{"id":631,"date":"2015-10-05T00:05:08","date_gmt":"2015-10-05T05:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.praeclara.org\/?page_id=631"},"modified":"2018-03-24T17:28:03","modified_gmt":"2018-03-24T22:28:03","slug":"messiah-the-legends-and-the-reality","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.praeclara.org\/?page_id=631","title":{"rendered":"Handel’s Messiah: The Legends and the Reality"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"UALR<\/a>Historical notes written for\u00a0the Praeclara\u00a0Messiah by Candlelight<\/em>\u00a0program,\u00a0December 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Thomas E. Kaiser, Professor of History<\/strong>
\nUniversity of Arkansas at Little Rock<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like many great musical compositions, Handel\u2019s Messiah<\/em> is wrapped in legends. One is that Handel wrote it while imprisoned for debt in the Tower of London. Another is that when angered at rehearsals, usually by the singers, Handel swore in several languages. But the best known tale is that King George II, when he heard the \u201cHallelujah Chorus\u201d\u009d during the first London performance, rose to his feet in acknowledgment of its greatness, a gesture that audiences have imitated down to the present day. Alas, there is no proof of the king\u2019s attendance at this performance. Nor can it be determined that if George II was there and did stand during the \u201cHallelujah Chorus,\u201d\u009d it was due to his respect for the music, or to his late arrival, or to the need to stretch his\u00a0legs or relieve his gout, or because he was awakened out of a deep sleep by
\nits thundering opening chords.<\/p>\n

What we do know for certain is that Handel wrote Messiah<\/em> in 1741 under especially trying circumstances. If not in prison, he had amassed large debts and had been partially paralyzed by a stroke. Although Handel was one of the most famous musicians in Europe, his career as a composer was on the skids. Italian-style opera, on which he had built much of his reputation, had gone out of fashion in England, and none of the oratorios he had written to salvage his career had met with much success.<\/p>\n

In that light, Mes\"GFsiah<\/em> seems a kind of miracle. Incredibly, the stroke-stricken Handel managed to compose the original version in less than a month. Unlike his first oratorios that had bombed, Messiah<\/em> in its first Dublin performances was so successful and profitable that it not only kept Handel out of debtor\u2019s prison but also sufficed to cover the debts of one hundred forty-two inmates who were thereupon liberated.<\/p>\n

As far as posterity is concerned, the greatest miracle of all, of course, is the magnificent music itself. Even if King George II never did, in fact, get up from his chair to salute the \u201cHallelujah Chorus,\u201d\u009d Messiah<\/em> has enthralled us, moved us, and caused us to rise and applaud year after year for more than two-and-a-half centuries.<\/p>\n

\n

Photo credit:<\/strong>\u00a0Portrait of G.F. Handel, attributed to Balthasar Denner [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Historical notes written for\u00a0the Praeclara\u00a0Messiah by Candlelight\u00a0program,\u00a0December 2014 by Thomas E. Kaiser, Professor of History University of Arkansas at Little Rock Like many great musical compositions, Handel\u2019s Messiah is wrapped in legends. One is that Handel wrote it while imprisoned for debt in the Tower of London. Another is that\u2026<\/p>\n

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