Editing George Frideric Handel (section)

=== At Cannons (1717–19) ===
{{Main|Handel at Cannons}}
In 1717, Handel became house composer at [[Cannons (house)|Cannons]] in [[Middlesex]], where he laid the cornerstone for his future choral compositions in the ''[[Chandos Anthems]]''.{{sfn|Bukofzer|2001|pp=333–335}} [[Romain Rolland]] wrote that these anthems (or Psalms) stood in relation to Handel's oratorios, much the same way that the Italian cantatas stood to his operas: "splendid sketches of the more monumental works."{{sfn|Rolland|1916|p=71}} Another work, which he wrote for [[James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos|The 1st Duke of Chandos]], the owner of Cannons, was ''[[Acis and Galatea (Handel)|Acis and Galatea]]'': during Handel's lifetime, it was his most performed work. [[Winton Dean]] wrote that "the music catches breath and disturbs the memory".<ref>{{harvnb|Dean|Knapp|1987|p=209}}</ref>

In 1719, the Duke of Chandos became one of the composer's important patrons and a primary subscriber to his new opera company, the [[Royal Academy of Music (company)|Royal Academy of Music]], though his patronage declined after Chandos lost large sums of money in the [[South Sea Company|South Sea Bubble]], which burst in 1720 in one of history's greatest financial cataclysms. Handel himself invested in the South Sea Company in 1716 when its share prices were low{{sfn|Deutsch|1955|pp=70–71}} and sold them before the "bubble" burst in 1720.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jkt2z|access-date=3 May 2025|url-status=live|title=18th Century Season – Liquid Assets: Tracing Handel's Thousands|date=12 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419082235/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jkt2z|archive-date=19 April 2014|publisher=[[BBC Radio 3]]}}</ref> In 1720, Handel invested in the [[Atlantic slave trade|slave-trading]] [[Royal African Company]] (RAC), following in the steps of his patron (the Duke of Chandos was one of the leading investors in the RAC). As noted by music historian David Hunter, 32 per cent of the subscribers and investors in the Royal Academy of Music, or their close family members, held investments in the RAC as well.<ref>{{multiref
|{{Cite journal|title=Handel and the Royal African Company|url=https://musicologynow.org/handel-and-the-royal-african-company/|url-status=live|access-date=3 May 2025|publisher=[[American Musicological Society]]|journal=Musicology Now|first=David|last=Hunter|date=14 June 2015 |archive-date=26 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211126225840/https://musicologynow.org/handel-and-the-royal-african-company/|ref=none}}
|{{Cite web|title=Royal Academy of Music to 'decolonise' collection as composer linked to slave trade|url=https://www.classicfm.com/composers/handel/royal-academy-of-music-decolonise-collection-slave-trade/|access-date=3 May 2025|url-status=live|publisher=[[Classic FM (UK)|Classic FM]]|archive-date=26 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211126225840/https://www.classicfm.com/composers/handel/royal-academy-of-music-decolonise-collection-slave-trade/}}
|{{cite magazine|author=[[Antonia Quirke]]|title=In Search of the Black Mozart: A Revealing Look at Handel's Investment in the Slave Trade|magazine=[[New Statesman]]|date=4 June 2015|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2015/06/search-black-mozart-new-radio-programme-reveals-handels-investment-slave-trade|access-date=3 May 2025|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201013013/https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2015/06/search-black-mozart-new-radio-programme-reveals-handels-investment-slave-trade|archive-date=1 December 2021|ref=none}}
|{{cite journal|author=David Hunter|title=Handel Manuscripts and the Profits of Slavery: The 'Granville' Collection at the British Library and the First Performing Score of ''Messiah'' Reconsidered|journal=[[Notes (journal)|Notes]]|volume=76|number=1|date=September 2019|pages=27ff|url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A601219355/AONE?u=nysl_oweb&sid=googleScholarFullText&xid=c81ddd20|access-date=3 May 2025|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230321044355/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=nysl_oweb&id=GALE{{!}}A601219355&v=2.1&it=r&sid=googleScholarFullText&asid=c81ddd20|archive-date=21 March 2023|ref=none}}
|{{cite web|title=Artists respond to Handel's investment in the transatlantic slave trade|work=St Paul Chamber Orchestra Blog|date=11 December 2020|url=https://www.thespco.org/blog/artists-respond-to-handels-investment-in-the-transatlantic-slave-trade/|access-date=3 May 2025|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201013014/https://www.thespco.org/blog/artists-respond-to-handels-investment-in-the-transatlantic-slave-trade/|archive-date=1 December 2021}}}}</ref>