[Adder]

Can’t get a handle on it...

[NautiNurse]

Thanks for the history lesson. If I had learned this during music appreciation, I had forgotten Handel’s bio.

[Does so]

Handel presented the finished “The Messiah” while bearing tears of joy...

Even this account looks fuzzy to me!

[SES1066]

Back before COVID (BC?), there were crowds, food courts and flash mobs (good kind!) of performers. One of my all-time favorites on Youtube is a 2010 performance of the "Hallelujah Chorus" by a very skilled choir in a crowded mall food court. Was it a surprise to the non-performing on-lookers? Probably not given the excellent sound and video. Is it still good? Judge it yourself!

[momincombatboots]

Nice post. These views that the world existed and Jesus showed up and is a good moral teacher are prevalent in seminaries. I call them Christmas Christians. They deny His ability to create all in 7 literal days, they deny the fall of man, but somehow we still need a savior? Illogical.
They worship a science whose stated agenda was to divorce the world from the writings of Moses. Molecules to man evolution isn’t even plausible in the world of dna.. and yet still taught exclusively, even in seminaries, but it is softly taught.

[xp38]

Amen

[T. P. Pole]

The way I heard it, it was the result of a bar bet. Some friend (Jennens?) bet him that he couldn’t write a popular oratorio using certain Bible text.

[martin_fierro]

Without the wig

[kalee]

Thank you for posting this.

[meowmeow]

My favorite musical composition! I am hoping it’s playing at the gates of Heaven! In the meantime I listen to it multiple times around Christmas and any time of the year I’m feeling discouraged.

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

Born in 1685, the same year as Bach and Scarlatti. All 3 lived at least 65 years, which was pretty good for that time.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Nice post!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Kaslin, excellent Advent post! Thank you!

[MrBambaLaMamba]

👍

[SES1066]

There is an excellent 2014 BBC Youtube biography of G F Handel that focuses of his 'journey to the Messiah'. As mentioned above, J S Bach and G F Handel, while never meeting, were near neighbors at birth in 1685. What a fine year, especially if you add the Italian maestro, P A G Scarlatti, of Palermo to that list!

For those who have an interest in further & deeper diving, BBC also has a 6 part 2013 Roger Goodall (host) "Story of Music" that is simply great. Episode 2 features the progression in Western Europe music from 1650-1750 which includes Handel & Bach.

[the OlLine Rebel]

I really wish it would be emphasized at Easter as itoriginally was done and intended. And makes more sense, because the real miracle is when he rises and then returns to Heaven. As nicely acknowledged in “the Greatest Story Ever Told”.

I suspect it’s more that Christmas is just more popular. Which in turn may be the fact that we know exactly when Christmas is going to be every year, whereas Easter is a crap shoot where we have to scurry to look at astronomical charts.

[4everontheRight]

Thank you for sharing!

[Sirius Lee]

Handel would keep his good port in a separate chamber when he was entertaining guests. He would serve them the cheap stuff to them and then slip off to his other chamber for a sip of the good stuff.

[Cronos]

The Messiah is also a musical masterpiece. To wield two choirs and an orchestra together is the work of a supreme composer.

[Shady]

We have a community Messiah sing every Christmas season, and a lot of my friends are in the Chorus, of all faiths! When I was a kid our church choir was involved in one of the first of these.. we sang only the Christmas portion, but it is a marvelous work..