Sunday
September 12 2021 marks a significant milestone in musical history. It is the 280th
anniversary of one of music’s most magnificent creations.
On that day,
George Frederick Handel emerged from his composing room at 25 Brooke Street in
the Mayfair district of London, holding the musical score for Messiah.
He’d finished the masterpiece in only 24 days.
Working from
a unique libretto produced by Charles Jennens, Handel had at first scoffed at
the idea of working a score around a collection of Bible verses. He was used to
working with plots and dramatic scenes for his Italian operas and his
oratorios.
Messiah was different. It told a story, yes,
but it was presented in an unusual way by an unusual man, Jennens. A wealthy
connoisseur of the arts—especially Handel’s music—Jennens considered himself
not only a patron but a musical genius who provided inspiration to those who
created music. And, indeed, he had a point. His libretto for Saul was excellent
and Handel composed around it, leading to a successful marriage between the two
men.
Where in
other librettos, there’d be a clear identity of the hero of the music, Messiah
was unusual. The main character around whom the entire masterpiece is
based, Jesus, is never named, never
mentioned. Yet it is all about him. That alone broke the pattern of dramas and
operas of the 18th century!
It took
Handel some time to get his head around Jennens libretto. And even more time to
even consider writing music for it. But when the decision was made, Handel
leapt into it and worked day and night for just over three weeks.
And the
rest, as they say, is history. But is it?
So many of
the elements of Handel’s fight to produce this work is mirrored in today’s
society: cultural battles over artistic works, political intrigue and
betrayals, sex scandals amongst celebrities and more!
The
incredible back story behind this work is all told in my latest novel Musick
for the King,
Handel was beset by a wide variety of issues
from health to financial and was dogged by cultural opposition from part of the
aristocracy to the musical elite of his day.
Once Messiah
was ready for its debut, he ran into immediate resistance from clerical leaders
within the Church of England who objected to “sacred” music being done in this
fashion and presented in public theatres not churches.
Jennens was
shunned by most of society because of his stringent political views. His
immense ego would not allow differences of opinion and often led to fractures
in his social relationships. His intense religious views allowed little
deviation from his set perspective.
Handel’s
chosen key performer, the soprano Susannah Cibber, was the centrepiece of an
enormous and very public sex scandal in London. Sued by her erstwhile husband
for divorce because of adultery, the court case exposed the physical,
emotional, and sexual abuse she suffered at her husband’s hand. It was all
fodder for the press of the day and the juicy details were sopped up eagerly
every day by the London citizenry.
All that
began to change with Handel’s twenty-four day stretch of intense composition.
So, 280
years ago Handel stepped out of the room, score in hand, beaming with delight and
with a musical masterpiece.
He knew he’d
done his best work.
When King
George II complimented him on providing such a great “entertainment”, Handel
gently chided the King that he had not set out to entertain people with this
piece. Rather, he said, he wanted to “make them better.”
I would
suggest that he succeeded. Messiah is now one of the greatest English musical
masterpieces, loved and performed around the world in thousands of performances
each year.
Thank you,
Mr Handel.
PS. Here’s
a link to part of the audiobook of Musick for the King. Enjoy! https://vimeopro.
