One of the musical traditions I look forward to the most at The Falls Church is performing the “Hallelujah” chorus from George Frideric Handel’s Messiah on Easter Sunday. This oratorio based on the life of Jesus Christ was written 281 years ago in the span of less than a month. To be fair, the completion of its 260 pages was only attainable by Handel essentially not sleeping or eating. He was almost in a trance as he penned the notes, and his servants often found him in tears as he composed. Although we now know this magnum opus to be the composer’s crowning achievement, it was not an immediate success, and moreover, was completed at a time he was recovering from a stretch of professional failures that had left him in a position of significant debt.
Messiah’s 1742 premiere itself in Dublin was a huge success, but it wasn’t met with the same excitement in London the following season. Six scheduled performances were cancelled by Handel in 1743, and it was completely removed from the schedule in the subsequent years to follow. The ”Hallelujah” chorus itself was the turning point for Handel in reversing this streak of bad luck. In 1749, London’s Foundling Hospital held a fundraising concert, where Handel performed a mix of new music and well as older pieces – including the “Hallelujah” chorus. The concert was so well received that Handel was invited back the next year, where he performed the entire Messiah oratorio. Performances became an Eastertime tradition at the Foundling Hospital from that point forward, until the 1770s.
Quite fitting that this chorus, which we use to capture the joy and miracle of Jesus’ resurrection, was also in large part responsible for the resurrection of Handel’s personal and professional standing. When he completed “Hallelujah,” he reportedly told his servant, “I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself seated on His throne, with His company of Angels.” I hope you, too, glimpse a version of glory behind the veil when you hear our Historic Church Choir and Festival Chamber Orchestra’s rendition of this iconic piece.
Julie
