The oratorio"Messiah" by Handel. A great masterpiece of baroque music

"Messiah" by Handel. One of the highlights of the Christmas season

The first performance of “Messiah” and a portrait of Handel

"Messiah". A most inspiring oratorio

This is what Christmas is really about.

This is what caused a king to jump to his feet

This caused a clergyman to shout out

One of the traditions in the run up to Christmas, as well as the anticipation surrounding the mass slaughter of turkeys, the excitement of seeing a third rate pop star turning on the Christmas lights, and the fussing about whether we really want to invite that great uncle, who got drunk last year, and sat on little George’s “Fisher Price” windmill, thus proving that while their toys may be child proof, they are definitely not obnoxious old relative proof, is the plethora of performances of that great oratorio “Messiah” by the German born, but naturalised British composer George Frideric Handel.

“Messiah” had its first public performance in the great old city of Dublin in the year 1741. It was the sixth oratorio by that famous composer. The idea of performing a dramatic retelling of sacred stories in concert form, rather than in the fashionable opera manner, came about because there was a law on the statute books in the eighteenth century that forbade the depiction on stage of sacred subjects. Those were the days when opera singers, as well as actors and actresses, were considered to be less than moral people. Time has moved on a bit now. Nobody has got any more perfect in their behaviour, but nowadays, very few of us care.

On first appearance, George Frideric Handel, might seem like an unlikely composer for music of such sublime beauty, and that literally shouts out praises to the Glory of God. He had had a rather chequered career. Before he came to Britain, he had been employed by The Elector of Hanover, but he asked for leave of absence, in order to further his ambitions in London. According to the legend, Handel liked England so much, that he abandoned all intention of returning to his employer in Hanover. Something that apparently did not enter into the calculations of the errant composer was that The Elector was also Heir Apparent to the throne of Britain. When King George I arrived, Handel needed to do some serious sucking up, or he would be in deep “Doo Doo”. Accordingly he composed “The Water Music” to be played on a pleasure trip the new king took on the river. Enraged Majesty was mollified by the delightful music, and George Frideric Handel was spared a spell as a prisoner in the Tower of London. King George I was not averse to locking up people who pissed him off. His ex-wife was locked up for decades in a castle in Germany, just for trying to run away with another man. Handel also had a reputation for having a somewhat fiery temper. He is rumoured to have once dangled a soprano out a top floor window, when she wouldn’t sing the right note. As a mentor, he must have made Simon Cowell seem like a kitten.

Anyway, enough of this “tabloid” biography. Back to “Messiah”. Whatever the alleged character defects of the composer, his great oratorio contains some of the most heavenly music ever composed, and it has been rightly popular since those days in the mid eighteenth century, when its eternal notes first wafted their way into the ears of the inhabitants of the capital of Ireland. The most popular chorus in the entire piece is the “Hallelujah Chorus”. There is another legend attached to this. According to the story, King George II, (”the son of Handel’s old employer), was so moved by the power of this great outpouring to the Divine Majesty, that he jumped to his feet. Of course, when The King stands, everyone else is required to stand as well, so the whole audience jumped to its feet. There is a tradition ever since that people stand for the “Hallelujah Chorus”. Some less charitable commentators have said that George mistook the chorus for the start of The National Anthem, and others say that The King never even attended a performance of “Messiah”. I prefer to go with the popular version. Another report that comes down to us about the first performance, is that a Dublin clergyman, Reverend Mr Delaney was so moved by Susanna Cibber’s rendering of the great contralto aria “He was despised”, that he shouted out "Woman, for this be all thy sins forgiven thee!" Whether he knew something of the character of the particular artiste, or this was just an assurance to all of the female sex, we just don’t know.

The words of “Messiah” are taken from “The King James Bible” and that great monument of heretical English religion, “The Book of Common Prayer”. I’m a Catholic, so I can call Protestants heretics. Some of them call me “spawn of The Antichrist”. That kind of evens things up. Whatever our religious differences, we can all still be moved by a performance of “Messiah”. If you get a chance to go see one this year, take it. It will give you a taste of what Christmas is really about.

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