Handel messiah how long did it take to write

NPR music commentator Miles Hoffman estimates there are roughly a quarter of a million notes in Messiah. At a little more than three weeks of hour days, Hoffman said that means Handel would have had to keep a continuous pace writing 15 notes a minute.

Leonard Bernstein once raised eyebrows by reordering sections of Messiah for a Carnegie Hall performance. Not many conductors would have the confidence to tinker with the original intentions of a composer like Handel, but in reality his original intentions are hard to guess. Handel rewrote parts of the oratorio to better meet the abilities of soloists and the available instruments with each of the original 13 performances.

Historically, Messiah has continued to change with the ensembles that perform it. Mozart re-orchestrated Messiah in and gave it a more modern sound by Classical orchestra standards. He humbly wrote than any alterations he made should not be seen as an effort at improvement. However, according to various experts, there is no truth to this story. In fact there is no evidence King George II was even in attendance, and it is unlikely the newspaper writers that were in the audience would have overlooked mentioning a royal presence.

Artist Joseph Goupy, who designed scenery for Handel operas, complained that he was served a meager dinner at the composer's home in ; only afterward did he discover his host in the next room, secretly gorging on "claret and French dishes. Amassing a fortune through his music and shrewd investments in London's burgeoning stock market, Handel donated munificently to orphans, retired musicians and the ill.

He gave his portion of his Messiah debut proceeds to a debtors' prison and hospital in Dublin. A sense of humanity imbues his music as well—a point often made by conductors who compare Handel with Bach. But where Bach's oratorios exalted God, Handel was more concerned with the feelings of mortals. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Messiah. It will always lift your spirits if you are feeling down. Handel composed Messiah in an astounding interlude, somewhere between three and four weeks in August and September The text was prepared in July by the prominent librettist, Charles Jennens, and was intended for an Easter performance the following year.

There were several reasons for the choice of Dublin for Messiah 's debut. Handel had been downcast by the apathetic reception that London audiences had given his works the previous season.

He did not want to risk another critical failure, especially with such an unorthodox piece. Other Handel oratorios had strong plots anchored by dramatic confrontations between leading characters. But Messiah offered the loosest of narratives: the first part prophesied the birth of Jesus Christ; the second exalted his sacrifice for humankind; and the final section heralded his Resurrection.

Dublin was one of the fastest-growing, most prosperous cities in Europe, with a wealthy elite eager to display its sophistication and the economic clout to stage a major cultural event. Messiah 's success in Dublin was in fact quickly repeated in London. It took time for Messiah to find its niche as a Christmas favorite. Matthew Passion , most especially—and so little great sacral music written for Christmas," says Cummings.

There is little doubt about Handel's own fondness for the work. His annual benefit concerts for his favorite charity—London's Foundling Hospital, a home for abandoned and orphaned children—always included Messiah. And, in , when he was blind and in failing health, he insisted on attending an April 6 performance of Messiah at the Theatre Royal in Covent Garden. Eight days later, Handel died at home. His total estate was assessed at 20, pounds, which made him a millionaire by modern standards.

Performances in Handel's day were often benefit concerts, to help release people from debtor's prison and provide for orphans in London's well-known Foundling Hospital.

One scholar wrote, "Messiah has fed the hungry, clothed the naked, fostered the orphan God is everywhere—even in the news. We are committed to delivering quality independent Christian journalism you can trust. But it takes a lot of hard work, time, and money to do what we do. CBN News.

Skip to main content. Search News Submit. Submit Search. Mark Martin.