Tips and Pieces: Handel's "Messiah"

Handel became famous in London for his operas, but when audiences wanted to hear something different, he had to come up with another way to stay popular and make money. He started writing oratorios, and audiences loved them. "Messiah" is his most famous oratorio. The first performance was in Dublin, Ireland in 1742. Performances of the work use an orchestra, chorus, and four solo singers. The music is in the Baroque style with lots of imitation and ornaments.

After a successful performance in Dublin, Handel brought it to London the following year. Unfortunately, it was not as popular there initially in part because some people through it was inappropriate for a work with such religious themes to be performed on the public stage. Despite this, the work soon became quite popular and now is performed everywhere each December.

Although Handel intended "Messiah" to be performed by a much smaller group, it soon became the tradition to have gigantic performances with huge orchestras and choruses. Some choruses have included as many as 4,000 singers.