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George Frideric Handel composed Messiah in just 24 days, from 22 August to 14 September 1741. He set words that Charles Jennens had compiled from the King James Bible and the Psalms of the Book of Common Prayer.

George Frideric Handel / Charles Jennens

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The story behind the card

Messiah is an oratorio, a large concert work for solo singers, choir and orchestra, usually on a religious story and performed without staging. It was first heard in Dublin on 13 April 1742, at the Great Music Hall in Fishamble Street, in a charity concert that raised about £400 for Mercer's Hospital, the Charitable Infirmary and the release of prisoners held for debt. Handel's speed was less miraculous than legend suggests: the musicologist Donald Burrows notes that several of his operas of similar length were written just as quickly, and Handel began his next oratorio, Samson, within a week. Stories that he barely ate or left his room are far less secure than the dates he wrote in the score.

Türkçe oku
George Frideric Handel, Messiah'ı 22 Ağustos ile 14 Eylül 1741 arasında, yalnızca 24 günde besteledi. Sözleri Charles Jennens, Kutsal Kitap'ın Kral James çevirisinden ve Anglikan dua kitabındaki Mezmurlar'dan derlemişti.

Messiah bir oratoryodur: solistler, koro ve orkestra için yazılan, çoğunlukla dinî bir öyküyü sahnelemeden anlatan büyük bir konser eseri. İlk kez 13 Nisan 1742'de Dublin'de, Fishamble Sokağı'ndaki Great Music Hall'da seslendirildi. Bir hayır konseriydi; toplanan yaklaşık 400 sterlin Mercer's Hospital'a, Charitable Infirmary'ye ve borcu yüzünden hapiste yatanların kurtarılmasına gitti. Handel'in hızı efsanelerdeki kadar olağanüstü değildi: müzikolog Donald Burrows, benzer uzunluktaki birçok operasını da aynı hızla yazdığını belirtir; üstelik Handel bir hafta içinde bir sonraki oratoryosu Samson'a başladı. Beste yaparken neredeyse hiç yemediğine ya da odasından çıkmadığına dair hikâyeler, partisyona kendi eliyle yazdığı tarihler kadar sağlam değildir.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Messiah (Handel)
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