Handel's Messiah, Great Quotes


Great Quotes
"I wish to breathe my last word on Good Friday, in hopes of meeting mine good God and sweet Lord and Savior on the day of His resurrection."
"I did think I did see all heaven before me, and the great God Himself sitting upon His throne."
~George Frederic Handel to his manservant Peter LeBlonde


Hallelujah! A novel by J. Scott Featherstone
The Story of the coming forth of Handel’s Messiah

This is the remarkable story of one of the greatest events in musical history, the creation of George Frederic Handel’s masterpiece, Messiah.  Composed in just twenty-four days, Handel’s “Grand Oratorio which rendered him immortal” was birthed in the darkest and most desperate hours of his life. His health was failing. Critics ridiculed him. Creditors hounded him. Enemies persecuted him. Pride had nearly destroyed him. Yet, out of Handel’s night emerged the dawn of Messiah.

Anyone who has thrilled at hearing the Hallelujah Chorus will feel “profound attachment” to Handel’s story of hope and redemption as timeless and poignant as the music itself.

From far away, as if wending its way toward him in the night breeze, something began to develop in Handel’s mind. It was so faint and distant that he could not recognize it but only anticipate its arrival. He waited in the stillness for the shape to take the form of sound. He imagined he could see the sound coming toward him, a veiled line of blue streaming toward him through an ocean of black.

Then softly, like a voice from a distant source it came to him—a single violin of transcendent purity, echoing across this mind like music ringing down the valleys of Halle in the cool of the night. So distinct and clear was the melody that he could see the notes on paper as he heard them.

~From Hallelujah!

This book is written as a type of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. That is, it tells of people who are thrown into debtor's prison. Handel, having been in serious debt himself, had compassion for these people.  When he created The Messiah, he would not perform it for money. He dedicated it to the Children's Foundling Hospital in Halle, Germany, his home town. For years it was performed by the children's choir there. Every year, when it was performed, Handel would use donations to liberate people from debtor's prison.  What a fitting event to be connected to the performance of the glorious Messiah! For over a hundred years after Handel's death the pages of music for the great oratorio languished in oblivion. Then, on a cold January day in 1896, Dr. Davan Whetton, seeking funds for The Foundling Hospital of which he was principal and organist, rediscovered Handel's Messiah in a tiny, unknown room behind the pulpit.  Author Featherstone portrays the moving story of Handel's Messiah in a very powerful way. The book is now out of print, but can still be ordered through Book Table in Logan, Utah. It is a worthwhile, unforgettable read.

Biography: George Frederic Handel, born February 23, 1685

See also, "Handel's Last Chance", a delightful movie of Handel's Messiah seen from a child's point of view.