Celebrating Handel

Joe, a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Research Fellow in Newcastle University’s music department, won the prize in recognition of his outstanding dissertation The Performance and Reception of Handel’s Music in Revolutionary North America. The prize was awarded at Handel’s birthplace in Halle, Germany, this summer.

“I have loved Handel’s music since childhood, and this was my first visit to Germany,” said Dr Lockwood. “So, to receive this award in Halle, as part of a festival which really celebrates Handel and his music, was very special.”

Dr Lockwood wrote the dissertation while studying at the University of Oxford. It explores how the meaning of Handel’s music changed after it crossed the Atlantic and the American colonies went to war with the British empire.

Global resonance

In his study, Dr Lockwood demonstrates for the first time how intensively the music of George Frideric Handel was used to articulate and reinforce political positions during the conflicts of the American War of Independence,” said Professor Dr. Wolfgang Hirschmann, President of the Handel Society and Chair of the Jury, in his laudatory speech. “At the same time, this once again highlights the internationality and, indeed, the global resonance of Handel’s music.”

Greetings and congratulations were given to Dr Lockwood  by Thomas Wünsch, State Secretary in the Ministry of Science, Energy, Climate Protection, and the Environment of the State of Saxony-Anhalt; Prof. Dr. Pablo Pirnay-Dummer, Vice-Rector for Research and Teaching at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg; Prof. Dr. Susanne Voigt-Zimmermann, Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy II at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg; and Marko Göpel from the Saalesparkasse Foundation, which supports the €2,000 prize.

The award ceremony marked the opening of the International Scholarly Conference “Handel’s Italian Texts and His Librettists,” which brought together scholars from Italy, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, the USA, and Germany. The conference forms part of a wider annual festival of performances and events celebrating Handel’s music.

Press release adapted with thanks to the Georg Friederich Händel Society and Professor Larry Zazzo