Gottinger Handel-Beitrage, Band 24: Jahrbuch/Yearbook 2023

The Gottingen Handel Contributions (GHB) are published as a yearbook and are published by Laurenz Lütteken and Wolfgang Sandberger on behalf of the Göttingen Handel Society. In the first half of the 20th century, the massive upheavals in society, the economy, technology, art and culture not only led to a change in people's self-reflection, but also to a reassessment of the past. This also affected the literary reception of composers and their works. Handel is no exception - and yet a special feature, because he only played a prominent role with a few writers, but then all the more significantly. The reflection of Handel and his work in literary configurations is examined using texts by George Bernard Shaw, Romain Rolland, Egon Friedell and Stefan Zweig, supplemented by a more detailed analysis of Handel's depiction by the book illustrator Melchior Lechter. This is introduced by a fundamental consideration of composers as literary figures of identification in the modern age. As always, the volume is supplemented by the bibliography on Handel literature and the communications from the Göttingen Handel Society.