{ program notes
About the concert:
Messiah
George Frideric Handel
Handel’s great oratorio Messiah has
become such a beloved musical icon in
the more than 270 years since its birth
in 1741 that it is not at all surprising that
many myths and legends have grown up
around it. We have been told that Handel
himself compiled its mostly Biblical text
or, alternatively, that it was sent to him
by a stranger; that its success transformed
him overnight from a bankrupt operatic has-been to England’s most revered
composer; that at its London premiere the
king himself rose during the “Hallelujah
Chorus” to express his approbation. But
Messiah’s real story is much more complicated, though no less fascinating.
In the early 1740s, Handel was indeed
in considerable professional and financial
trouble. After emigrating from Germany to
England as a young man, he had enjoyed
a celebrated career as the country’s leading
composer of operas, mostly in Italian and
enhanced by spectacular costumes and
scenic effects. But by the end of the 1730s,
Handel’s serious grand operas were falling
out of fashion. H