George Frideric Handel composed his famous Messiah oratorio somewhere between three and four weeks in 1741. “He would literally write from morning to night,” says Sarah Bardwell of the Handel House Museum in London. The oratorio’s text was completed by well-known librettist, Charles Jennens and planned for an Easter performance the following year. “I hope [Handel] will lay out his whole Genius & Skill upon it, that the Composition may excel all his former Compositions, as the Subject excels every other Subject,” Jennens had written to a friend.
Although originally intended for Easter, it eventually became a Christmas favorite, mainly because Easter music was more prevalent at the time and the first part of Messiah was almost entirely dedicated to the birth of Christ.
Even Mozart paid homage to Handel, after re-orchestrating Messiah in 1789. He insisted that any alterations to Handel's score should not be interpreted as an effort to improve the music. “Handel knows better than any of us what will make an effect,” Mozart said. “When he chooses, he strikes like a thunderbolt.”
