Handels Messiah : Comfort For Gods People

Must-have guide that fosters deeper, richer understanding of a beloved musical masterpiece

George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Messiah is a phenomenon with no parallel in music history. No other work of music has been so popular for so long. Yet familiarity can sometimes breed indifference – and even misunderstanding.

This book by music expert Calvin Stapert will greatly increase listeners’ understanding and appreciation of Handel’s majestic Messiah, whether readers are old friends of this remarkable work or have only just discovered its magnificence.

The first section provides fascinating historical background, beginning with a devotional movement in sixteenth-century Catholic Italy and leading to this very oratorio written in eighteenth-century Protestant England by a German composer who would have preferred a career of writing Italian operas – an unlikely but true story. Stapert here traces not only Messiah’s inception but also its amazing reception throughout history.

In the third and longest section Stapert offers scene-by-scene musical and theological commentary on the whole work, focusing on the way Handel’s music beautifully interprets and illuminates the biblical text. For anyone seeking to appreciate Handel’s Messiah more, this informed yet accessible guide is the book to have and read.