Händel-Gesellschaft

Between 1858 and 1902, the Händel-Gesellschaft ("German Handel Society") produced a collected 105-volume edition of the works of George Frideric Handel. Even though the collection was initiated by the society, many of the volumes were published by Friedrich Chrysander working alone (Chrysander was the major contributor for almost all of the volumes). The wording on the title page of the volumes is "Georg Friedrich Händel's Werke. Ausgabe der Deutschen Händelgesellschaft" which translates as "Georg Friedrich Handel's works. Edition of the German Handel Society". Chrysander's work has been criticised, however the scale of his achievement is also praised. The collection's abbreviation of "HG" can be used to identify individual works by Handel; for example Handel's Messiah can be referred to as "HG xlv" (with the Roman numerals "xlv" indicating that the work is in volume 45). For practical use, the HG system has been superseded by the HWV numbering system. The 105 volumes do not contain the complete works of Handel—with at least 250 of his works unpublished in the collection.

Before the Händelgesellschaft, at least two collected editions of Handel's works had been produced. Samuel Arnold's 180-volume collection was produced between 1787 and 1797—however, it was far from complete, and included, for example, only five of Handel's 42 Italian operas. The other major collection was produced by the English Handel Society (founded by Sir George Macfarren) between 1843 and 1858—however, it too was incomplete.

In 1856, the Händel-Gesellschaft was founded by Chrysander and the literary historian Georg Gottfried Gervinus (with Chrysander the only active editor).

Despite the reference to a "society" in the name of the Händel-Gesellschaft (including a board of directors), the edition was produced almost entirely by Chrysander, who carried on publication of the edition even when the society dropped out of the project. Chrysander set up an office in the garden at his home, and from 1862 onwards personally superintended the engraving and printing of the edition. Additionally, he sold fruits and vegetables raised in his garden to derive further income during the years of publication.

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