Messiah

Composer: HANDEL, George Frideric
  • Handel composed this oratorio in 1741. He began work on Aug. 22,1 and his manuscript inscribed the completion date: September 14, 1741.2 Fast work of this kind was normal for Handel.
  • Handel composed Messiah in preparation for a 1741-2 season of concert productions in Dublin. This season marked Handel’s departure from Italian opera to concert works, primarily English-language oratorio (a more accessible choice for his changing audiences).3
  • Messiah premiered at the close of this Dublin season, on April 13, 1742, at Neal’s Music Hall in Fishamble Street.4
    • The premiere was preceded by a public dress rehearsal which was so well-reviewed that a large audience was expected. This is why advertisements requested women to arrive “without hoops” and men “without swords,” to make more room in the theater.5
    • The alto soloist at the premiere was Susanna Cibber, and her performance in Messiah was so powerful that it managed to resurrect her career after an exhausting series of scandals. (The “scandals,” incidentally, were due to her abusive husband. You can read the whole miserable backstory here.)6
  • The libretto of Messiah was compiled from the Bible by Charles Jennens by 1739.7
    • Messiah differs from most Baroque oratorios in that its libretto does not present a narrative with characters. The typical Baroque oratorio–including nearly all of Handel’s–is more or less an unstaged opera with chorus on a religious subject. The libretto of Messiah is composed entirely of selections from the Bible, and its story is implied, rather than narrated. 
    • The fact that the Messiah libretto is composed entirely of scripture texts made it a controversial choice for concert halls, rather than in a worship context. From the time of its premiere, Handel addressed this issue by making every performance of Messiah a charity benefit instead of a for-profit undertaking.
  • From 1743 onward, Handel presented Messiah nearly every year in London, and always during Lent (the period before Easter), not at Christmas.8
    • Many performances of Messiah were presented to benefit the Foundling Hospital in London (an orphanage for abandoned babies): Handel was on its board of governors.
  • Full libretto of Messiah

Sources

  1.  David Vickers, “The story behind the triumphant premiere of Handel’s Messiah,” Gramophone (April 10, 2015), accessed March 4, 2021, https://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/article/the-story-behind-the-triumphant-premiere-of-handel-s-messiah. 
  2.  “Messiah, HWV 56 (Handel, George Frideric), IMSLP, accessed March 4, 2021, https://imslp.org/wiki/Messiah,_HWV_56_(Handel,_George_Frideric)/. 
  3.  Anthony Hicks, “Handel [Händel, Hendel], George Frideric,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed March 4, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000040060.
  4.  “Messiah, HWV 56 (Handel, George Frideric), IMSLP, accessed March 4, 2021, https://imslp.org/wiki/Messiah,_HWV_56_(Handel,_George_Frideric)/. 
  5.  David Vickers, “The story behind the triumphant premiere of Handel’s Messiah,” Gramophone (April 10, 2015), accessed March 4, 2021, https://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/article/the-story-behind-the-triumphant-premiere-of-handel-s-messiah. 
  6.  Anthony Hicks, “Handel [Händel, Hendel], George Frideric,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed March 4, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000040060.
  7. Ibid.
  8. Ibid.

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