Talk on Tuesday

Handel's Messiah  

Tonight's talk with the ladies (for more information on who the ladies are go to my page above)

 was on George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

He was born in Halle, Germany and moved to England in 1712.

This was a time when musical activity and Italian opera ruled the day.

Handel wrote approximately 40 operas and 26 oratorios.

 

Handel was twice bankrupt but never gave up.

In 1741, his situation was so bleak, he seriously considered going back to Germany.

(Don't you just love the hair! They all seem to have a similar look.)

A friend of his, named Charles Jennens, wrote a script and presented

it to him requesting that he would compose it.

This script was an oratorio that included Old Testament scriptures related to the coming Messiah;

the birth of Christ; the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ; and His return.

 

Handel composed the Messiah in 24 days.

He never left his house and often went without eating.

While writing the  "Hallelujah Chorous", his servant discovered him with tears in his eyes.

He exclaimed, "I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself!!" 

 

That just gives me the chills. Every time I hear the Hallelujah Chorous,

 I know that all of heaven was involved in the composition of that music.

 

This video takes place at a food court in a mall.

Unsuspecting shoppers receive a heavenly serenade.

 

John Wesley said of Handel's Messiah, "In many parts, especially several of the chorouses,

 it exceeded my expectation."

Beethoven once said: "Handel was the greatest composer that ever lived. I would uncover my head, and kneel before his tomb."

King George 111 called Handel "the Shakespeare of music."

George Bernard Shaw commented that "Handel is not a mere composer in England: he is an institution. What is more, he is a sacred institution."

 

At a Messiah performance in 1759, honouring his 74th birthday, Handel responded to enthusiastic applause with these words: "Not from me - but from Heaven- comes all."

 

George Handel had one desire--to die on Good Friday.

He died the day after on Holy Saturday,

 April 14th, 1759.

He is buried at Westminster Abbey.

 

For the postcard for this talk, I found a vintage card of children singing

and then on PicMonkey added a frame and typed in the words.

 

 

This is the back of the postcard.

I enjoyed researching this.

The Messiah and especially the Hallelujah Chorous has so much

more meaning to me now, knowing more about how it came to be.

I'm sure Handel never dreamt in a million years that in a mall in North America a group of people would do a flash mob to his composition of the Hallelujah Chorous.

The ladies enjoyed the talk, I hope you did too.

 

For more information you can go here.

 

Blessings,