Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology

This work offers a biographical conversation—a hypothetical collective review of the life of George Frideric Handel, his music, his times, and a number of social and philosophical issues still trailing from his full yet enigmatic life. It adopts an ethnographic research perspective, consults a variety of published biographies and videos, and employs a fictional set of characters to examine some letters purportedly written to Handel during his lifetime. Wealthy American mining widow, Forella Wainwright, has her own unusual reason for seeking out any previously unknown information on the life of Handel and brings together a group of ten people who meet over many months to discuss the letters, Handel’s life and music, and to consider what lessons they may hold for people today.