Handel’s Messiah

Handel's Messiah
By George Frideric Handel

“And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together:
for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”
Isaiah 40:5

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“Whether I was in my body or out of my body as I wrote it, I know not. God knows. I did think I did see all heaven before me, and the great God himself.” – George Frideric Handel

In August 1741, swimming in debt and out of favor as a composer, George Frideric Handel received a libretto from Charles Jennens, a poet with whom he had previously worked. Filled with Scripture, the libretto detailed the life of Jesus Christ from His birth and ministry to His crucifixion and resurrection. The 56-year-old Handel sequestered himself in his London home and began to compose music to the biblical texts heralding the life of Jesus Christ. In just 23 days he completed a 260-page oratorio. He titled the massive work Messiah.

The experience composing Messiah was a profoundly spiritual one for Handel. His long-time assistant later told a story of repeatedly calling to the composer during his work on the Hallelujah Chorus and getting no response. Finally, the assistant walked into Handel’s room, finding the composer in tears. What was wrong? asked the assistant. Handel answered: "I thought I saw the face of God!"

First performed in anticipation of Easter, Handel told the sponsors of the premier performance of Messiah that the proceeds from the performance should be donated to prisoners, orphans and the sick. “I have myself been a very sick man, and am now cured,” he said. “I was prisoner and have been set free.” The performance received rave reviews and exceeded expectations, raising 400 pounds and freeing 142 men from debtors’ prison. The charity sponsors, hoping to squeeze in additional paying patrons, had asked the ladies to refrain from wearing hoops under their skirts and encouraged men to leave their swords at home. For years thereafter, Easter performances of Messiah were conducted throughout England to raise money for orphans and the poor and needy, with Handel conducting the performances at London's Foundling Hospital for abandoned infants and children each year until his death in 1759.

Some 40 years after Messiah’s premiere, English musicologist Charles Burney would write, “This great work has been heard in all parts of the kingdom with increasing reverence and delight; it has fed the hungry, clothed the naked, fostered the orphan and enriched succeeding managers of the oratorios, more than any single production in this or any other country.”

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