George Friedric Handel How Beautiful Are The Feet

This month Bridget Mermikides arranges and transcribes this beautiful aria from The Messiah, for solo guitar.

- Bridget Mermikides

Born in the same year as last issue’s featured composer JS Bach, the German-turned-British composer George Friedric Handel (1685-1759) is also regarded as one of the greatest and most influential composers of the Baroque era, and indeed the entire canon of Western Art Music. His remarkable catalog of works has long been praised for both its technical skill and dramatic power. Among these, several pieces have been used at key historical events, during his lifetime and to the present day, and are embedded in popular as well as classical music culture. Zadok The Priest, for example, has been performed at all 10 coronations from George II to Elizabeth II. His Water Music and Firework Music are regular – almost default – accompaniments to appropriate occasions. His 40 operas have been staples throughout the generations, and selections from which are well-known components of British culture – for example, The Arrival Of

The Queen Of Sheba from Solomon was used at the opening of London’s 2012 Olympic Games. Here, however, I have selected an aria from perhaps his most celebrated work, the 1741 oratorio Messiah.