Well, as I discovered the other day, they were next door neighbours here in London Town. Centuries apart yes I know, but still neighbours of sorts. With Hendrix who lived at number 23 and Handel at number 25 that makes Brook Street a pretty awesome street in my view. So much so, that I assumed the position of an awe-struck tourist again and took a photo (shown below).
25 Brook Street is now a museum appropriately named "Handel House Museum". For those that aren't familiar with Handel, he was a German composer who lived his last 36 years in London - 36 very successful years. In those years he was commissioned to write bespoke music for the rich, the famous, the monarchy and the church. Four very demanding employers I'm sure you would agree. Whatever his project or employer he would churn out hit and hit.
That turned him into a seriously wealthy man because he was quite simply brilliant at whatever he did. His music has so much soul.
Basically, anyone who could pay big money in the early 18th Century and who wanted music written for their own function or purposes found themselves writing large cheques to GF Handel esquire. In return, they got musical gold that moves the soul and stands the test of time. Everybody was a winner.
Ever the entrepreneur (250+ years after he died, he still made a fiver out me) Handel wrote hits such as the music to "The Messiah" and "Zadok the priest" (the latter of the two UEFA ripped off for their Champions League theme music). Whilst those are two well-known compositions he was a prolific composer, so his discography is huge - and an impressive listen at that.
It's only a genius that can take one word ("hallelujah"), set it to block chords in a chorus and centuries later the association between the word "hallelujah" and the music he wrote be so strong.
Check out this cool flash mob version of the hallelujah chorus on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR8z6NYmdXI
Learning about his life in London alongside the stories and influences of his many masterpieces was incredible. Being in the house where this all happened, reading his own and his librettist's manuscripts was all the more inspiring.
The museum has attached, one room of number 23 (Jimi Hendrix's house) and plans are underway to further develop "Hendrix's London legacy.
All I can say is that if you are ever going to have noisy neighbours, those two would be right up there in my top 2.
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