge, you will arrive at one of Halle’s oldest houses. This is where Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710–1784), the eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach and one of the most important organ virtuosos of his time, lived in the eighteenth century.In Halle where he spent most of his career, Wilhelm Friedemann occupied the city’s most important musical post, as organist of the Marktkirche and director musices.An extension built in 1835 houses on its upper floor an exhibition which is well worth a visit: “Halle, the City of Music”. The Renaissance wing, which has been conserved in its original state, features a his-toric timber-panelled room with the remains of floral wall paintings and valuable sixteenth-century musical instruments. Aided by large, colourful display panels, media stations andnumerous unique exhibits belonging to the Handel House Founda- tion, such as the original pianos of Carl Loewe (1796 – 1869) and Robert Franz (1815 – 1892), you can set off on a wonderfully entertai-ning time trip through Halle’s musical history from the Middle Ages to the most recent past.

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach House

You can get further information about the festivals and the free pro-gramme by phoning +49 (0) 345 500 90 222, by sending an e-mail to festspiele@haendelhaus.de or by visiting www.haendelhaus.de.

CONCERTS IN AUTHENTIC VENUES

The top event in the musical diary of the 1,200 year-old city of Halle an der Saale is the annual Handel Festival, held in late May and early June, and the Handel in Autumn festival, held in November. The city of the composer’s birth presents top singers, such as Cecilia Bartoli, Philippe Jaroussky and Julia Lezhneva in authentic venues and at-tracts an international audience with first-rate musical performances, variety and quality. The wide-ranging programme spans concerts, operas and oratorios, as well as cross-genre events such as a sym-phonic rock concert, right through to a Handel Festival for kids and an academic conference. One annual highlight is the performance of the Messiah in the church where George Frideric Handel was baptized.

Handel Festival Halle

No. of copies printed: 4,000 | Editorial deadline: March 30, 2015Printed by: Druckerei Hessel | Layout and design: INSIDE werbungPhotos: Uwe Köhn, Thomas Ziegler, Horst Fechner

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Handel House Foundation Music museums | Handel Festival | Library | Archive | Research |Restoration workshop

Clemens Birnbaum (Director, Executive Director Handel Festival Halle)Phone: +49 (0) 345 50090-0 | Fax: +49 (0) 345 50090-416 stiftung@haendelhaus.de | www.haendelhaus.de Handel HouseGroße Nikolaistraße 5 | D - 06108 Halle (Saale) »HANDEL – THE EUROPEAN« and »HISTORICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS«Opening timesNovember to March: Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pmApril to October: Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 6pmAdmissionAdults € 5 | Concessions € 3.50 * | Admission free for children up to age 6Family ticket € 10 (parents, children) | Groups (10 people and over): € 4.50/personHandel House has partial disabled access.Audio tour (through speakers) in German, English and French Wilhelm Friedemann Bach House Große Klausstraße 12 (entrance on Hallorenring) | D - 06108 Halle (Saale)»HALLE, THE CITY OF MUSIC«Opening timesNovember to March: Friday and Saturday, 10am to 5pmApril to October: Friday and Saturday, 10am to 6pmAdmission € 2.50 (no concessions) Combined ticket for Handel House and W. F. Bach House € 6.50 | concessions € 5.50*

* Concessions: schoolchildren, students, interns, severely disabled (80% disability and over), holders of the Welcome Card Halle or Halle Pass

INFORMATION AND BOOKINGS FOR GROUP TOURSPhone: +49 (0) 345 50090-170 | christiane.barth@haendelhaus.de