Handel Messiah "Awakening": Dec 19-21, 2025
- cbeeson69
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
George Frederick Handel
messiah
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George Frederick Handel aka Georg Friedrich Händel (1685-1759) was a German composer of the Baroque era who immigrated to England and became a naturalized subject, composing for King George the 1st and 2nd, and Queen Anne among other influential patrons. He was drawn to, and is best known for, large scale works that lean toward theatrical storytelling: 42 operas, 120+ cantatas, and 24 oratorios - of which ‘Messiah’ is his most famous.
HIGHLIGHTS
Handel composed ‘Messiah’ in 1741 with libretto provided by Charles Jennens, adapted primarily from the King James Bible.
Handel was known to be an efficient composer, turning out entire operas in just a month’s time for example, but it is still impressive to consider that he composed ‘Messiah’ - a nearly 2 hour work in its entirety - in just 3 and a half weeks. He received the libretto in mid July, began composing the music on August 22nd, and finished on September 14th.
‘Messiah’ was premiered in 1742 in Dublin, Ireland as a fundraiser for Prisoner’s Debt Relief. It sold like a house on fire, with reports of requests being made of men to remove their swords and women not to wear hoops in their skirts in order to accommodate more attendees. Ticket revenue resulted in the paying off of debt and subsequent release of 142 prisoners, plus significant contributions to Mercer’s Hospital and Charitable Infirmary.
Structure
Handel composed ‘Messiah’ during a time when popular tastes in England were turning away from Italian style opera and toward oratorio. Still, with the story laid out in three large segments made up of chorus, recitative, and aria numbers, it has a structure that is somewhat similar to opera.
“Part the First” begins with the prophecies of Isaiah to the Babylonians and then jumps to the Gospel of Luke with angels announcing Jesus’ birth to the shepherds.
“Part the Second” is primarily focused on the Passion story. This section finishes with the famous ‘Hallelujah’ chorus. Fun fact - there is a tradition of the audience standing for this chorus which somehow stems from an apocryphal but entertaining story that King George II stood during it’s London premiere, which would’ve required everyone else in attendance to do the same. In fact, the king was not there that night nor for any other performance of ‘Messiah’, so it is entirely unclear how and why this got started but it’s still pretty cool. :)
“Part the Third” is the shortest of the three and centers on redemption, judgement day, and resurrection. This part includes the famous ‘Behold, I Tell You a Mystery’ recitative followed by ‘The Trumpet Shall Sound’ aria which, with the text “we shall be changed”, bookends Isaiah’s ‘Ev’ry Valley Shall Be Exalted’ ecstatic message of coming changes from the very beginning of the work.
Extras! 🎉🎶🤓
Enjoy this excerpt from a chat with Colorado Symphony Chorus member Charlotte Braud-Kern about Handel's Messiah. Find the full version, along with lots of other goodies, here!
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