Handel in the Drawing-room: Women of Quality as Influencers of Britain's Music

A social-media ‘influencer’ is someone whose authority, knowledge and relationship to audiences makes taste within a niche market. This talk explains how female music patrons were influencers in Handel’s day, subtly championing his chamber music and favourite vocal numbers. Hosting or learning from Handel, these remarkable connoisseurs – Queen Caroline, Princess Anne, Mary Delany, and Elizabeth Mayne, among others – thrust Handel’s music into view by performing, subscribing to, and hosting concerts of some of his most gorgeous works.