A 'Messiah' Miscellany Trivia Quiz

Answer: Just over three weeks

The story goes that Handel dashed off his masterpiece in such a short time during the summer of 1741 because he was up to his ears in debt and needed something to sell! What a mundane reason for the creation of one of the most inspirational pieces of music ever written.

Tradition also has it that Handel wrote the score in a garden 'temple' (an architectural conceit popular on country estates in the mid-eighteenth century) at Gopsall Hall, Leicestershire, the home of his librettist Charles Jennens. The ruins of the 'temple' have been preserved and can be visited by tourists.

The original score of 'Messiah' no longer exists, partly because Handel himself re-arranged the piece every time he conducted it, which was often. Re-arrangements were necessary to accommodate the number of voices and instruments available to him, or even the size of the hall in which the oratorio was to be performed. The version with which we are most familiar today is the Mozart arrangement commissioned in 1789 by Baron Von Swieten.

Answer: Charles Jennens

Jennens (1700-1773) was a wealthy landowner and patron of the arts who collaborated with Handel on five oratorios - 'Messiah', 'Saul', 'Israel in Egypt', L'Allegro,il Pensoroso ed il Moderato', and 'Belshazzar'. Educated at Balliol College, Oxford, Jennens was interested in Primitive Christianity and in the life and writings of St. John Chrysostom. Jennens chose all the texts used in 'Messiah'.

His scriptural choices tended to support his personal views of kingship (he was a supporter of the Stuart line).

The other three choices were also librettists who worked with Handel on other works of his.

Answer: Dublin

'Messiah' had its premiere on April 13, 1742, as one of a series of charity concerts presented at Neal's Music Hall on Fishamble Street in Dublin. The rehearsals for the premiere were a nightmare. Along with a series of production hitches, last minute re-arrangements of the score and other glitches, the Very Rev. Jonathan Swift, Dean of St. Patrick's Anglican Cathedral (and the author of 'Gulliver's Travels') insisted that all proceeds from the performance were to be donated to local hospitals for the mentally ill (so much for Handel's hope for a share of the box office). Handel played the harpsichord for the premiere and the performance was conducted by the Irish composer and violinist Michael Dubourg, a friend of Handel's.

Answer: Albert Hall

The tradition of annual Easter presentations of 'Messiah' at the Royal Albert Hall started in 1878. The tradition of the annual Christmas presentation started in the latter years of the 20th century. While the Albert Hall is a superb venue for Handel's masterwork, my favourite version of 'Messiah' dates from 1976, and it was recorded at Covent Garden with Sir Neville Marriner conducting.

The recording features soprano Elly Ameling, mezzosoprano Anna Reynolds, tenor Philip Langridge and bass Gwynne Howell, with the Academy and Chorus of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. I strongly recommend it.

Answer: The Book of Common Prayer and the King James Version of the Bible

'Messiah' is an oratorio in three parts, and each part can be performed as a stand-alone piece. Technically, the portions of the work drawn from the Psalms are taken from the Great Bible, but since the Psalms in the Book of Common Prayer are also from the Great Bible (as are all the prescribed readings) the question is moot.

The rest of the libretto is taken from the King James version of the Bible. The oratorio's three parts deal with the Annunciation and Nativity (most of which is based on the Messianic prophecies in Isaiah), the Passion (which covers the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Christ), and the Aftermath (most of which is based on the Revelation to John).

Answer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

In 1789 Mozart wrote an arrangement of Handel's masterpiece and translated the libretto into German, on a commission by Baron Von Swieten. The arrangement is catalogued as K572, and features a French horn instead of a trumpet for 'The Trumpets Shall Sound'. Handel scored 'Messiah' for harpsichord, organ, two oboes, bassoon, two trumpets, timpani, strings and basso continuo. Mozart added two clarinets, another bassoon, two horns, three trombones and eliminated the organ part.

In the Mozart arrangement the solos 'For Unto Us a Child is Born' and 'His Yoke is Easy' become choral arrangements.

Answer: They were asked not to wear their swords

I'm sure that the request for gentlemen to leave their swords at the door was a purely precautionary move rather than an expectation that a fight might break out. Still, duels were not uncommon during the eighteenth century, so perhaps the management was circumventing the possibility of a challenge! Or maybe they didn't want people tripping over swords in a crowded concert hall.

Answer: Not wear hoop skirts

Given the casual behaviour of audiences in the eighteenth century, I can be fairly certain that several of the ladies present fluttered their fans, gossiped and flirted with the male singers and musicians, but they did not wear the wide hoops so fashionable in 1742. It is my understanding that this was because of space limitations. Those hoop skirts took up a lot of room!

Answer: 20

Handel scored 'Messiah' for soprano, alto, tenor and bass soloists, and every performance featured a different number of singers in the chorus. The premiere featured 16 choristers.

Answer: 56

Handel was born in 1685 in Halle (at that time a province of Brandenburg-Prussia) in what is now Germany . Although his barber-surgeon father intended young Handel for a career as a lawyer, the boy wanted nothing more than to compose and perform music. On a trip to Weissenfels to visit a relative who held the post of valet to Duke Johann Adolf I, Handel so impressed that august personage with his performance on the pipe organ in the chapel that the Duke urged Handel's father to promote his son's musical career. Dad gave in and the rest is history. Handel studied in Italy and in 1710 he was appointed kappellmeister to George, Elector of Hanover. When George became King George I in 1714, Handel moved to London with him. He became a naturalized British citizen and remained in his adopted land until his death in 1759.

George I was not noted for his musicality but he liked Handel and was especially fond of 'Messiah'. The tradition of standing for 'The Hallelujah Chorus' originates with George I who rose from his seat during the opening bars of the piece at the first London performance of the oratorio. Since it was court protocol that when the monarch stood, everyone stood, the entire audience rose to its feet, and we've been doing it ever since. The reason why the King stood is not really known. Some say it is because he was moved by the performance, others say it was because he needed to stretch his legs after sitting for over an hour.