I ran this workshop at Crayford Manor (Bexley College) in November 2002 as part of a series on the Kings and Queens of England. I subsequently ran it at the City Lit in June 2019 and as a zoom class in February 2021. The slides from this are at the end.
The 2002 workshop was run to complement the Music Appreciation Class on Handel and Royalty. George II is perhaps best remembered as the last British monarch to lead his troops into battle and also as the instigator of the custom of standing for the Hallelujah Chorus in Handel’s Messiah. His reign marked the high point of Handel’s career which the King did much to promote but also saw other great achievements in British culture with the art of Hogarth and the works of Pope and Swift. In politics, Robert Walpole created the post of Prime Minister and Bonnie Prince Charlie’s rebellion was the last attempt by the Stuarts to regain power and made him into an instant legend. Towards the end of the reign men like Pitt, Wolfe and Clive laid the foundations of the British Empire whilst the Agricultural Revolution was transforming British Society. The course ran in three sessions dividing George II’s life into three periods and looked at more or less chronologically. In each session his personal life and family was examined as well as the role he played as Prince of Wales and King as well as looking at the background to his “times”, the social and cultural state of the nation. Themes that came out included the changes in politics with the development of the post of Prime Minister under Robert Walpole and his successors, foreign affairs such as the wars against France and the famous Jacobite Rebellion in 1745 under Bonnie Prince Charlie, cultural developments especially in music and the role of the court in the works of Handel (who wrote much of his best loved music for the royal family) and his contemporaries, the art of Hogarth, Britain’s first great native painter of everyday life who nevertheless ended up by being given a royal appointment, and the early development of the British Empire in Canada and India under great leaders like Wolfe and Clive.
2002George II chronology
Below is a copy of the spreadsheet I created for the class showing events year by year in George II’s life.
George II chronology2019
Handouts for this class included
from scourging rebellionA Song made for the Gentlemen Volunteers of the City of LondonGeorge II children and grandchildren extGod Save the King wordsThe following SongCherokee Indians visit LondonRobert Walpole 04
PDF Slides 2021
George II slides 1 2021 ancestors PDF versionGeorge II slides 2 2021 early life to 1714 PDF versionGeorge II slides 3 2021 Prince of Wales 1714-1727 PDF VersionGeorge II slides 4 2021 Portraits as king PDFGeorge II slides 5 2021 King 1727-60 Family PDFGeorge II slides 6 2021 King 1727-60 Music and Art PDFGeorge II slides 7 2021 King 1727-60 Politics PDF
Horace Walpole Described the Funeral of George II
Some of the Music played in the Course
Coronation – Handel’s Zadok the Priest
Handel’s The King Shall Rejoice
Queen Caroline’s funeral – Handel’s How Are the Mighty Fall’n
The Jacobites – Handel’s From Scourging Rebellion
Arne’s Rule Britannia
Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus
Charlie is my darling
Peace of Aix-la-chapelle – Handel’s Firework Music
Other entertainments
Gay’s Beggars Opera
John Eccles’s A Soldier and a Sailor
Ariosti’s Vespasiano
Bononcini’s Crispo
Handel’s Messiah
These videos were created during the pandemic lockdown. The first one was for Rue Pigalle. https://youtu.be/jgwSPZ9D2Is This second video was for Cancer Research. If you enjoy it (or even if you don’t) please make a donation to Cancer Research. https://youtu.be/ULINE_RxgN8
This course took place at the City Lit and the British Museum on Tuesday 21st July 2015. We examined the myths and history of Ancient Greece in the morning and had a 2 hour guided tour of the museum in the afternoon. Handouts included Greek Games Glossary Plays on the Heroes gods WOMEN IN GREEK…
Jean Duc de Berry and Mediaeval Art Patronage Son, brother and uncle of successive French kings, Jean was one of the great patrons of art. Using objects in the British Museum and elsewhere we examined his legacy and those of his contemporaries in mediaeval patronage of art, particularly objects associated with power and religion. The…
The Greek Gallery tours start at 11:30 each day and last about 40 minutes. Normally they cover objects in galleries 13 to 23 depending on which are open. These include the Archaic period with famous objects such as the Sophilos dinos depicting the marriage of Peleus and Thetis and the iconic Exikias amphora showing Achilles…
This topic was day four of a five part introduction to the European Galleries of the British Museum run at the City Lit and the Museum on 29 July 2013. I hope to re-run the course in summer 2014. The British Museum holds astonishing artefacts which colour our understanding of Medieval society. The Lewis chessmen…
Life and Times of King George III I ran this workshop at Crayford Manor (Bexley College) in November 1999 as part of a series on the Kings and Queens of England. I ran a new version at the City Lit on 22 March 2015. I also ran it online during the pandemic on 13th and…
The 2002 workshop was run to complement the Music Appreciation Class on Handel and Royalty. George II is perhaps best remembered as the last British monarch to lead his troops into battle and also as the instigator of the custom of standing for the Hallelujah Chorus in Handel’s Messiah. His reign marked the high point of Handel’s career which the King did much to promote but also saw other great achievements in British culture with the art of Hogarth and the works of Pope and Swift. In politics, Robert Walpole created the post of Prime Minister and Bonnie Prince Charlie’s rebellion was the last attempt by the Stuarts to regain power and made him into an instant legend. Towards the end of the reign men like Pitt, Wolfe and Clive laid the foundations of the British Empire whilst the Agricultural Revolution was transforming British Society. The course ran in three sessions dividing George II’s life into three periods and looked at more or less chronologically. In each session his personal life and family was examined as well as the role he played as Prince of Wales and King as well as looking at the background to his “times”, the social and cultural state of the nation. Themes that came out included the changes in politics with the development of the post of Prime Minister under Robert Walpole and his successors, foreign affairs such as the wars against France and the famous Jacobite Rebellion in 1745 under Bonnie Prince Charlie, cultural developments especially in music and the role of the court in the works of Handel (who wrote much of his best loved music for the royal family) and his contemporaries, the art of Hogarth, Britain’s first great native painter of everyday life who nevertheless ended up by being given a royal appointment, and the early development of the British Empire in Canada and India under great leaders like Wolfe and Clive.
2002
George II chronology
Below is a copy of the spreadsheet I created for the class showing events year by year in George II’s life.
George II chronology
2019
Handouts for this class included
from scourging rebellion
A Song made for the Gentlemen Volunteers of the City of London
George II children and grandchildren ext
God Save the King words
The following Song
Cherokee Indians visit London
Robert Walpole 04
PDF Slides 2021
George II slides 1 2021 ancestors PDF version
George II slides 2 2021 early life to 1714 PDF version
George II slides 3 2021 Prince of Wales 1714-1727 PDF Version
George II slides 4 2021 Portraits as king PDF
George II slides 5 2021 King 1727-60 Family PDF
George II slides 6 2021 King 1727-60 Music and Art PDF
George II slides 7 2021 King 1727-60 Politics PDF
Horace Walpole Described the Funeral of George II
Some of the Music played in the Course
Coronation – Handel’s Zadok the Priest
Handel’s The King Shall Rejoice
Queen Caroline’s funeral – Handel’s How Are the Mighty Fall’n
The Jacobites – Handel’s From Scourging Rebellion
Arne’s Rule Britannia
Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus
Charlie is my darling
Peace of Aix-la-chapelle – Handel’s Firework Music
Other entertainments
Gay’s Beggars Opera
John Eccles’s A Soldier and a Sailor
Ariosti’s Vespasiano
Bononcini’s Crispo
Handel’s Messiah
