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Messiah

The Composition and Afterlife of Handel's Masterpiece

Jonathan Keates
Composed in a three-week burst of creativity, Handel’s sacred oratorio Messiah took an audacious, unprecedented form. Keates explains how the composer and his librettist, Charles Jennens, devised its narrative and musical structure and how the oratorio relates to the cultural and spiritual contexts of Georgian England. He also describes its mixed reception at the first Dublin and London performances and the process by which it became established as one of the best-loved works in the choral repertoire.
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RRP £16.99

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Product information:
  • Publisher: Head of Zeus
  • Year: 2016
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 192pp
  • Illustrated: Yes
  • Dimensions: 191x191mm
  • ISBN: 9781784974008
  • Condition: New
  • Weight: 0.5kg
  • Other conditions available
Product code:
512904
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Product information
Full publisher description
In 1741, in just 24 days, the German-born, British-naturalized composer George Frideric Handel wrote an oratorio rich in tuneful arias and choruses of robust grandeur. Coolly received in London at first, after Handel's death Messiah enjoyed an extraordinary surge in popularity: it was performed at festivals across England; other composers rushed to rearrange it; it would be commercially recorded on more than 100 occasions.

Jonathan Keates tells the story of the composition and musical afterlife of Handel's masterpiece: he considers the first performances and its place in Handel's output; he looks at the oratorio itself and its relationship with spirituality in the age of the Enlightenment; and he examines why Messiah became such an essential element in the national culture of Britain.

Illustrated with beautiful images, including the original score of the work, Messiah is a richly informative and affectionate celebration of a high-point of Britain's Georgian golden age.
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Other conditions available
  1. Messiah
    Messiah
    Jonathan Keates
    RRP £16.99
    now Publ £5.99
    sale Now £3.99
    Condition: New - Very Good