Immortal Story of Handel’s Messiah composed for Easter but famed as an Advent Oratorio. Handel’s lasting gratitude for his Recovery - as Messiah became the greatest composition of all time. After great initial success Handel’s finances, food habits & health failed. His occasional commercial successes soon met with financial disaster, as rival opera companies competed for the ticket holders of London. He drove himself relentlessly to recover from one failure after another, and finally his health began to fail. By 1741 he was swimming in debt. It seemed certain he would land in debtors prison. Time to Pack It In? On April 8 of that year, he gave what he considered his farewell concert. Miserably discouraged, he felt forced to retire from public activities at the age of 56. Then two unforeseen events converged to change his life. A wealthy friend, Charles Jennings, gave Handel a libretto based on the life of Christ, taken entirely from the Bible. He also received a commission from a Dublin charity to compose a work for a benefit performance. Incredible Inspiration Handel set to work composing on August 22 in his little house on Brook Street in London. He grew so absorbed in the work that he rarely left his room, hardly stopping to eat. Within six days Part One was complete. In nine days more he had finished Part Two, and in another six, Part Three. The orchestration was completed in another two days. In all, 260 pages of manuscript were filled in the remarkably short time of 24 days. Sir Newman Flower, one of Handels many biographers, summed up the consensus of history: Considering the immensity of the work and the short time involved, it will remain, perhaps forever, the greatest feat in the whole history of music composition. Handels title for the commissioned work was, simply, Messiah. Handel never left his house for those three weeks. A friend who visited him as he composed found him sobbing with intense emotion. Later, as Handel groped for words to describe what he had experienced, he quoted St. Paul, saying, Whether I was in the body or out of my body when I wrote it I know not. On Your Feet, Folks! Messiah premiered on April 13, 1742, as a charitable benefit, raising 400 pounds and freeing 142 men from debtors prison. A year later, Handel staged it in London. Controversy emanating from the Church of England continued to plague Handel, yet the King of England attended the performance. As the first notes of the triumphant Hallelujah Chorus rang out, the king rose. Following royal protocol, the entire audience stood, too, initiating a tradition which has lasted for more than two centuries. Soon after this, Handels fortunes began to increase dramatically, and his hard-won popularity remained constant until his death. By the end of his long life, Messiah was firmly established in the standard repertoire. His influence on other composers would be extraordinary. When Haydn later heard the Hallelujah Chorus, he wept like a child and exclaimed, He is the master of us all! Handel personally conducted more than thirty performances of Messiah. Many of these concerts were benefits for the Foundling Hospital, of which Handel was a major benefactor. The thousands of pounds Handels performances of Messiah raised for charity led one biographer to note, Messiah has fed the hungry, clothed the naked, fostered the orphan ... more than any other single musical production in this or any country. Another wrote, Perhaps the works of no other composer have so largely contributed to the relief of human suffering. The Power of Music This work has had an uncanny spiritual impact on the lives of its listeners. One writer has stated that Messiahs music and message has probably done more to convince thousands of mankind that there is a God about us than all the theological works ever written. The composers own assessment, more than any other, may best capture his personal aspirations for his well-loved work. Following the first London performance of Messiah, Lord Kinnoul congratulated Handel on the excellent entertainment. Handel replied, My Lord, I should be sorry if I only entertain them. I wish to make them better. He was a devout follower of Christ and widely known for his concern for others. Handels morals were above reproach. At church he was often seen on his knees, expressing by his looks and gesticulations the utmost fervor of devotion. His friend Sir John Hawkins recorded that Handel throughout his life manifested a deep sense of religion. In conversation he would frequently declare the pleasure he felt in setting the Scriptures to music, and how contemplating the many sublime passages in the Psalms had contributed to his edification. In one of his few surviving letters, Handel comforts his brother-in-law on the death of Handels mother: It pleased the Almighty, to whose great Holy Will I submit myself with Christian submission. And he surely needed such Christian grace to endure blows inflicted by his competitors. Known universally for his generosity and concern for those who suffered, Handel donated freely to charities even in times when he faced personal financial ruin. He was a relentless optimist whose faith in God sustained him through every difficulty. Handel simply replied I have read my Bible very well and will choose for myself. A few days before Handel died, he expressed his desire to die on Good Friday, in the hopes of meeting his good God, his sweet Lord and Savior, on the day of his Resurrection. He lived until the morning of Good Saturday, April 14, 1759. His death came only eight days after his final performance, at which he had conducted his masterpiece, Messiah. His close friend James Smyth wrote, He died as he lived--a good Christian, with a true sense of his duty to God and to man, and in perfect charity with all the world. Handel was buried in Westminster Abbey, with over 3,000 in attendance at his funeral. A statue erected there shows him holding the manuscript for the solo that opens Part Three of Messiah, I know that my Redeemer liveth.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Apr 2014 04:17:52 +0000