By Sally Bradford
Few masterworks of Baroque music can rival Handel’s Messiah for its eternal popularity. The Handel and Haydn Society has performed Messiah over 450 times in our 211-year history. Our annual performances during Thanksgiving weekend have become a beloved holiday tradition, as Boston as Fenway Park!
Many of us are familiar with Messiah, but some may have heard myths and legends about this great work. How well do you know Messiah?
12 Handel’s Messiah Facts and Myths
1. Handel wrote Messiah intending it to become the great musical ode to Christmas.
False. Messiah was originally conceived as a work for Easter, and its world premiere was given during Lent.
2. The world premiere of Handel’s Messiah was given in London.
False. While Handel later gave regular performances of Messiah at London’s Foundling Hospital, the oratorio was first performed in Dublin, at the Music Hall on Fishamble Street, on April 13, 1742. The concert benefited three local charities.
3. This first performance featured 50 musicians on stage.
True. The premiere of Messiah featured 50 musicians, evenly divided between members of the chorus and orchestra. This is why historically informed ensembles such as H+H approximate this number of musicians for Messiah performances.
4. The U.S. premiere of the complete Messiah was performed in Boston.
True. The U.S. premiere of the complete Messiah was performed by the Handel and Haydn Society on Christmas Day in 1818 at Boylston Hall in Boston. The building that housed Boylston Hall was demolished in 1887.
5. Handel wrote both the words and the music for Messiah.
False. Charles Jennens wrote the libretto, or text, comprising passages from the Bible.
6. Handel’s Messiah is divided into three parts.
True. Messiah contains 53 songs, referred to as movements that are grouped into three parts. Part I tells of God's plan to redeem humankind through a Messiah and the birth of Christ; Part II covers the death and resurrection of Christ; and Part III emphasizes the promise of resurrection and glorification of Christ.
7. Handel composed the complete Messiah in London in under a month’s time.
True. Handel composed Messiah in a breathtakingly swift 24 days, working primarily in his house on Brook Street in London.
8. Messiah is Handel’s longest composition.
False. While Messiah is a large-scale oratorio that takes almost 3 hours to perform in its entirety, it is not Handel’s longest work.
9. Wolfgang Amadè Mozart arranged an orchestration for Handel’s Messiah.
True. There are various arrangements; Mozart wrote one of them in 1789 for performances that took place in the homes of Vienna’s nobility.
10. The “Hallelujah” Chorus from Messiah was performed in celebration of Abraham Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
True. The Handel and Haydn Society performed the “Hallelujah” Chorus at the Grand Jubilee Concert held on New Year’s Day 1863 in Boston in celebration of the news that Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
11. The first nationally televised broadcast of Handel’s Messiah was in 1963.
True. The Handel and Haydn Society performed in the first nationally televised broadcast of Messiah in December 1963 for National Educational Television (WGBH). During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, H+H presented a video streamed "Handel's Messiah For Our Time," recorded at the WGBH studio using robotic cameras.
12. Audiences are required to stand for the “Hallelujah” Chorus.
False. There is a long-standing myth that at one of the first performances of Messiah in London in 1743, King George II was so touched by the “Hallelujah” Chorus that he rose to his feet and the crowd followed. It’s hard to document the truth of this legend, since the first record of this event was written in 1780, almost 40 years later. At H+H we leave it up to audience members to decide for themselves—any way you respond to the glorious music of the “Hallelujah” Chorus is just right!
Join us at Symphony Hall for performances of Handel’s Messiah on Nov 28 + 29 + 30. Learn more and buy tickets here.