Händel’s “Messiah”: Words of Comfort and Hope

George Frideric Händel’s Messiah oratorio is said to be “the most famous piece of sacred music in the English language.” The world premiere of that masterpiece was 280 years ago, on April 13, 1742, at a concert hall in Dublin, Ireland.  

A Bit about Händel

The man whom Beethoven claimed was “the greatest composer that ever lived” was born in Halle, a major city in what is now Germany, on February 23, 1685. (I remember his birthday every year because my dear granddaughter Naomi was born on Feb. 23.)

Despite his father’s objection, Händel became a musician and even though he was fairly successful in what is now Germany and Italy, in the 1710s he settled permanently in Great Britain, becoming a naturalized citizen there in 1727.

In October that year, he provided four anthems for the coronation of George II. The year before King George’s death, Händel died on April 14, 1759, and was buried in Westminster Cathedral.

A Bit about “Hallelujah Chorus”

By far, the best-known part of Messiah, Händel’s superlative oratorio, is the “Hallelujah Chorus.” It comes at the end of Part Two, the 44^th of the 53 movements. The lyrics of Messiah are all directly from the King James Bible, and the words of the Chorus come from Revelation 19:6, 11:15, and 19:16

During the London performance of Messiah in 1743, King George is said to have stood up during the “Hallelujah Chorus.” And when the king stands, everyone in his presence must stand! And so, for more than 275 years now, the audience rises to their feet when the “Hallelujah Chorus” is sung.

In her book Facing Apocalypse (2021), theologian Catherine Keller tells of hearing the entire Messiah performed live in Carnegie Hall—and that takes time. The complete oratorio is about two hours and 20 min. long, but with applause and two brief intermissions, it is closer to two hours and 45 min.

Keller said she was caught off guard when the “secular, cosmopolitan, diverse” audience, including some Jewish friends she was with, “sprang to its feet for the whole of the Hallelujah Chorus” (p. 134).

Comfort and Hope in Messiah

Although performances of Händel’s Messiah are common in December (before Christmas), they are also numerous on the days before Easter. There are many scheduled across the country for tomorrow, Palm Sunday.

For example, First Presbyterian Church in Wichita Falls, Texas, will perform Messiah on Sunday afternoon—and it will be their 75^th year in a row to do that.

While Messiah is primarily about Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection, it begins with words of prophecy from the Old Testament.

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned.

These words from Isaiah 40:1-2 are, indeed, words expressing comfort and hope, words that were greatly encouraging when they were first written—or sung at the first public performance of Messiah in 1742. And how we need words of comfort and encouragement in this present day!

Part Three of Messiah (movements 45~53) is about resurrection—and thus the basis for public performances at Eastertime. The very next movement after the Hallelujah Chorus begins with words from Job 19:25-26 and I Corinthians 15:20:

I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. For now is Christ risen from the dead, the first fruits of them that sleep.

During these troublesome days in which we now live, may the events we celebrate at Easter (whether we fully comprehend them or not), aided by the words and music of Händel’s marvelous Messiah, help each of us embrace the comfort and hope we so badly need.

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** Here is the link to a YouTube recording of Part Three of Messiah (with the lyrics shown instead of the singers.) And this link shows the score with the words as they are being sung.