This week in Christian history: Handel’s ‘Messiah’ debuts, Medieval abbess baptized on Easter, Russian Orthodox reformer killed

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, April 09, 2023

Handel’s ‘Messiah’ debuts – April 13, 1742

George Friedrich Handel (1685-1759), famed composer of 'Messiah' and other pieces. — George Friedrich Handel (1685-1759), famed composer of "Messiah" and other pieces. | Wikimedia Commons

This week marks the anniversary of when George Frideric Handel's famous musical opus “Messiah,” which included the "Hallelujah" chorus sung in churches across the United States on Easter Sunday, was first performed.

The sacred oratorio received its world premiere at a concert hall in Dublin, Ireland, with Handel having composed the music in less than 30 days, while the lyrics came from Charles Jennens, who drew from the King James Bible and the Anglican Church’s Book of Common Prayer.

“'Messiah' gained widespread popularity only during the final years of Handel’s life, in the late 1750s, but it remains one of the best-known musical works of the Baroque period more than two centuries later,” noted History.

“When you consider that Handel composed the score for 'Messiah' in just 24 days, you begin to understand the incredible esteem in which some of his followers held him. As Ludwig van Beethoven said of Handel: ‘He is the greatest composer that ever lived. I would uncover my head and kneel before his tomb.’”