Finding New Inspiration in Handel’s Messiah
George Fredric Handel’s beloved oratorio, Messiah, has touched millions of hearts around the world and continues to withhold the test of time as one of the great choral masterworks of Western Music. Composed in 1741 under pressure to put food on his table and make ends meet, Handel turned to the musical genre of the oratorio (a musical work for choir, soloists, and orchestra). Up to this point in his career Handel had mainly composed operas, for which his music was well-loved, but the public’s interest in opera was dying and Handel knew he had to do something to survive.
Handel partnered with English poet/musician, Charles Jennens for the libretto. Jennens compiled scriptures from the Old and New Testaments that depicted the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. After receiving the libretto from Jennens, Handel quickly set the text to music and completed the score within only 24 days! Handel’s new oratorio was set to premiere in Dublin in April of 1742, then throughout London afterwards. After completing this work, the public’s reception of it was lukewarm. This was in part due to the controversy that area clergy created claiming it was blasphemous to set scriptural text to music. It had seemed that Messiah was not going to be long-lived in its first couple of years in existence.
After a few performances in 1744 and 1745 the Hallelujah chorus made an appearance at a benefit concert for the Foundling Hospital in London, with Handel conducting it, along with other works he composed for the event, in 1749. The chorus was well received, and Handel was invited to return the following year to conduct the benefit concert. He chose to program the entire oratorio for that concert, which was extremely well received. Handel conducted the Messiah at the Foundling Hospital benefit concert every year until he died. This tradition is what helped propel Handel’s Messiah into the cannon of sacred music we know today.
Throughout the world, performances of the complete oratorio or portions of it can be heard by choirs and orchestras large and small, professional and amateur. Favorite choruses such as “Hallelujah,” “For Unto Us a Child is Born,” “And the Glory of the Lord,” and “Worthy is the Lamb that Was Slain,” are frequently heard during Advent, Christmas, Easter, and Lent at church services or in concert settings. Messiah has made such an impact on the world that frequent “audience sing-alongs” can be found during Christmas and Easter times.
As a conductor I have had the opportunity to study and conduct this work or selections from it on several occasions. The most recent opportunity I had was for a community sing-along event in December of 2019, just months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States. Little did I know then, this would be one of the last large scale works I would get to conduct for more than a year.
I have had the chance to reflect many times on that opportunity and the significance of that particular piece of music. Most recently I have come to realize four things that can be learned from Handel’s experience, the story of how Messiah came to be, and my own personal experience with Messiah:
First, we are all given particular challenges and trials in life. What matters most is what we do with those challenges and trials. Some of Handel’s were to get comfortable writing in a less-familiar genre of music and then have that music rejected by the public, who loved much of his earlier music. Nonetheless, he pursued opportunities for his music to be performed and eventually found success.
Second, we can forget about our own challenges and trials as we look for opportunities to build bridges and serve in the communities in which we live. Once Handel turned outward through composing and conducting his music for charity, it found new life, and made a long-lasting impact on the hospital it benefitted and later on the world. While Handel may have continued to have challenges after his experiences with Messiah, we certainly do not hear as much about those as we do of the music and its message.
Third, it is possible for us to come together from different backgrounds and beliefs and be unified in our diversity. As I walked on stage to conduct Messiah in 2019, I looked all around to find audience, choir, and orchestra members from many walks of life. I imagine many had different beliefs, political stances, favorite foods, and ideas of how to interpret Messiah for that performance than I did. Nevertheless, to see everyone united in playing and singing such a beloved piece of music with such a timeless message was humbling. It reminded me that we can accomplish more together as a whole than we can as many individuals working on their own.
Finally, while Handel’s music is effective and the way He crafted it to fit the libretto is masterfully done, I do not believe this 18th century musical work is the main reason so many come together to perform or attend performances of it. I believe it is because of its message and witness that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. It recounts how Christ was born, lived, and died for us, and how He lives today. If we want to find strength in our trials, if we want to help others on their way, if we want to be less divisive and more unified, Jesus Christ is the way to accomplish that.
As we approach this Easter season may we always remember that He is, “King of Kings and Lord of Lords!” (Revelation 19:16) and that, “With His stripes, we are healed,” (Isaiah 53:5). It is only through Jesus Christ that we can accomplish all things.