Händel, son of a prosperous barber - surgeon, was born in Hall. His father had in mind a legal career for the young Händel but did allow him to study the organ with the town's principal organist. Besides the organ, Händel also learnt to play the harpsichord, violin and oboe. Later, he studied composition and wrote church cantataes as well as numerous small scale instrumental works. Out of respect for his father's wish, Händel enrolled at the University of Halle in 1702, but by the end of the first year, he withdrew from all classes and went to Hamburg to pursue his interest in music. There, in 1703, Händel obtained a job as violinist in the theatre orchestra and industriously set about learning the craft of opera composition.

Though he wrote numerous concerti grossi, orchestral suites, sonatas, he is essentially a dramatic and not an instrumental composer. He gained his fame through operas and his immortality through oratorios. He is notable for his "breath of human sympathy, love of pageantry ancl ability to project himself into any mood at short notice without losing formal balance."

Händel could be vividly pictorial and descriptive, contemplative and introspective, religious and spiritual and often surprisingly tender. He was able to produce such pathetic or sublime effects by simple means (just a few chords). One of the greatest melodists, Händel's tubal passages seldom seem laboured; they are distinguished by amazing vitality and spontaneity. In his slow movements and instrumental airs, there is a peculiar dignity, a peculiar serenity and a direct appeal that we find in so few composers. He had qualities that set his oratorios apart from other composers -- nobility, majesty and titanic strength.

Händel was 56 years old when he composed the Messiah: The Dublin premiere was very successful. Unfortunately, it cannot be said that this triumph was repeated when the Messiah was heard in London for the first time, on March 23 1743. Händel in 1743 was considered passe, and the public had lost interest in him. Others objected to a prose text, and still others maintained that, to perform a work like this in a concert hall was a desecration. But one part of the Messiah did create an overpowering impact -- the "Hallelujah Chorus". King George II, who was present, was so moved that he involuntarily rose from his seat and stood throughout the "hallelujah" section. When the audience saw its king standing, it also rose to its feet. In this way, a tradition was started, and it has prevailed up to the present day -- for the audience to stand during the singing of the "Hallujah Chorus".

The great popularity of the Messiah in London began in 1749 when when Händel led a benefit performance of it. This time, the audience reaction was most enthusiastic. During the next nine years, Händel conducted the Messiah in London annually for the benefit of the Founding Hospital; by the end of that decade, the Messiah had established itself solidly and permanently as a prime favourite with the English music audiences. Since that time, Messiah has been played continually, not only in London, but throughout the world. It is undoubtedly the most frequently performed oratorio ever written, as well as the most highly esteemed.

Unlike the many Händel oratorios that are based on the lives of Old Testament figures -- Saul, Solomon, Samson, Jephtha, Judas Maccabeus, etc, -- Messiah does not have a plot featuring named characters in a series of incidents. The only portion of narrative is the comparatively brief nativity scene, from the Pifa (Pastoral Symphony) to the chorus "Glory to God in the highest".

The libretto is a compilation of verses from the Bible. The verses are drawn from various prophets of the Old Testament, from Isaiah, the Psalms, the Evangelists, and Paul. Upon this assorted material the music imposes a magnificent unity. The massive choruses are pillars of architectural structures while the tuneful recitatives and broadly flowing arias serve as areas of lesser tension.