Did you know....
- Handel was born in Germany
- His father wanted him to be a lawyer (Handel only lasted about 1 year in training)
- He moved to Italy to try his hand at musical composition in the Italian style
- At age 26, Handel moved to England, had some success and became a citizen
- By the late 1730's, he struggled with debt
- In 1737 he pushed himself and composed 4 operas in 12 months - ended up having a stroke
- Defied the doctors diagnosis and returned to composing operas
- Still in deep debt and depression
- Charles Jennens wrote the manuscript that Handel put into music
- Handel's Messiah was written in about 24 days (over 50 songs)
- It takes about 3 hours to listen to the whole oratorio
Although I love the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's rendition of Handel's Messiah, here is a great video of the Hallelujah Chorus in a food court. Just goes to show how powerful this music can be...where ever it is sung!
