Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 24.djvu/301

 as he might and ought to have done. I have with great difficulty made him correct some of the grossest faults in the composition, but he retain'd his overture obstinately, in which there are some passages far unworthy of Handel, but much more unworthy of the Messiah.' The alterations here referred to are possibly those embodied in the appendix to Randall and Abell's full score. The custom of rising at the 'Hallelujah' chorus, which has continued till the present day, seems to have been begun at the first performance of the work in London, at Covent Garden, 23 March 1743, when the king set the example. The first performance of the work in Germany took place at Hamburg under Michael Arne, 15 April 1772, the soprano music being sung by a Miss Venables (, Geschichte des Musik- und Konzertwesens in Hamburg, p. 110, quoted in the Monatshefte fur Musik-Geschichte, 1890, p. 65). It was subsequently performed in the same town in 1775, at Mannheim in 1777, and at Schwerin in 1780 (, Die ersten drei Aufführungen des Messias in Deutschland}.

Handel returned to London at the end of August 1742. At the time he was projecting a second series of oratorio concerts in Dublin for 1743, but the scheme came to nothing. Writing to Jennens, 9 Sept. 1742, he contradicted a report that he was to have the direction of the opera in London, and said that he was uncertain whether he 'shall do something in the oratorio way.' An advertisement appeared in the 'Daily Advertiser' for 17 Feb. 1743, to the effect that he intended to give six subscription concerts at Covent Garden, opening on the 18th with a new oratorio called 'Samson,' which had actually been composed all but the two last numbers, before he went to Ireland. 'Samson' pleased the public so much that the subscription was extended to twelve performances, eight of the new work, three of the 'Messiah,' and one of 'L'Allegro' and the 'Ode for St. Cecilia's Day.' His growing reputation is proved by the fact that his rivals revived in 1743 his opera of 'Alessandro' at the King's Theatre, then under the management of Lord Middlesex. Handel seems to have been paid 1,000l. on the occasion (see, p. 323). A Te Deum and an anthem, written in celebration of the victory of Dettingen, were performed at St. James's Palace on 27 Nov. 1743, and in the following Lent a new series of twelve subscription performances was started at Covent Garden. The only new oratorio given was 'Joseph and his Brethren,' produced 2 March 1744, and performed four times. A week before Lent, 10 Feb. 1744, 'Semele,' a new secular work, had been produced, without scenery or action; this was repeated four times, probably after the Lenten series. As the opera had as usual come to grief, the King's Theatre was available for Handel's next season (1744-5), and he accordingly took it for a series of twenty-four subscription performances and oratorios to be given during the winter. Here 'Hercules,' another secular oratorio, as it has been called, was produced on 5 Jan. 1745, and 'Belshazzar,' another oratorio set to words by Jennens, on 27 March. Burney says (Sketch, p. 29) that Handel stopped payment after the two performances of 'Hercules' in January, but it seems more likely that the season went on uninterruptedly till the sixteenth night of the series, 23 April, when the remainder of the performances were undoubtedly abandoned.

The popularity of the 'Messiah' was increasing, and 'Samson' was scarcely less successful. Handel therefore resolved to persevere with his Lenten performances, and in 1746 resumed them at Covent Garden. Three oratorios were given as a compensation to those of his subscribers who had paid for the whole series of the previous year, and on 14 Feb. a new work, called an 'Occasional Oratorio,' was produced. According to Baker (Biographia Dramatica, ed. 1812, iii. p. 446) it was composed in order to celebrate the victory of Culloden, but as this battle was not fought until 16 April, and when the oratorio was written the rebellion had been by no means entirely suppressed, the 'occasion' cannot be said to be certainly established. The season of 1746 proved again a financial failure, but that of 1747, which saw the production of 'Judas Maccabæus,' was more fortunate. This work, the words of which were written by Dr. Thomas Morrell, was first given on 1 April 1747. The Jewish amateurs of music, of whom there were many in London, patronised the celebration of their national hero, and the whole season was so successful that Handel wisely turned again to Jewish history for the subjects of his two next oratorios. 'Alexander Balus' was produced on 9 March 1748, and 'Joshua' on the 23rd of the same month. Both libretti were by the author of 'Judas.'

After the collapse of 1744 no operas were given at the King's Theatre till the beginning of 1746, and in the following year, when Lord Middlesex was joined by a number of noblemen in the management of affairs, a pasticcio, called 'Lucio Vero,' was arranged from the works of Handel, and performed with great success during the winter of 1747-8. It is at least possible that this