Episode 1 of 3
Composition of Messiah
- When
- 22 August 1741
- Where
- Unknown
Handel began composing Messiah in August 1741 after receiving the libretto from Charles Jennens.
Jennens sent Handel a new libretto in July 1741. Handel began work on the composition on 22 August 1741. The effort of writing so much music in a short time was not unusual for Handel, who commenced his next oratorio, Samson, within a week of finishing Messiah.
Sources
- Messiah (Handel) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-14
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.