It was a real joy to hear The Messiah sung by Harrogate Choral Society in the splendid Royal Hall tonight. It’s quite something that it’s been sung since Handel wrote it in the 18th century.
George Frederic Handel was born in Germany in 1685. His father wanted him to become a lawyer, but as a youth he demonstrated extraordinary musical gifts, mastering several instruments and composing in a variety of styles while still in his teens. He composed music for some of the most important patrons in Europe before settling in England. There, he became London’s leading composer and director of Italian opera.
He also became interested in the characteristics of English music and eventually abandoned his operatic writing to concentrate on the English oratorio.
After thirty years of popularity and prosperity, Handel found his fame fleeting and more creditors than admirers at his door. A stroke left him with partial paralysis on his left side. He had difficulty sleeping and suffered from rheumatism. He was depressed. Without another musical success, he feared his next home might be the debtor’s prison.
A letter came from his friend Charles Jennens. Jennens was a somewhat eccentric English landowner who had written some lyrics for Handel in the past. This letter was a compilation of Old and New Testament passages that comprised the story of Christ’s birth, crucifixion, resurrection, and future reign.
Handel shut himself in his room and completed the entire oratorio in the incredibly short time of 21 days. Part I, the prophecy and birth of the Messiah, took only seven days to complete.
The first official performance of The Messiah took place on April 17, 1742, and was a tremendous success. Handel conducted the work many times in the remaining years of his life, including a performance eight days before his death on April 14, 1759. During his lifetime, it was most often heard in the Easter season. Handel himself conducted an annual performance to benefit the Foundling Hospital in London.
Today, while the oratorio is often performed in its entirety, it is most often heard in Advent, and then frequently limited to the first section and the story of Jesus’ birth. This music leaves the concert hall ringing with Isaiah’s prophetic words of comfort, release, and God’s glorious return to the earth. Tonight that was the first half. We had the Easter bit in part two.
Tonight, just for a moment, reflect on a few of Isaiah’s words that have become familiar to so many of us as lyrics from the oratorio:
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people
Prepare ye the way
Every valley shall be exalted
Then the glory, the glory of the Lord shall be revealed
Behold your God!
Maybe tonight in the genius of Handel and superb musicians and choristers sharing his work some 281 years later, God has been encountered in Harrogate!
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