|
***********
Most people are familiar
with Handel’s Messiah and the Hallelujah chorus
as composed by George Friderich Händel.
When he finished writing the Hallelujah Chorus, he said,
“I did think I did see all Heaven before me,
and the great God himself.”
“He [Handel] would frequently declare the pleasure
he felt in setting the Scriptures to music,
and how contemplating the many sublime passages
in the Psalms had contributed to his edification.”
—Sir John Hawkins
To the London elite, it looked like this “German nincompoop,”
as he was once called, was through.
That summer, however, he composed “Messiah,”
which not only brought him back into the spotlight,
but is still deemed by some to be
“an epitome of Christian faith.”
It is oftentimes sung during the
Christmas season and is part of Handel’s Messiah.
My husband and I
especially love this music.
It is edifying because it is set to
scripture, especially prophesies of Christ’s first coming.
It’s quite a story how the Lord blessed Handel
to write the music and prospered
his servant financially afterwards.
It is a wonderful success story.
In 1737 Handel’s opera company went bankrupt,
and he suffered what seemed to be a mild stroke.
But to make matters worse,
his latest musical fascination—the oratorio
(a composition for orchestra and voices
telling a sacred story without costumes,
scenery, or dramatic action)—
was his most controversial yet.
His first oratorio (actually, the first of its kind in English),
“Esther,” was met with outrage by the church.
A Bible story was being told by “common mummers,”
and even worse,
the words of God were being spoken in the theater!
“What are we coming to when the will of Satan
is imposed upon us in this fashion?”
cried one minister.
The bishop of London apparently agreed
and prohibited the oratorio from being performed.
When Handel proceeded anyway,
and the royal family attended,
it was met with success—
but the church was still angry.
Handel drove himself relentlessly
trying to recover from one failure
after another, and his health began to fail.
In 1741 he was swimming in debt
and it seemed certain he would
land in debtor’s prison
where those who could not
pay their debts were taken.
In April of that year,
he gave what he considered his
farewell concert.
Miserably discouraged,
he felt forced to retire from
public activities at the age of 56.
Then two unforeseen events
converged to change his life.
A wealthy friend, Charles Jennings,
gave Handel a libretto based on the life of Christ,
taken entirely from the Bible.
He also received a commission from a Dublin charity
to compose a work for a benefit performance.
Handel set to work
composing on August 22 in his little house in London.
He grew so engrossed in his work that he rarely left his room,
hardly stopping to eat.
Within six days Part One was complete.
In nine days more he had finished Part Two,
and in another six, Part Three.
The orchestration was completed in another two days.
In all, 260 pages of manuscript were filled
in the remarkably short time of 24 days.
Sir Newman Flower, one of Handel’s many biographers,
summed up the consensus of history:
“Considering the immensity of the work and
the short time involved, it will remain, perhaps forever,
the greatest feat in the whole history
of music composition.”
**********
**********
Handel’s title for the commissioned work was,
simply, Messiah.
Handel never left his house for those three weeks.
A friend who visited him as he composed
found him sobbing with intense emotion.
Later, as Handel groped for words to describe what he had
experienced, he incorporated some of the words of Paul,
saying, “Whether in the body or out of my body,
when I wrote it I know not.”
Messiah premiered on April 13, 1742,
as a charitable benefit,
raising 400 pounds and freeing 142 men from debtor’s prison.
The King of England attended the performance
and as the first notes of the triumphant “Hallelujah Chorus“
rang out, the king rose to his feet.
Following royal protocol, the entire audience stood too,
initiating a tradition which has lasted for more than two centuries.
Soon after this, Handel’s fortunes began to increase dramatically,
and his hard- won popularity remained constant until his death.
By the end of his long life,
Messiah was firmly established in the standard repertoire.
His influence on other composers would be extraordinary.
When Haydn later heard the “Hallelujah Chorus,”
he wept like a child and exclaimed,
“He is the master of us all!”
But it is evident that this great composition
was the work of SOMEONE greater than just Handel.
Handel was the conduit through which this
masterpiece flowed,
but it was God Himself Who seems to have
authored it.
It is He Who is the real Master of all who seek Him
and allow Him to work through them!
Handel personally conducted
more than thirty performances of Messiah.
Many of these concerts were benefits for the
Foundling Hospital of which Handel was a major benefactor.
The thousands of pounds Handel’s performances of Messiah
raised caused his biographer to note,
“Messiah has fed the hungry, clothed the naked,
fostered the orphan more than any other single
musical production
in this or any country.”
Another wrote how that the works of no
other composer have so largely contributed
to the relief of human suffering.
Handel was a devout follower of Christ
and his morals were above reproach.
Known universally for his generosity
and concern for those who suffered,
Handel donated freely to charities
even in times when he faced personal financial ruin.
He was a relentless optimist
whose faith in God sustained him through every difficulty.
“He died as he lived-a good Christian,
with a true sense of his duty to God and to man,
and in perfect charity with all the world.”
with over 3,000 in attendance at his funeral.
A statue erected there shows him holding the manuscript
for the solo that opens Part Three of
“I know that my Redeemer liveth.”
*********
Isn’t it wonderful to know
that our Redeemer lives
and was born to this very end?
*********
|
