In 1705 he made his debut as an opera composer with Almira. His 1741 work, 'Messiah,' is among the most famous oratorios in history.īaroque composer George Frederic Handel was born in Halle, Germany, in 1685. George Frederic Handel composed operas, oratorios and instrumentals. The Biography website has an article about Handel that tells us: A near-complete version was issued on 78 rpm discs in 1928 since then the work has been recorded many times. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries the trend has been towards reproducing a greater fidelity to Handel's original intentions, although "big Messiah" productions continue to be mounted.
In other efforts to update it, its orchestration was revised and amplified by (among others) Mozart. In the years after his death, the work was adapted for performance on a much larger scale, with giant orchestras and choirs. Handel wrote Messiah for modest vocal and instrumental forces, with optional settings for many of the individual numbers. In Part III he covers the resurrection of the dead and Christ's glorification in heaven. In Part II, Handel concentrates on the Passion and ends with the "Hallelujah" chorus. The text begins in Part I with prophecies by Isaiah and others, and moves to the annunciation to the shepherds, the only "scene" taken from the Gospels. Instead, Jennens's text is an extended reflection on Jesus Christ as Messiah. Although its structure resembles that of opera, it is not in dramatic form there are no impersonations of characters and no direct speech.
He turned to English oratorio in the 1730s in response to changes in public taste Messiah was his sixth work in this genre. Handel's reputation in England, where he had lived since 1712, had been established through his compositions of Italian opera. After an initially modest public reception, the oratorio gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742 and received its London premiere nearly a year later. Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible, and from the version of the Psalms included with the Book of Common Prayer. Wikipedia has an article about Handel's Messiah that tells us: The Messiah is still performed every year on Fishamble Street in an annual open air concert to celebrate the fact. It is famous for being the venue where Handel's Messiah was first performed, for charity, on the 13th of April 1742.
Neal's New Musick Hall, which was located on Fishamble Street, now a very famous street in Dublin, was built for the Bull's Head Musical Society and opened in 1741. The Arthur Lloyd website briefly tells us about the venue: Took place in the Musick Hall, Fishamble Street The inscription, at the Handel's Hotel entrance, reads: