Lincoln Cathedral Choir

Messiah had its premiere in Dublin on 13 April 1742, where it was an instant success. Its initial reception in London at the Covent Garden theatre the following year was cooler: it was felt to be ‘too exalted’ a work for performance in a theatre.

Handel made some changes to the score, and secured the services of some leading Italian soloists for a revival of the work at Covent Garden in 1749. The following year saw the first of many charity performances at the Foundling Hospital, an institution for the ‘education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children’ of which Handel was to become a governor. Messiah was to become the most loved choral work in the repertoire.

As Handel embarked on Messiah, a task which was to take him just three weeks, his experience as a composer of opera would have provided a rich seam on which to draw. With words taken from the King James Bible, Handel was working with magnificent texts that must surely have heightened his inspiration. The music has extraordinary variety and emotional range: it consoles (‘Comfort ye, my people), it shocks (‘Thou shalt break them in pieces’), it dances (‘Rejoice greatly’), it affirms (in the 8-minute final ‘Amen’ chorus), and it exults (‘Hallelujah’ – of course!).

Some of the music, especially the solo arias, would be quite at home as part of an Italian opera. Many of the choruses arise from the tradition of English cathedral anthems. The orchestral overture has its stylistic origins in France. It is cosmopolitan yet coherent, demanding yet accessible, elevating yet entertaining. Therein lays the secret to the enduring popularity of Messiah: it delivers weighty messages with beguiling charm, drama and style.