Handel's Messiah the advent calendar

‘The tenor voice that gives me the greatest satisfaction’ were Handel’s words about John Church, who later appeared in Messiah. However, even though John, who was such a fantastic singer, both had the surname Church and was a church singer he was always getting into trouble. However, the most fêted musicians would often be trouble. They were more or less constantly drunk. They would often fight – also during services.
Music: Dunedin Consort ‘Handel’s Original Dublin Version 1742’

Handel was soon so busy in Dublin that he could not keep up. Smock Alley Theatre further down Fishamble Street had to cancel performances because Handel monopolised the best musicians in the city. They even had to turn Fishamble Street into a one-way street when Handel was giving concerts because of the ensuing traffic congestion. Thus sedan chairs could no longer just be parked outside Mr Neal’s Great Musick Hall while the noble guests were enjoying the strains of Handel’s music. Handel was a success – and he had not even started introducing his audience to his new compositions yet. So far they had only been listening to the works they already knew.
Music: Dunedin Consort ‘Handel’s Original Dublin Version 1742’

It has been reported that Handel hardly ate anything during the 24 days it took him to write the music for Messiah. How the food which the waiter brought the busy composer remained untouched. How tears smeared the notes. How his trembling fingers made the ink run, and how in the end he exclaimed, ‘I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself’. It would be amazing if this was true – but it isn’t …
Music: Dunedin Consort ‘Handel’s Original Dublin Version 1742’

The Irish State Musick was the permanent ensemble at the court at Dublin Castle. They were primarily paid in beer and had to take on extra work as waiters in order to make a living. The violinists also had to accept that the trumpeters were paid more because they had a higher risk of dying while on duty. In this episode you will also get an explanation as to why you will not be hearing one single note of Irish traditional music in this advent calendar.
Music: Dunedin Consort ‘Handel’s Original Dublin Version 1742’

On 14 December Handel started selling tickets for his concerts from his own living room. Dublin was the perfect size for successful benefit concerts. It was big enough and wealthy enough for it to have an audience who would support the many worthy causes – AND it was small enough to ensure that it would be noticed if any of the nobility failed to attend a benefit concert. The numerous benefit concerts around Dublin were taken very seriously. When the annual benefit concert for Mercer’s Hospital was held the Chief Justice made sure that there were no court cases after 12 o’clock so that all of the solicitors and lawyers in the city could attend the concert.
Music: Dunedin Consort ‘Handel’s Original Dublin Version 1742’

The Charitable Musical Society was quite a unique musical society. Even though there were many similar societies in Dublin in the 1740s this society stood out because of its many activities. Their primary aim was to raise money to release imprisoned debtors. Furthermore their members were the driving force behind bringing Handel to Dublin – and they were also responsible for building the biggest music hall in Ireland. Finally it stood apart from the other musical societies in that they insisted that there be room for both the high nobility with long titles as well as humble craftsmen – and the musical society had no problems letting Catholics join either, which was quite sensational at the time.
Interview with Adrian Le Harival, curator at the National Irish Gallery
Music: Dunedin Consort ‘Handel’s Original Dublin Version 1742’

Whereas it is a well-known part of musical history that Messiah premiered in Dublin’s new leading music hall in Fishamble Street as a benefit concert arranged by a.o. the Charitable Musical Society for the Release of Imprisoned Debtors, the gravity of the situation in Ireland in 1741 is a less well-known part of history. A musical society whose purpose is to pay for the release of imprisoned debtors may at first sound sweet and cheerful. However, that was far from the case. Today’s episode is not so much about Handel, but more about the money being raised through the performance of Messiah and the people this money was intended for.

Handel arrives in Ireland on 18 November and is welcomed with open arms. Where life seemed light, cheerful, elegant and fashionable when the aristocracy were enjoying themselves in the new music hall in Fishamble Street, then life was looking considerably different to the majority of the inhabitants in Dublin. There was a particular reason that hospitals for poor people and musical charities for imprisoned debtors were in such dire need of raising as much money as possible. Because in 1741 there was a famine in Ireland, and throngs of famished people from the countryside would go to Dublin in the search of food.

Due to bad weather conditions Handel’s trip from Parkgate to Dublin by boat is delayed for several days. He spends his time gathering a choir to practise Messiah. The choir consists of the best choir singers from the cathedral in Chester - AND the local printer, Janson, who has a beautiful bass voice. However, Handel is not overly impressed by Janson’s skills to say the least ...

When Handel met Matthew Dubourg, who would later become Master of the Music at the court in Dublin, he was a little boy playing the violin standing on a stool. When the audience clapped afterwards, little Matthew Dubourg became so startled that he fell off the stool. Dubourg would later save Handel’s career. In this episode we will be joined by musician and conductor Peter Whelan, who will tell us about his latest discoveries about the relationship between Handel and Dubourg.
Music: Dunedin Consort ‘Handel’s Original Dublin Version 1742’