German-born musician George Frideric Handel went to London in 1712. In 1723 he moved into an apartment at 25 Brook Street, where he lived until his death in 1759. In 1968, about two centuries after Handel lived on Brook Street, another famous and influential musician moved into the flat next door … rock guitar virtuoso Jimi Hendrix. In 1969, Hendrix’s apartment at 23 Brook Street was the site of numerous interviews and photo shoots. The apartments are now a museum complex for both musicians’ legacies.
25 Brook Street was where Handel composed many of his best-known operas, oratorios and ceremonial music. And thanks to a recent scholarly discovery, we now know Handel was also a source of significant inspiration for Hendrix, too.
According to guitarist and lutenist Dr. Christopher Wilke, Handel was one of the only prominent baroque composers to specifically write for guitar, which he did in his so-called Spanish Cantata, No se emenderá jamás, HWV 140. It was long thought to have been Handel’s only guitar composition. Dr. Wilke, working with British musicologist and Handel expert Helen Cantrip-Banter, recently discovered a previously unknown manuscript for a piece entitled, “Mr. Handel’s Hornepype, Concerted for thee Lute and thee gitarre.” Even more astounding was the discovery that directly connects the legacies of the two famous Brook Street residents: a recording of Mr. Hendrix improvising on the baroque composer’s musical motif.
Today’s Beautiful Music is Mr. Handel’s Hornepype played by Hendrix; you can listen to the audio clip below.
And you can read more about the discovery in the April 1, 2022 edition of the German musicology journal, Zeitschrift für Musikalische Witze.