Podcast appearances and mentions of charles jennens

As Press Play takes a break for the holidays, here are a few of our favorite interviews from 2024. Julia Louis-Dreyfus talks about portraying a mom struggling to accept her daughter’s illness. She also shares wisdom from conversations with women ages 70 and up. Oscar winner Morgan Neville goes behind the scenes of directing a LEGO movie that chronicles Pharrell’s musical journey from discovery to stardom. George Frideric Handel wrote the music for “Messiah” during political and social unrest. Charles Jennens put together the text when experiencing deep despair.

Joe Biden issued a sweeping pardon for his son, Hunter Biden, after saying he wouldn’t. How did the nation’s founders want pardons to be used? Is this an abuse?  Trump’s pick for FBI director is a loyal warrior who pledges to go after the “deep state” and anyone who stands in the president’s way.  This week, the Supreme Court hears a challenge to a Tennessee law that bans what’s known as gender-affirming medical treatment for transgender minors. George Frideric Handel wrote the music for “Messiah” during political and social unrest. Charles Jennens put together the text when experiencing deep despair.

Handel's "Messiah" like many masterpieces, was inspired and thus composed in a short period of time, just 24 days.  Handel's Messiah was written with few revisions on 259 pages. The text was written by a wealthy English gentleman, Charles Jennens.  The music was composed by Georg Frideric Handel, although German born, also an Englishman when the Messiah was comosed.  The Messiah debuted in Dublin, Ireland to an audience of about 700. Its popularity grew steadily, until now, it is perhaps the most beloved Christmas musical performance of all.  Its scriptural basis is impressive.  It contains 81 Bible verses from 14 books of the Bible.  Isaiah is quoted most, 21 times. Next, Psalms, is quoted 15 times. First Corinthians is quoted 10 times.  Many people are moved to tears when listening to Handel's Messiah, including Martin Tanner, the host of Religion Today.

SynopsisOn today's date in 1739, George Frideric Handel took out an advertisement, announcing that he was now accepting subscriptions for his new set of 12 Grand Concertos for strings. He had, in fact, finished the first concerto one month before, on Sept. 29, and spent the next five weeks polishing off the other 11 at the rate of one every two or three days.Handel's publisher was John Walsh Jr., who had a shop in London at the sign of the harp and oboe in Catherine Street on the Strand. One hundred twenty-two copies of the music were to be printed and sold at a prepublication price of two guineas each. Among the initial 100 subscribers were three royal princesses and the duke of Cumberland, and two copies each were sold to the Academy of Music in Dublin and a certain Charles Jennens.It was Jennens who was to provide the text for Handel's next major oratorio, Messiah, and the city of Dublin the venue for its famous premiere.So, in 1739, just as today, it pays to advertise!Music Played in Today's ProgramGeorge Frederic Handel (1685 – 1757) Concerto Grosso in D, Op. 6, no. 5 - I Solisti Italiani Denon 6305

Hallelujah! Handel's ‘Messiah' is one of the cornerstones of Western classical music. But when it had its London premiere at Covent Garden on 23rd March 1743, it was billed as “a new sacred oratorio”, lest the real title of the show seem blasphemous. To further mitigate the problem of performing religious work in a secular playhouse, librettist Charles Jennens ensured that no one singer could be said to be ‘playing' the role of Christ, and profits from the show were donated to charity. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how fashionable Italian singers were liable to attract as much laughter as praise; reveal what Mozart and Beethoven made of Handel's masterpiece; and explain how the production at Crystal Palace in 1850 blew the original out of the water…  Further Reading: • ‘The Glorious History of Handel's Messiah' (Smithsonian Magazine, 2009): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-glorious-history-of-handels-messiah-148168540/ • ‘Charles Jennens: The unsung hero of Handel's Messiah' (The Globe and Mail, 2016): https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/charles-jennens-the-unsung-hero-of-handels-messiah/article33389290/ • ‘'Hallelujah Chorus' from Handel's Messiah' (Royal Choral Society, 2012): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUZEtVbJT5c ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?' Every Thursday is 'Throwback Thursday' on Today in History with the Retrospectors: running one repeat per week means we can keep up the quality of our independent podcast. We'll have something new for you tomorrow! podfollow.com/Retrospectors   Love the show? Join  

Messiah (HWV 56) is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel. The text was compiled from the King James Bible and the Coverdale Psalter by Charles Jennens. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742 and received its London premiere nearly a year later. After an initially modest public reception, the oratorio gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music.Help support our show by purchasing this album  at:Downloads (classicalmusicdiscoveries.store) Classical Music Discoveries is sponsored by Uber. @CMDHedgecock#ClassicalMusicDiscoveries #KeepClassicalMusicAlive#LaMusicaFestival #CMDGrandOperaCompanyofVenice #CMDParisPhilharmonicinOrléans#CMDGermanOperaCompanyofBerlin#CMDGrandOperaCompanyofBarcelonaSpain#ClassicalMusicLivesOn#Uber Please consider supporting our show, thank you!Donate (classicalmusicdiscoveries.store) staff@classicalmusicdiscoveries.com

Handel's beloved Messiah, known for its thrilling Hallelujah Chorus, is a long-standing favorite during the Christmas season.  Neither an opera, nor Christmas music, this English-language oratorio was composed for the Easter Season and premièred in Dublin in 1842.  The magnificent text was crafted from the King James Bible by Handel's friend, Charles Jennens.  Join Pat and Grant for their newly remastered conversation about this enduring Baroque masterpiece.  

Israel in Egypt, HWV 54, is a biblical oratorio by the composer George Frideric Handel. Most scholars believe the libretto was prepared by Charles Jennens, who also compiled the biblical texts for Handel's Messiah. It is composed entirely of selected passages from the Old Testament, mainly from Exodus and the Psalms.Purchase the music (without talk) at:Handel: Israel in Egypt, HWV (classicalsavings.com)Your purchase helps to support our show! Classical Music Discoveries is sponsored by La Musica International Chamber Music Festival and Uber. @CMDHedgecock#ClassicalMusicDiscoveries #KeepClassicalMusicAlive#LaMusicaFestival #CMDGrandOperaCompanyofVenice #CMDParisPhilharmonicinOrléans#CMDGermanOperaCompanyofBerlin#CMDGrandOperaCompanyofBarcelonaSpain#ClassicalMusicLivesOn#Uber Please consider supporting our show, thank you!http://www.classicalsavings.com/donate.html staff@classicalmusicdiscoveries.com

George Frideric Handel was born in Halle, Germany in 1685. Handel's crowning achievement, Messiah, was not an immediate success. In 1741, Handel was heavily in debt following a string of musical failures. He had previously worked with Charles Jennens and wrote a string of operas that celebrated the lives of biblical characters using the King James translation of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. The Church was not receptive. Handel was preached against, the promotional posters were torn down, and they soon became bankrupt. Living alone he had a minor stroke and was dogged with depression. After this, there were two events that coincided and miraculously changed his life. First, he got a letter from Jennens who suggested they compose an oratorio about the Divinity of Christ. He sent Handel a compilation of Old and New Testament texts. Second, Handel received a letter from a musical admirer in Dublin who asked him to compose a work to raise money to free men out of Dublin's debtor's prison, and to support two hospitals. Handel accepted both challenges and set out to produce a musical work that could be performed to raise money for charities. He buried himself in the Scriptures, prayed and composed. The exercise would be a spiritual epiphany for him. One day a friend who brought him his meals walked in on Handel and found him physically and emotionally exhausted. He had just completed the “Hallelujah Chorus.” The teary composer told him he had had a vision: “I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself!” Like the Psalmist, like Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and St John, Handel had had a vision of the throne room of God! And so he drenched the Chorus with praise. This is the accompaniment that Handel wrote for that piece. I started playing it when I was very young, but even without the voices, it gives the message. Many blessings to you all on this special day.

Hallelujah! Handel's ‘Messiah' is one of the cornerstones of Western classical music. But when it had its London premiere at Covent Garden on 23rd March 1743, it was billed as “a new sacred oratorio”, lest the real title of the show seem blasphemous. To further mitigate the problem of performing religious work in a secular playhouse, librettist Charles Jennens ensured that no one singer could be said to be ‘playing' the role of Christ, and profits from the show were donated to charity. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how fashionable Italian singers were liable to attract as much laughter as praise; reveal what Mozart and Beethoven made of Handel's masterpiece; and explain how the production at Crystal Palace in 1850 blew the original out of the water…  Further Reading: • ‘The Glorious History of Handel's Messiah' (Smithsonian Magazine, 2009): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-glorious-history-of-handels-messiah-148168540/ • ‘Charles Jennens: The unsung hero of Handel's Messiah' (The Globe and Mail, 2016): https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/charles-jennens-the-unsung-hero-of-handels-messiah/article33389290/ • ‘'Hallelujah Chorus' from Handel's Messiah' (Royal Choral Society, 2012): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUZEtVbJT5c For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Händels beliebtestes Oratorium enthält reihenweise Superhits und sorgt seit seiner Dubliner Uraufführung 1742 immer neu für Begeisterung. Der Komponist feiert mit dem Werk über den Leidensweg Jesu auch eine persönliche Wiederauferstehung nach schwerer Krankheit. (Autor: Christoph Vratz)

Synopsis During his later years, the German composer Johannes Brahms was a frequent visitor to the town of Meiningen, where the Grand Duke had a fine orchestra that gave stellar performances of Brahms' music. Early in 1891, Brahms heard one member of that orchestra, the clarinetist Richard Mülhfeld, perform chamber works by Mozart and Weber. Brahms was so impressed that they became fast friends. Listening to Mülhfeld play, Brahms became so enthusiastic about the clarinet's possibilities that he began writing chamber works for his new friend. Brahms was always particularly fond of the female alto voice whose timbre is similar to that of the clarinet, so Brahms promptly nicknamed Mülhfeld “Fraeulein Clarinet” and the “new prima donna.” For Mülhfeld, Brahms wrote a clarinet trio, which was followed by a clarinet quintet, and finally, a pair of clarinet sonatas, both composed in the summer of 1894. These two sonatas were first played by Mülhfeld with Brahms at a private performance in the home of the sister of the Duke of Meiningen on today's date that year. In November, the pair also gave private performances in Frankfurt for Clara Schumann and at Castle Altenstein for the Duke of Meiningen.  The first public performances occurred in Vienna in January of 1895. Music Played in Today's Program Johannes Brahms (1833 – 1897) — Clarinet Sonata, Op. 120, no. 2 (Michael Collins, clarinet; Mikhail Pletnev, piano) Virgin 91076 On This Day Births 1829 - Music publisher Gustav Schirmer, in Königsee, Thuringia; He came to America in 1840 with his parents, and in 1861 founded in New York City the music publishing house that bears his name, G. Schirmer, Inc.; 1911 - Swedish composer Allan Pettersson, in Västra Ryd; Deaths 1949 - Greek composer Nikos Skalkottas, age 45, in Athens; 1972 - French composer and pianist Robert Casadesus, age 73, in Paris; Premieres 1894 - Brahms: two Clarinet Sonatas, Op. 120, at a private performance in the home of the sister of the Duke of Meiningen at Berchtesgaden, by clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld (of the Grand Ducal Orchestra of Meiningen) with the composer at the piano; Brahms and Mühlfeld also gave private performances of both sonatas on November 10-13, 1894, in Frankfurt (for Clara Schumann and others); on November 14, 1894, at Castle Altenstein (for the Duke of Meiningen); and on Jan. 7, 1895, in Vienna (for members of the Tonkünstler Society); The first public performances of the two sonatas took place in Vienna on January 8 (Sonata No. 2) and 11 (Sonata No. 2), 1895, with the same performers, as part of the Rosé Quartet's chamber music series; 1908 - Mahler: Symphony No. 7 ("Song of the Night"), in Prague, with the composer conducting; 1927 - Schoenberg: String Quartet No. 3, in Vienna, by the Kolisch Quartet; 1937 - Hanson: Symphony No. 3 (partial performance), on a CBS Radio Symphony concert conducted by the composer; The first complete performance occurred with the rival network's NBC Symphony, again with the composer conducting, on March 26, 1938; 1970 - Morton Feldman: "The Viola in My Life" No. 1 for viola and orchestra, in London; 1998 - André Previn: opera "A Streetcar Named Desire," with cast including Rene Fleming, by the San Francisco Opera, the composer conducting; 1998 - Michael Torke: "Jasper" for orchestra, by the Madison (Wisc.) Symphony, John DeMain conducting; 1999 - Elmer Bernstein: Guitar Concerto, with Honolulu Symphony conducted by Samuel Wong and soloist Christopher Parkening; 2002 - John Adams: "On the Transmigration of Souls" for vocal soloists, chorus and orchestra, by the New York Philharmonic, Lorin Maazel conducting; 2002 - John Adams: “On the Transmigration of Souls” for vocal soloists, chorus and orchestra, by the New York Philharmonic, Lorin Maazel conducting; Others 1725 - J.S. Bach gives organ recitals in the Sophienkirche, Dresden, on Sept. 19 and 20; 1738 - Oratorio librettist Charles Jennens writes to a young relative describing a visit to Handel the previous day, dismayed by Handel's ideas for their collaboration on the oratorio "Saul": "Mr. Handel's head is more full of maggots than ever . . ." (Gregorian date: Sept. 30). Links and Resources On Johannes Brahms More on Mülhfeld's clarinet

In 1741, George Frideric Handel was deeply in debt after a string of musical failures. On the verge of his going to debtor’s prison, his friend Charles Jennens wrote the text of an opera based on the life of Jesus Christ and gave it to Handel to write the music. In just 24 days, Handel wrote the musical masterpiece, Messiah. The famous Hallelujah chorus celebrates the fact that God is the King of kings who will reign forever and ever. Psalms 93–99 celebrate the Lord’s kingship. You’ll notice a common refrain in these poems: “The Lord reigns” (93:1; 96:10; 97:1; 99:1). You may also recognize this section of Scripture as the Hallelujah chorus of the Psalter. Because God reigns over all, Psalm 99 encourages all people to “praise your great and awesome name” (v. 3). The fact that God reigns is the best possible news. He is a ruler who is just and does what is right (v. 4). He is also a King who listens to His people. The Psalmist reminds us of Moses, Aaron, and Samuel who often interceded for the people of Israel (v. 6). God heard their prayers and answered them. God also showed Himself to be forgiving. Israel sinned by worshiping a golden calf on Mount Sinai (Ex. 32). Despite their deep breach of faithfulness, God forgave the people and continued to reside with them (Ex. 34). God, however, also punishes sin (v. 8). These two truths are not contradictory. God is both just and merciful. The animal sacrifice in the Old Testament foreshadowed the greater sacrifice of our Lord Jesus in the New Testament. Sin can be both punished and forgiven because God made a way for us. >> Today, if you confess your sins and trust in the death and resurrection of Jesus, you can be forgiven and have peace with God. In response to this marvelous truth, take a few minutes to pray Psalm 100 in praise to God.

Lee Salmos 99 y 100 En 1741, George Frideric Handel estaba profundamente endeudado después de una serie de fracasos musicales. A punto de ir a la cárcel, su amigo Charles Jennens escribió el texto de una ópera basada en la vida de Jesucristo y se lo dio a Handel para que escribiera la música. En solo 24 días, Handel escribió la obra maestra musical, El Mesías. El famoso coro de Aleluya celebra el hecho de que Dios es el Rey de reyes que reinará por los siglos de los siglos. Los Salmos 93 al 99 celebran la realeza del Señor. Notarás un estribillo común en estos poemas: “El Señor reina” (93:1; 96:10; 97:1; 99:1). También puedes reconocer esta sección de la Escritura como el coro de Aleluya del Salterio. Debido a que Dios reina, sobre todo, el Salmo 99 anima a todas las personas a alabar “tu nombre grande y temible” (v. 3 LBLA). El hecho de que Dios reine es la mejor noticia posible. Él es un gobernante que es justo y hace lo correcto (v. 4). También es un Rey que escucha a Su pueblo. El salmista nos recuerda a Moisés, Aarón y Samuel, quienes a menudo intercedían por el pueblo de Israel (v. 6). Dios escuchó sus oraciones y las respondió. Dios también se mostró indulgente. Israel pecó al adorar a un becerro de oro en el monte Sinaí (Éxodo 32). A pesar de su profunda violación de la fidelidad, Dios perdonó al pueblo y continuó residiendo con ellos (Éxodo 34). Sin embargo, Dios también castiga el pecado (v. 8). Estas dos verdades no son contradictorias. Dios es justo y misericordioso. El sacrificio de animales en el Antiguo Testamento presagió el mayor sacrificio de nuestro Señor Jesús en el Nuevo Testamento. El pecado puede ser castigado y perdonado porque Dios abrió un camino para nosotros. Hoy, si confiesas tus pecados y confías en la muerte y resurrección de Jesús, puedes ser perdonado y tener paz con Dios. En respuesta a esta maravillosa verdad, tómate unos minutos para orar el Salmo 100 en alabanza a Dios. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

a cura di Massimiliano SamsaGeorge Frideric Händel - Messiah HWV56, oratorio in 3 partiChristine Schäfer, sopranoAnna Larsson, altoMichael Schade, tenorGerald Finley, bassArnold Schoenberg ChorConcentus Musicus WienNikolaus Harnoncourt, direttoreFu a una svolta della sua vicenda artistica che Georg Friedrich Händel compose il Messiah, l'opera alla quale, emblematicamente, è da allora associato, per antonomasia, il suo nome. L'anno di composizione, il 1741, rappresentò per Händel l'abbandono di una straordinaria e tormentata carriera operistica, nonché della lingua, l'italiano, cui la sua attività di compositore di musica vocale era stata legata sin dagli anni di apprendistato. Come spartiacque tra i due compositori, l'operista «italiano» del 1741 e l'autore di oratori in lingua inglese del 1742, si colloca l'invito ad animare una stagione al di fuori dei riflettori londinesi, nell'appartata Dublino. Da lì il Messiah, terminato nel settembre 1741, intraprende la sua marcia trionfale il 13 aprile 1742, continuando a occupare il suo autore fino all'anno della morte, con una serie notevole di revisioni e rifacimenti per successive produzioni dell'oratorio, nel 1742, '43, '45, '49, '50 (da quest'ultimo anno Handel volle legare l'oratorio al Foundling-Hospital, istituzione per l'infanzia abbandonata cui riservò l'esecuzione dell'opera), e soprattutto imponendosi nell'immaginario collettivo dei paesi anglosassoni come un patrimonio spirituale insostituibile, parte integrante della propria identità culturale.Con quest'opera il compositore si rifà a quel genere di oratorio da concerto in lingua inglese che egli stesso aveva contribuito a sviluppare, forte di una ricca esperienza nel campo della musica sacra corale maturata in tre diverse tradizioni nazionali, legate ad altrettante lingue: la passione luterana, frequentata nella madrepatria (Brockes-Passion, 1716 ca., apprezzata anche da Bach), l'oratorio, conosciuto nel suo lungo soggiorno italiano (Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno, 1707, La Resurrezione, 1708) e l'anthem, praticato nella patria d'adozione, l'Inghilterra (Chandos Anthems, Coronation Anthems).Il testo dell'oratorio è tratto interamente dalla Bibbia secondo una sofisticata operazione di montaggio da libri remoti per cronologia e genere letterario. Il complesso collage propone una celebrazione epica della figura del Messia dall'Antico al Nuovo Testamento, evitando completamente, a differenza delle Passioni bachiane, la presenza del personaggio-Cristo: viene operata dunque una rappresentazione «obliqua» della figura di Gesù, per il quale non si evoca nessun riferimento storico preciso, fatta salva la nascita. Al centro del testo si colloca dunque il dramma della redenzione dell'umanità, compiuta da un personaggio mai chiamato col suo nome storico (l'oratorio si intitola infatti Messiah). Autore del libretto è Charles Jennens (1700-73), membro ortodosso della Church of England, di quindici anni più giovane di Händel e suo fervido ammiratore almeno dal 1725.Testo tratto da: https://www.flaminioonline.it/Guide/Handel/Handel-Messiah56.htmlPARTE PRIMA1.Sinfonia: Grave. Allegro moderato2 oboi, 2 violini, viola e basso continuo2.Comfort ye my people - Larghetto e piano (mi maggiore)Recitativo per tenore, 2 violini, viola e basso continuo3.Ev'ry valley shall be exalted (mi maggiore)Aria per tenore, 2 violini, viola e basso continuo4.And the glory of the Lord - Allegro (la maggiore)Coro, 2 oboi, 2 violini, viola e basso continuo5.Thus saith the Lord of Hosts (re minore)Recitativo per basso, 2 violini, viola e basso continuo6.But who may abide the day of His coming - Larghetto. Prestissimo (re minore)Aria per contralto, 2 violini, viola e basso continuo7.a. And He shall purify the sons of Levi (sol minore) Coro, 2 oboi, 2 violini, viola e basso continuob. Behold, a Virgin shall conceive Recitativo per contralto e basso continuo8.a. O thou that tellest good tiding to Zion - Andante (re maggiore) Aria per contralto, 2 violini e basso continuob. O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion (re maggiore) Coro, 2 oboi, 2 violini, viola e basso continuo9.For behold, darkness shall cover the earth - Andante larghetto (si minore)Recitativo per basso, 2 violini, viola e basso continuo10.The people that walked in darkness - Larghetto (si minore)Aria per basso, 2 violini, viola e basso continuo11.For unto us a Child is born - Andante allegro (sol maggiore)Coro, 2 oboi, 2 violini, viola e basso continuo12.a. Pifa (sinfonia pastorale) - Larghetto e mezzo piano (do maggiore) 3 violini, viola e basso continuob. There were shepherds abiding in the field Recitativo per soprano e basso continuo13.a. And lo, the Angel of the Lord came upon them - Andante (fa maggiore) Recitativo per soprano, 2 violini, viola e basso continuo -b. And the Angel said unto them Recitativo per soprano e basso continuo14.And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude - Allegro (re maggiore)Recitativo per soprano, 2 violini, viola e basso continuo15.Glory to God in the highest - Allegro (re maggiore)Coro, 2 oboi, 2 trombe, 2 violini, viola e basso continuo16.a. Rejoice greatly - Allegro (si bemolle maggiore) Aria per soprano, 2 violini e basso continuob. Then shall the eyes of the blind be open'd Recitativo per contralto e basso continuo17.He shall feed His flock like a shepherd - Larghetto e piano (fa maggiore)Duetto per soprano, contralto, 2 violini, viola e basso continuo18.His yoke is easy, His burthen is light - Allegro (si bemolle maggiore)Coro, 2 oboi, 2 violini, viola e basso continuo

Messiah (HWV 56) is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible, and from the Coverdale Psalter, the version of the Psalms included with the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742 and received its London premiere nearly a year later. After an initially modest public reception, the oratorio gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music. Purchase the music (without talk) for only $2.99 at: http://www.classicalsavings.com/store/p1089/SWSO_Messiah.html Your purchase helps to support our show! Classical Music Discoveries is sponsored by La Musica International Chamber Music Festival and Uber. @khedgecock #ClassicalMusicDiscoveries #KeepClassicalMusicAlive #LaMusicaFestival #CMDGrandOperaCompanyofVenice #CMDParisPhilharmonicinOrléans #CMDGermanOperaCompanyofBerlin #CMDGrandOperaCompanyofBarcelonaSpain #ClassicalMusicLivesOn #Uber Please consider supporting our show, thank you! http://www.classicalsavings.com/donate.html staff@classicalmusicdiscoveries.com

Messiah, HWV 56, is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible, and from the Coverdale Psalter, the version of the Psalms included with the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742 and received its London premiere nearly a year later. After an initially modest public reception, the oratorio gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music. Classical Music Discoveries is sponsored by La Musica International Chamber Music Festival and Uber. @khedgecock #ClassicalMusicDiscoveries #KeepClassicalMusicAlive #LaMusicaFestival #CMDGrandOperaCompanyofVenice #CMDParisPhilharmonicinOrléans #CMDGermanOperaCompanyofBerlin #CMDGrandOperaCompanyofBarcelonaSpain #ClassicalMusicLivesOn #Uber Support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4186107 staff@classicalmusicdiscoveries.com

On today’s date in 1739, Mr. George Frideric Handel took out an advertisement, announcing that he was now accepting subscriptions for his new set of 12 Grand Concertos for strings. He had, in fact, finished the first concerto one month before, on September 29th, and spent the next five weeks polishing off the other 11 at the rate of one every two or three days. Handel’s publisher was John Walsh, Jr, who had a shop in London at the sign of the harp and oboe in Catherine Street on the Strand. One hundred twenty-two copies of the music were to be printed and sold at a pre-publication price of two guineas each. Among the initial 100 subscribers were three royal princesses and the Duke of Cumberland, and two copies each were sold to the Academy of Music in Dublin and a certain Mr. Charles Jennens. It was Mr. Jennens who was to provide the text for Handel’s next major oratorio, “Messiah,” and the city of Dublin the venue for its famous premiere. So, in 1739, just as today, it pays to advertise!

On today’s date in 1739, Mr. George Frideric Handel took out an advertisement, announcing that he was now accepting subscriptions for his new set of 12 Grand Concertos for strings. He had, in fact, finished the first concerto one month before, on September 29th, and spent the next five weeks polishing off the other 11 at the rate of one every two or three days. Handel’s publisher was John Walsh, Jr, who had a shop in London at the sign of the harp and oboe in Catherine Street on the Strand. One hundred twenty-two copies of the music were to be printed and sold at a pre-publication price of two guineas each. Among the initial 100 subscribers were three royal princesses and the Duke of Cumberland, and two copies each were sold to the Academy of Music in Dublin and a certain Mr. Charles Jennens. It was Mr. Jennens who was to provide the text for Handel’s next major oratorio, “Messiah,” and the city of Dublin the venue for its famous premiere. So, in 1739, just as today, it pays to advertise!

Handel composed the work over the period of 19 January to 4 February 1740, and the work was premiered on 27 February 1740 at the Royal Theatre of Lincoln's Inn Fields. At the urging of one of Handel's librettists, Charles Jennens, Milton's two poems, L'Allegro and il Penseroso, were arranged by James Harris, interleaving them to create dramatic tension between the personified characters of Milton's poems (L'Allegro or the "Joyful man" and il Penseroso or the "Contemplative man"). The first two movements consist of this dramatic dialog between Milton's poems. In an attempt to unite the two poems into a singular "moral design", at Handel's request, Jennens added a new poem, "il Moderato", to create a third movement. The popular concluding aria and chorus, "As Steals the Morn" is adapted from Shakespeare's Tempest, V.i.65–68. Classical Music Discoveries is sponsored by La Musica International Chamber Music Festival and Uber. @khedgecock #ClassicalMusicDiscoveries #KeepClassicalMusicAlive #LaMusicaFestival #CMDGrandOperaCompanyofVenice #CMDParisPhilharmonicinOrléans #CMDGermanOperaCompanyofBerlin #CMDGrandOperaCompanyofBarcelonaSpain #ClassicalMusicLivesOn #Uber Support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4186107 staff@classicalmusicdiscoveries.com

Israel in Egypt (HWV 54) is a biblical oratorio by the composer George Frideric Handel. Most scholars believe the libretto was prepared by Charles Jennens, who also compiled the biblical texts for Handel's Messiah. It is composed entirely of selected passages from the Old Testament, mainly from Exodus and the Psalms. Israel in Egypt premiered at London's King's Theatre in the Haymarket on April 4, 1739 with Élisabeth Duparc "La Francesina", William Savage, John Beard (tenor), Turner Robinson, Gustavus Waltz, and Thomas Reinhold. Handel started it soon after the opera season at King's Theatre was cancelled for lack of subscribers. The oratorio was not well received by the first audience though commended in the Daily Post; the second performance was shortened, the mainly choral work now augmented with Italian-style arias. The first version of the piece is in three parts rather than two, the first part more famous as "The ways of Zion do mourn", with altered text as "The sons of Israel do mourn" lamenting the death of Joseph. This section precedes the Exodus, which in the three-part version is Part II rather than Part I. Classical Music Discoveries is sponsored by La Musica International Chamber Music Festival and Uber. @khedgecock #ClassicalMusicDiscoveries #KeepClassicalMusicAlive #LaMusicaFestival #CMDGrandOperaCompanyofVenice #CMDParisPhilharmonicinOrléans #CMDGermanOperaCompanyofBerlin #CMDGrandOperaCompanyofBarcelonaSpain #ClassicalMusicLivesOn #Uber Support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/user?u=4186107 staff@classicalmusicdiscoveries.com

Audio Transcript: This media has been made available by Mosaic Boston Church. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston and our neighborhood churches, or donate to this ministry, please visit mosaicboston.com.Hello, welcome to this worship experience online from Mosaic Boston Brookline. We're so glad you're here. If you are a member of Mosaic or a regular attender, thank you for tuning in. We love you, we miss you. We're praying with you personally and as a staff, we're praying with you. I've been using the phrase, "Praying with you with all of my essence and with everything I've got," and I know many of you are struggling and in this difficult time, we need to lean into the Lord like never before.If you're not part of the Mosaic community, welcome as well. We'd like to use this opportunity to welcome you into the community. We miss the normal. I miss normal. I miss normality, and that's one of the reasons why we this week, are specifically celebrating Holy Week. Today is Palm Sunday. On Friday, we'll together worship the Lord, Jesus Christ and remember his suffering on the cross. That'll be Friday at 7 PM. Then that following Sunday, Easter Sunday, we'll have another service.I miss normal. I miss worshipping together. I miss singing with everything I've got. I miss my kids going to school. I miss Starbucks. I miss good coffee, not the Trader Joe's coffee. I miss Red Sox and I miss sports and perhaps that's ... I even miss the traffic in Boston. I do. I miss the angry Boston drivers so much.In this difficult time, we need the normal I think more than ever, and we can rest assured that God hasn't changed. The omnipotent God of the universe is perfect. He doesn't need to change, and we can lean into that stability and anchor our souls and our emotions in that truth. With that said, would you please pray with me over the preaching of God's holy word.Heavenly Father, we love you and we thank you for this time that you've given us together, to worship together in spirit and in truth because you are God of spirit and truth. Lord, fill our hearts with your love and peace. A peace that transcends all understanding. Now Lord, I pray that you minister those who are struggling. There are many who are struggling. Lord, be close to them. Fill us with your strength. Help us focus on the gospel. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.If you know me, I'm not an emotional guy. I don't express it and this week's been a roller coaster of emotion. I feel like one moment I'm encouraged in the Lord by everything that He's doing and I see so much of what He's doing drawing people close to Himself. The other, like the very next minute, you almost feel hopeless. One moment you're encouraged and excited by God building his kingdom and then sorrowful at all the suffering around us.I miss preaching to people. Right now, I'm in a room with a camera. I miss the tit for tat. I feel like preaching at Mosaic on a weekly basis is like tennis, you hit the ball and everyone responds and they hit it back. Right now, it's like playing golf, you hit it and it goes God knows where. God does know where. In a week so full of the ups and downs of emotion, I had a conversation with a buddy of mine who is a financial professional. We were talking about the stock market and he said, "It's a roller coaster and the only one that gets hurt riding a roller coaster is a person who jumps off." I encourage you, don't jump off. We're not jumping off, we're in this together.As we enter Holy Week, Holy Week was a week full of emotion as well. It begins with people screaming out, "Hosanna, God save us. Jesus, you are king. Lord, you are to be worshipped," and then almost immediately, there's confrontation and then betrayal and denial, and trial and scourging, and crucifixion and a tomb, and then it all crescendos with the most electrifying sentence ever uttered, "He's not here. He's risen. Jesus is alive."Palm Sunday today marks the remembrance of the beginning of the most important week in the most important life of the most important person who ever lived. I challenge you this week to read these accounts. To sit down and read these accounts, perhaps by yourself or with your family in Matthew, it's chapters 21 through 28. In Mark, it's chapters 11 through 16. John, chapters 12 through 21. Read it. Read it prayerfully. Read it and meditate upon these deep truths.The context is late March, and it's fitting because we've gone through perhaps the worst March of our lives. I've been entertained by all the creative genius that's coming out of this crisis despite the fact that it's a crisis. My favorite memes are the ones where it's a picture of someone at the beginning of March and a picture of someone at the end of March. My favorite one was baby Yoda. March 1st was baby Yoda and then end of March was real Yoda, and that's kind of how we feel and that's kind of the sense that we're about to enter into.There's excitement at the beginning of Jesus entering into Jerusalem and the excitement is palpable. It's palpable in the crisp, cool, spring air in Jerusalem. Thousands of Jewish spiritual pilgrims have entered Jerusalem from all over the world for the upcoming Passover feast, and the word has spread that Jesus Christ, Jesus this itinerant rabbi, this teacher, this prophet, this healer, he's here. Jesus has just resurrected Lazarus. Brought Lazarus back from the dead by saying, "Lazarus, come forth," and people have seen that. They've heard the message. They've seen Lazarus. Perhaps Lazarus is right there with Jesus as Jesus is entering Jerusalem.That atmosphere is filled with messianic fervor and also at the same time, mixed in with hatred for Roman rule. Jesus observed the Sabbath from Friday to Saturday evening at Bethany and then he woke up Sunday morning to enter Jerusalem, and this is the first day of the last week of his first earthly life. Would you look at the text with me today? We're in Matthew 21, 1 through 11. Matthew 21, 1 through 11.Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord needs them,' and he will send them at once." This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'" The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, "Who is this?" And the crowd said, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee."This is preaching and reading of God's holy and infallible authoritative word. May He write these eternal truths upon our hearts. I want to give you a dose of normality. We're back to our points. I've got four points for the sermon today. We'll talk about Jesus as the rightful king, the gentle king, the zealous king, and the victorious king.First, Jesus is the rightful king. Just to set the historic and literary context right before this text, Jesus Christ has actually just healed miraculously a blind man. This is the story, Matthew 20, verse 29.And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!" The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!" And stopping, Jesus called them and said, "What do you want me to do for you?" They said to him, "Lord, let our eyes be opened." And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.Now what's fascinating about this text and the reason why it's important that it comes right before Jesus entering in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, is that they cry out and say, "Lord, please save us," and the term that they use is Son of David. It's a messianic title. It's a title that was prophesied centuries before, that the Messiah is coming. The Messiah will be a Son of David, and He will sit on the throne of David and rule eternally.Every single time that someone actually proclaimed Jesus as a Son of David prior to this text, Jesus always rebuked them and said, "Keep that to yourself. Don't make that public. Not yet. It's not time." Now Jesus, He takes it and He says, "Yes," He responds to the call and says, "I am the Son of David. I am the ultimate king," He openly declares Himself as king. That's the texts that proceeds our text when Jesus, as He's entering into Jerusalem. He sends out two of His disciples and that's verse 1, and he says to them verse 2, "Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord needs them," and he will send them at once."Now this is interesting. He doesn't tell them ask for permission. He just said, "Just do it. Go up to this house. You see a donkey, just take it. Don't ask anyone for permission. If anyone says anything, you tell them, 'The Lord needs it,'" and uses the term kurios for himself, "I am the Lord." This is really important because Jesus right here, He is orchestrating. He is directing everything. Nothing here surprises Him. He wasn't surprised by the fact that people are going to welcome Him and proclaim Him as the Messiah. He wasn't surprised by the fact that He would be confronted. He wasn't surprised by the fact that He would be betrayed or denied. He's orchestrating every single one of these details because He is king of everything.He plainly refers to himself as Lord, and here, we can just apply this to ourselves now. God is sovereign, over every single detail of world history, of every single detail of our lives. We can trust Him, that His plan is good. For those who love God and are called to be His, everything together will work for the good. We can trust Him. The disciples immediately and humbly submit to this command.In Matthew 21:6, The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.Sometimes the Lord calls us to do something that seems trivial, that seems incredibly insignificant. We've been talking, perhaps you've been talking about essential work and non-essential work, and scripture offers deep theology of work that anything done to the glory of God is essential work. In particular, anything that we do that will obey God is essential work. Caring for yourself is essential work. Caring for those who are close to you is essential work. Husbands to care for your wives, you have that responsibility, that's essential work. Wives tenderly love and respect your husbands, that's essential work. To keep ourselves in the Lord right now, it's essential work to fight sin. It's essential work, there's no excuse right now. There's no excuse. Despite the pandemic, there's no excuse to seek comfort in sin.Matthew 21: 4 and 5, This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet saying, "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'"Charles Jennens in 1741 wrote the lyrics for Handel's Messiah. Incredible work with incredible lyrics. What's fascinating about the lyrics of Handel's Messiah is there's very little content about the life of Jesus, and the teachings of Jesus. It's focused on the incarnation, the crucifixion, the resurrection, the redemptive story, God's redemptive work. It goes from Christmas to Good Friday and there's one moment where the angels sing, "Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, goodwill towards men," and then, "Behold, the lamb of God, who's come to take away the sins of the world."One thing that Charles Jennens included in the lyrics of Handel's Messiah, one thing he includes is this triumphal entry. He alludes to it by quoting Zechariah. Zechariah 9:9, this is a prophecy written centuries before Christ was even born.Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your kind is coming to you: righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.When Jesus mounts this donkey and specifically, a purebred colt as promised, Jesus is presenting Himself as Israel's king, as the promised king. That's why it says, "Behold, your king has come." An even older prophecy written centuries before the one in Zechariah that's often overlooked is when Jacob pronounced the blessing on his son Judah in Genesis 49: 10 and 11.The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey's colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes.The prophecy's given to us in the book of Genesis. The book of beginnings promises that the Messiah will come. The true king will come from the tribe of Judah. In some way, He's going to be associated to the colt of a donkey. The crowds recognized this, that Jesus as He meekly rides in on a donkey. He's fulfilling a prophecy. He's doing what Solomon did in riding on David's donkey in order to begin His reign. This is how the crowds react, verse 8 ...Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"Jesus is the Son of David. He comes in the name of the Lord. He is the Lord of the name that is above all names, and they welcome Him with a procession of praise and they give Jesus exactly what He deserves. They give Jesus exactly what He's worthy of, because He is the true and rightful king. The application here for us is do you recognize Jesus's kingship? Do you recognize that He is glorious king? If so, we are to submit and worship Him. In the same way that the crowds cast down or threw down, laid down their garments, we are to lay down our hearts and lay down our wills in absolute surrender to the God of the universe, Jesus Christ the king above all kings.We are to welcome His reign. Lord, govern us. Lord, govern our thoughts and our hearts and our wills, our desires. We praise you. Govern everything about our lives. Order everything in our lives. From our feelings, to our finances, to our sexuality, to our understanding of gender, to our understanding of politics, of everything. Lord, govern us.Verse 10, And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, "Who is this?" And the crowd said, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee."Jesus is the rightful king. He's also the gentle king. In ancient times as kings rode into cities after coming back from war, they would display their power and their wealth, and the expectation is that Jesus, if you are the king of kings, where is your mighty army? Where are the spoils of victory? Why aren't you bearing the prizes of this dazzling victory in showing us exactly how great of a king you are?Well, it's to show us that the rightful king is actually also a gentle king. There's no pomp and circumstances. Humility and meekness, and that's why Zechariah prophesizes and says, "Behold, your king, he's humble or he's gentle." Gentleness is symbolized here by the mode of transport. Kings when they came from battle, they had a war horse, a stallion. Jesus, where's your stallion? He's riding a donkey, a borrowed donkey at that. Donkeys were like the Toyota Camrys of modes of transportation. I can say that because I've driven a Camry for the past 15 years. Love Camrys. Trusty, but it's a Camry. That's what He's driving.It's to show His gentleness and then also, we see the gentleness of the king and the fact that in the prophecy it says, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you." It doesn't say son of Zion, it doesn't say song of daughter. God does that intentionally. What God here is communicating, this is what He's communicating, that He loves us with a tender and gentle love, as a father, a good father has for his daughters.Been blessed with four daughters and they're all incredible, so precious. Sophia, Elizabeth, Katarina, she goes by Ekat, or Katia, and Melana, 11, nine, five, and two. I love them with this tender love. With all of my strength, I pour into loving them tenderly, and that's what the text is communicating. That's who God is. He loves us with a tender love. Do you know this God? The God who loves with a tender love.However, we are not to confuse God's tenderness and His gentleness with weakness. With the same strength that I love my daughters tenderly, I will martial every single ounce of that strength to protect them. I've got lots of strength. Some of you are missing the gym. I'm not. I've got a gym in my basement. It's called the Vezikov Powerhouse Gym. I've been chasing gains daily. If push comes to shove, if someone wants to inflict harm on my daughters, I will martial every single ounce of that strength to protect them. This is what the text is communicating. That God is tender in His love toward his children. However, He's not weak, and He will protect.The proceeding verses in Zechariah 9 talks about a God who will destroy His enemies. His enemies who want to inflict pain on His children. Following verse after the promise of the gentle king, the following verse in Zechariah 9 shows that He will conquer mighty armies, and this is Zechariah 9:10.I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.That's why in Handel's Messiah there's a line that says, "He shall speak peace onto the heathen." The reason why they use that verse, the heathen is a godless pagan and perhaps that word rubs us the wrong way, "What does he mean calling us heathens?" Well, he's saying this is each of us. We're godless pagans in and of ourselves, and Jesus comes offering us peace. He comes offering us reconciliation. Jesus is the prince of peace and the king of kings. He's the universal king, to save people from every people, tribe, language, and nation.Now the question is, will you receive this peace? Will you receive this forgiveness? Will you receive this acquittal? If so, then Jesus is the prince of peace, and God loves you with a tender love. But peace can only be had if we submit our weapons of war against God. Peace can only be had if we disarms ourselves. If we recognize that deep in our hearts we rebel against God. If we're honest with ourselves, we don't want God to rule over us. Deep inside if we're honest with ourselves, when we look at some of the teachings of scripture, there's something that arises within us. A rebellious spirit. It's like our hearts are full of hissing scorpions when we hear about God's reign.Jesus comes and He says, "I'm offering you peace. I'm offering you shalom." Shalom is the presence of welfare that's only given after there's an absence of warfare. Jesus says, "I want to give you welfare. I want to give you this presence of universal flourishing, but you need to repent. You need to humble yourself before the God of the universe." He is God.We are to lay down our weapons against God, and this is what repentance is. God forgive me. God, I have rebelled against your will. God, there are things in scripture, things that I read that I am uncomfortable with, but Lord, I know that you are a God who loves gently and tenderly so I submit to your goodwill and your good purpose. There's this deliberate juxtaposition of majesty and meekness. Meekness of course, isn't weakness. Meekness is actually strength or power under control.You see that the omnipotent who's gentle and He's gentle with the humble, but He will vanquish His enemies. He will vanquish the proud. For the proud, He has a rod of iron and for the gentle, for the humble, He has a scepter of love. That's why Malachi asks in the day of judgment, "Lord, who can stand before you in the day of judgment? Who can abide at the day of judgment before you?" Jesus here is the one who says, "Those who are in me, those who are mine, those who have humbled themselves before me, they will be protected."Jesus is our king. Once we enter His kingdom, once we're transferred from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of His beloved son, He is a good king. He's gentle toward His subjects. Think of how gently Jesus healed. How gently He healed the blind men who cried out, "Jesus, heal me. Jesus, I'm blind. Jesus, I want to see." When we cry out to God, "Lord, save me," He gently touches us and gives us sight. He gives us spiritual sight.Think of how gently Jesus heals, how children are brought to Him and He lays His hands upon their heads and He prays for them and He blesses them gently, tenderly. When Peter cuts off the ear of the servant when Jesus was being arrested, Jesus takes the ear and gently puts it back. The same way when we come to the Lord and we ask for His gentle touch, He has the authority and the desire to heal with the same regal grace He helps everyone who comes to Him.When we come humbly and repentantly, He treats us lovingly. Not roughly or abusively. He rules with a gentle strength that brings healing and wholeness, and when we are disobedient, He gently restores us to the right path. When we are disheartened, He gently encourages us. When we are downcast, He wipes away our tears. He has the power to help in the gentleness to heal. He reigns upon a throne of grace and we have access to this throne of grace even now.How are we to serve this king? We are to do it with gentleness. Gentleness is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit and we are to live lives demonstrating the meekness and the gentleness of Christ. Scripture says, "Let your reasonableness or gentleness be known and evident to all." We worship a king who rode in on a donkey. Some people are still at war with this king, because we're still sitting on our high horse. We are to get off and get on our knees and cry out, "Lord, save us."The same gentleness actually changed the life of Handel, of George Frideric Handel, naturally he wasn't a gentle man, actually he was difficult to work with and harsh in judgment. Yet after composing this work, he donated all of the proceeds of this work to the poor and needy. According to an 18th century historian, he says, "From that time to the present, this great work has been heard in all parts of the kingdom with increasing reverence and delight; it has fed the hungry, clothed the naked, fostered the orphan ... more than any single production in this or any country."Though humble and modest, Jesus is still king. "Behold, your king is coming to you." Here are the texts, this is what God is ... He's forcing this issue. He is humble and He gentle but He is not modest. Jesus is actually the most immodest person who has ever lived. He declared Himself the king of the universe because He is the king of the universe. He's riding a donkey, but He's still the king. Why? This gets to the heart of the gospel.Sin is us usurping the throne of the king. The servant taking the place of the king. We don't want you to rule over us. We don't want you to define life. We don't want you to define reality. We don't want you to tell us what to do. God sees our hardness of hearts, and He sends His son Jesus Christ and Jesus is the king submitting to the punishment that the servant deserved. That's what happened on the cross. Jesus Christ died on a cross for our sins, bearing the penalty that we deserve for our rebelling. It's the king dying for the servant, to forgive the servant, to pardon the servant, to make the servant a child of God.Jesus says, "I'm the king but I'm not a king like you think." What if Jesus did free the people of Israel from Roman rule? That's what they wanted. They didn't want pardon of sin. They wanted Jesus to take over. They wanted Jesus to free them from the Romans. Imagine if Jesus did that. Imagine if Jesus today, if the only thing He offered was to save us from Corona? That's not our greatest enemy. If that's all He did, what would happen to our guilt and our shame? What would happen to the spiritual emptiness we feel inside? What would happen to the emptiness in the sense of nakedness that we feel before a Holy God? What would happen with our desperation to prove ourselves to justify our existence, to justify our morality, to justify ourselves? What would happen?Jesus didn't come just to free us from the Romans or from Corona, He came to free us from sin and liberate us from death. Matthew 21: 8 through 10 ...Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"Hosanna in the Hebrew, it means save us. Oh Lord, save us now. Please save us. Psalm 118: 25 and 26 ...Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.Jesus is the rightful king, He's a gentle king and He's also a zealous king. In the text immediately following our text verse 12 ...And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you make it a den of robbers."Jesus began His ministry by cleansing the temple and this is the second time He cleanses the temple. He began his ministry, John 2, by doing this, John 2: 14 though 16 describes this cleansing in verse 17 of John 2 it says, "Zeal for your house has consumed me." Zeal and love are intertwined. They're the opposite sides of the same coin. The more you love someone, the more zealous you are to protect them from harm. Jesus here is zealous for the glory of God and He's zealous for people to know the true God, to know the true way of salvation.You could just imagine this scene, there's lots of people and talking about crowds now just doesn't make any sense. Just go back to the summer in Haymarket. There's thousands of people and that's what's going on in the temple. In the Passover week, people would come and bring a sacrifice to atone for their sins according to the Old Testament, ceremonial laws and in a typical week, 255,000 animals were bought and sacrificed.Now people saw an opportunity to make money off of these spiritual pilgrims and their laws made that Roman coins were unclean and they couldn't be used and that's why you have money-changers who are making money off those transactions. These people are selling animals as people traveled to the temple, they couldn't carry animals or bring animals with them, they had to purchase them at the place. It was the only place to purchase the animals so obviously, the prices were absurd. They're making money hand over fist and they're profiteering off of these people who want to meet God. They want to worship God. These profiteers are preying upon those who want to pray to God.What they're doing is, and this is what makes Jesus so angry, they're selling access to God. They're selling access to God through themselves and Jesus here, if you're not familiar with Christ, if you're not familiar with the readings of scripture, you might be surprised that Jesus here is so angry. One of the reasons why you might be surprised is because you don't attribute anger to God. God is the Holy God, of course.Anger in and of itself is not sinful. There's holy anger and there's unholy anger. Jesus here feels anger at people mis-characterizing God. Why? Because He loves God so much and He loves people so much. If God is mis-characterized, then people can't meet God, the true God. We as believers, we are to feel a zeal as well. Back in the Old Testament, people are selling access to God and saying, "This is how you can be made right with God, buy these sacrifices."In our day and age, we have the opposite problem. The pendulum has swung in the completely opposite direction. Back then they said, "You have to make yourself right with God through these actions." Nowadays, mis-characterization of God is you don't have to do anything to be made righteous before God. There's no need for sacrifice. You're fine. The only thing that you need to do to go to heaven is die. You die. You go to heaven. That's a lie. It's a mis-characterization of God.Jesus here is zealous for God. He's zealous for the people and He's angry at the extortion or He's angry that people are making money the holy of holies. He goes and He cleanses the temple in Jeremiah 7: 8 through eleven. He says, the prophet says, "Behold, you will trust in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me, which is called by my name, and say, 'We are delivered!' - only to go on doing all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?"Jesus walks into the temple and says, "This is my temple. This is my house." He's the rightful king, He's the gentle king, He's also a zealous king. He says, "You can't just go living your life any way that you want and then come to me, pretend that you worship me and continuing to live in abominations." He goes and He tips over their holy cow so to speak, their holy cow was money. It was the financial system. This is what God Jesus killed. Jesus tipped over their idol.We have other idols in our day and age. For some, it's money. Others, they submit to the God of the universe because of God's teachings on sexuality or the family. Those are our holy cows. If Jesus ... Jesus is here today. Jesus is tipping over that holy cow to show us, "Do not mis-characterize me. This is my house and I get to rearrange the furniture anyway that I want." Jesus is humble and He's gentle, but He's the most immodest person who ever lived, and He's forcing this issue of His identity. "Do you know what I am? I am the king of the universe. Have you come to terms with that? Do you accept my rule or do you reject it?"Jesus will not just be liked. A lot of people say, "Yeah, Jesus, great. I like Jesus. Big fan of Jesus." Jesus says, "You either crown me or kill me. You either love me or hate me," but Jesus will not allow us to settle in this tepid lukewarm understanding of who He is. He's the God of the universe. Jesus doesn't just do this in Jerusalem, goes and cleanses the temple. He does this with each one of us.He enters, He comes into our lives, and He says, "I am the king. This is my house. I'm going to rearrange the furniture." Many of us are happy with Jesus as consultant, as counselor, as comforter, as friend, as redeemer, as spiritual support, as a shepard, as a brother, as a guide. He is all those things, but only if you first realize Jesus is the king. He's the sovereign God of the universe.Revelations 3:15, God says, "I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth."Jesus will not accept a tepid response. Perhaps this isn't sitting well with you. I got a lot of good feedback from my sermon last week. I also got a lot of pushback. I'll tell you this, if I wanted to be liked, if that was the number one priority in my life, I would've become an ice cream truck driver. I would've become a driver for Uber Eats and I would've been on time every time.The Lord has called me to be a minister of the gospel and I'm literally just reading what God said. Jesus is saying here, "Either crown me or kill me." We worship a God who was crucified. Why was He crucified? This is exactly why He was crucified. Jesus is confrontational and Jesus says, "You are my temple." Scripture actually says that our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit.First Corinthians 6: 18 through 20 ... Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.Glorify God. Repent of sin, accept God's rule and live to glorify Him. If you have a God who never challenges anything that you believe, if you have a God who never convicts you, if you have a God who doesn't have a hard edge to His will, if you have a God who doesn't make you uncomfortable at times, if you have a God who agrees with absolutely every single one of your decisions, you don't have a God, you have a cheerleader. That God is actually a fabrication of your imagination. That's not the true God.How do you know that God is in your life? He's constantly rearranging the furniture in your life. He's constantly cleansing. Truth faith by Christ's definition always involves surrender to the will of God. Today, we don't have a temple. We don't have sacrifices, we don't have priests. Why don't we have that? Because Jesus is the ultimate temple, He is the ultimate high priest. He is the sacrificial lamb who sacrificed for us. He takes us into the holy of holies and he's the final atonement for our sins.Jesus is the rightful king. He's the gentle king. He is the zealous king. He's also the victorious king. This is Zechariah 9:9.Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Should aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he.That phrase right there, "Having salvation is he," that's a weird turn of phrase. What does it mean that he's righteous and having salvation? Well, in the original Hebrew, it's translated, "He is righteous and saved, that He has been saved." Here you got to ask the question, does the rightful king come to save or does He need to be saved? Is He bringing salvation or does He somehow need to be saved Himself?Now strange enough, according to the prophecy, the king Himself will be saved. What does that mean? Well obviously, He doesn't need to be saved from His sins because it says that He is righteous. Jesus is righteous. Perfectly righteous and keeps all the commandments, has kept all the commandments. He's lived the perfect life that we couldn't and wouldn't live. He completely obeyed all of God's commandments. Submitted to God the Father's will perfectly.First Peter 2:22 ... He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.In what sense did Jesus Christ need to be saved? Scripture tells us He was saved from death. That Jesus truly died, fully God, fully man, He died. He was saved from death by the resurrecting power of the Holy Spirit.Psalm 72: 12 through 13 ... For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy.Jesus's life was saved and because He was resurrected, He now has the resurrecting power to bring us back from the dead. Perhaps the best translation of this verse is Zechariah 9:9 in the revised English bible, revised standard version, "See, your king is coming to you, his cause won, his victory gained."Once we understand this is what Zechariah meant, that he is prophesying centuries before Jesus was even born, the scripture's prophesying that He will be brought back from the dead. "See your king is coming, he has won, his victory is gained." Once we understand that's what Zechariah meant, we understand why Matthew has not included that part of the prophecy in the text.Matthew 21:5, "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden."And leaves out that last part about Jesus coming back from the dead. Matthew in his mind, he saw this verse, but he understood that Jesus's victory did not come on Palm Sunday. Jesus's victory was not complete on Good Friday, but on Easter Sunday when Jesus was resurrected, when he came back from the dead, he triumphed over Satan, sin and death.Because He did, we now can trust in the fact that when we submit to Him, when we repent of sin and trust in Him, that we will live for all of eternity with Him. Now how to enter into this victory? Cry out what the people cried out. Cry out, "Hosanna, Lord, save us. Save us from our sins. Save us from our rebellion. Save us from everything that bristles within when we think about a God who has absolute control and sovereignty over us. Save us from that pride. We humble ourselves before you. Lord, we cry out Hosanna, save us."We're not asking for just physical deliverance. We're not just asking for political deliverance. We're asking for spiritual deliverance. Save us from our sins. Save us from ourself. Oh Lord, save us.Friend, would you cry out to Christ today, even now. Simple prayer. A prayer is just talking to God. Say, "Lord Jesus, you are king. I have rebelled. I repent on my sin. I repent on my rebellion. You're the rightful king. You're the gentle king. You're the zealous king. You're the victorious king. Lord, forgive me, I trust in you. Thank you, I love you."Let's pray. Jesus, all we can ask is save us, empower us, encourage us. We thank you for your love that's gentle towards your children. We pray that you continue to minister to us in this season. Pray this in Jesus's name. Amen.

As one wag put it, “In the orchestra world, George Frideric Handel's Messiah is every bit an annual Christmas tradition as eggnog and overworked shopping mall Santas.” Handel's magnum opus is one of the supreme wonders of human genius, especially if you keep in mind that the genius on display isn't only Handel's. We're so used to calling the work “Handel's Messiah” that we fail to notice that he only wrote the music. And as good as the music is, what's being said, or in this case, sung, is every bit as inspired and inspiring. The text, or “libretto,” as it is properly called, was written by Charles Jennens. Chances are you've never heard of him. You're not alone. Even in his lifetime Jennens was “utterly unknown” to most of his contemporaries. But obviously not to Handel, who, in a letter to Jennens, referred to their collaboration as “your Messiah.” As the director of the Handel House said a few years ago, “Without Jennens there would be no Messiah.” That being the case, it's worth knowing more about Jennens. He was an English landowner and patron of the arts. He wasn't only a patron: He collaborated with Handel on other works such as “Saul,” “Israel in Egypt,” and “Belshazzar.” As with “Messiah,” his contributions were anonymous. As these titles suggest, Jennens's specialty was librettos based on biblical subjects. This was the direct result of his devout Christian faith. And that brings me back to “Messiah.” Jennens was concerned with the emergence of Deism within the Church of England. Deism rejected the idea of God's intervention in human affairs and, with it, the inspiration of scripture. His response to the threat was what he called a “scripture collection” that demonstrated that the Scriptures had predicted the coming of the Messiah, which he desired Handel to set to music. Unlike his other “scripture collections,” every word in the Messiah's libretto is taken directly from scripture. As Albert Mohler wrote a few years ago, “Jennens understood the Bible to reveal a comprehensive and unitary story of God's salvation of his people.” But, Jennens knew that it would take more than a pamphlet to combat Deism. He had to appeal to people's emotions and imaginations, as well as their intellect. In other words, he needed art. Thankfully, he knew just the right man to undertake the challenge. In July 1741, he wrote a friend saying “Handel says he will do nothing next winter, but I hope I shall persuade him to set another Scripture collection I have made for him . . . I hope he will lay out his whole genius and skill upon it, that the composition may excel all his former compositions, as the subject excels every other subject. The subject is Messiah.” A month later, Handel began work on the music and finished it in only twenty-four days. At the end of the manuscript, he wrote the initials “SDG,” Soli Deo Gloria, “To God alone be (the) Glory.” Since its first performance in Dublin in 1742, Jennens' exercise in what can accurately be called scriptural apologetics has become the most beloved choral work in history. No one knows how many times it has been performed. Counting the recordings alone is exhausting. And every time we listen, we are told “For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” And that, as Mohler reminds us, was what Jennens wanted us to understand: God has spoken.

Donald Macleod tells the real story behind one of the most popular masterpieces ever composed. In 1741 Handel packed his bags and left London for Dublin, where he spent nearly nine months writing and performing in the city. The main work that he premiered there was a new oratorio which proved to be one of the landmarks of his career. Across the week we hear the whole of Handel’s Messiah, uncover the secrets of its origins and dispel the myths that still surround it. To begin this week’s episode, Donald and his guest Ruth Smith paint a picture of Handel’s life in London as he prepared to leave for Ireland, examining the way in which the texts and ideas of Messiah respond to the social and intellectual turbulence of the time. Next, they focus on Handel’s relationship with his extraordinary collaborator, Charles Jennens, who conceived the idea of Messiah. They discuss Handel’s arrival in Dublin and how he gathered his forces for his hotly-awaited concert series, the sensational reception of Messiah’s premiere, and the work’s long association with charity. Finally, we hear about the legacy left embedded in Messiah, and how the work has come to mean so much to generations of singers and music lovers long after the deaths of Handel and Jennens. Music featured: Messiah Ode for St Cecilia’s Day (Final movement) Israel in Egypt (excerpts) Saul: Act I ‘How excellent Thy name’ Athalia: Part I Scene 4 ‘Gloomy tyrants, we disdain’ L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato: As steals the morn Alexander’s Feast: Revenge, Timotheus cries Organ Concerto Op 7 No 1 in B flat major, HWV 306 Saul: Act I Scene 5, "O Lord, whose mercies numberless" Utrecht Te Deum, HWV 278 (movements 5 – 10) Samson: Act I, Scene 2 'O first created beam!' Samson: Act II, Scene 1 'Return, O God of hosts!' Belshazzar: Act I, Scene 3 Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Wales For full tracklistings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for George Frideric Handel https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0004dq7 And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

In this second annual Holiday Special, host Pat Wright is joined by frequent guest co-host Grant Wright to take a close look and listen to that long-standing Christmas favorite, Handel’s Messiah. Neither an opera, nor Christmas music (it was an oratorio written for the Easter season), Messiah tells a sweeping story using words selected and compiled entirely from the Bible by Charles Jennens, and set to the magnificent and enduring music that George Frideric Handel composed in the mid-eighteenth century. Learn the context of the spectacular Hallelujah Chorus, and enjoy this baroque masterpiece.

Handel composed the music for Messiah in 24 days, and the librettist, Charles Jennens, was furious that Handel had not spent more time on the music seeing as it was such an important piece of work meant to inspire people to live a god-fearing life. In a letter to a friend some years later, when Jennens and Handel had once again become friends, Jennens described his relationship with Handel thus: ‘I must take him as I find him and make the best use I can of him”.Music: Dunedin Consort ‘Handel’s Original Dublin Version 1742’

No Messiah without Charles Jennens! Because creating this holy oratorio was his idea. It was he who wrote the libretto based on the Bible. However, Charles Jennens had no interest in getting his name mentioned. He never asked to be paid for his work either. Because Charles Jennens had much more important things on his mind!Music: Dunedin Consort ‘Handel’s Original Dublin Version 1742’

Det er en af de mærkeligste arier i Messias med teksten om de mennesker, der vandrer rundt i mørket! Manden bag tekstudvalget, Charles Jennens, kendte selv én af dem, der var faret vild..... Tilrettelæggelse: Rie Koch og Celine Haastrup.

Everyone knows about George Frideric Handel, but few remember Charles Jennens, but it was Jennens who wrote and conceived the idea of the “Messiah,” the massive oratorio that is performed thousands of times worldwide at Christmas. Jennens wrote the libretto—the text—of the “Messiah,” tying together the Bible's central story: God's salvation of His people through the work of the Messiah. He used the very words of the Bible for his text. Jennens had a purpose in his project, and that was to remind his audience of the truth and power of the story of salvation. And thus his attention to the birth of Christ. In just 21 days, Handel put the words to majestic music. “For Unto Us a Child is Born.” That is the prophet's declaration of God's great gift to us at Christmas. It is the reason for the unspeakable joy Christians know at Christmas. Merry Christmas from the Salem Radio family.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Händel komponerede musikken til Messias på 24 dage, og librettisten, Charles Jennens, var rasende over, at Händel ikke havde brugt længere tid på musikken, når det nu var så vigtigt et værk, der skulle inspirere folk til at leve et gudfrygtigt liv. Da Jennens og Händel atter var blevet venner nogle år senere, skrev Jennens om Händel i et brev til en ven, ”Jeg må jo tage ham, som han er, og så gøre bedst mulig brug af ham.”www.handelmessiah.dk

3. afsnit: Der ville heller ikke have været nogen Messias uden Charles Jennens! For det var hans idé at skabe dette hellige oratorie. Det var ham, der skrev librettoen ud fra Bibelen. Men Charles Jennens interesserede sig slet ikke for at få sit navn nævnt. Han bad heller aldrig om betaling for sit arbejde. For Charles Jennens var optaget af langt vigtigere sager!www.handelmessiah.dk

Introduction Recently, I was in England ministering to some of our International Mission Board missionaries. I had a day in London before I left to visit places I have always wanted to see, including the British Library. It houses one of the oldest bound Bibles in the world, called the Codex Sinaiticus (because it was found on Mount Sinai) — the whole Bible in Greek. I also saw an original first edition King James Bible, and even older, a Tyndale Bible, one of six left in the world. I also saw an original autograph manuscript of Handel’s Messiah, specifically the Hallelujah Chorus. I was in awe. I love that piece. Some of you share a love for classical music, others not so much, but you may know the incredible story of how Handel composed this piece over 24 days. A friend recounted that he would not open the door, would not eat — he was swimming in a sea of paper, surrounded by notes, tears streaming down his face. He said, “Whether I was in the body or out of the body as I wrote it, I know not. God knows. But I think I did see all Heaven opened before me and the Great God Himself.” The most famous part of Messiah is the Hallelujah Chorus. Most people do not know about is that the entire text of Messiah is Scripture. Charles Jennens, who wrote the text for Messiah, used Scriptures that testified prophetically to the coming, the person and the work of Christ. The Hallelujah Chorus quotes three verses from the book of Revelation. We will discuss two in the future, if the Lord wills: one from Revelation 19:6, “And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, ‘Hallelujah: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.’”; one from Revelation 19:16, speaking of Christ, “On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.” The third is the text we will discuss today, Revelation 11:15: “The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.’” For 276 years, music lovers have thrilled to hear these three texts set to this incredible music. In 1743, when King George II heard it for the first time at the Hallelujah Chorus, he rose and stood for its duration. It is now tradition to rise for the Hallelujah Chorus, out of respect for the greatness of the theme. My desire is that you would have heavenly meditations of the greatness of Christ, that you would be recaptured back into a fervent love for Christ from whatever has been pulling on your soul this week. The world, the flesh, the devil pull on us all the time; we are prone to wander all the time, prone to drift away from Christ. The ministry of the Word of God is primarily what draws us back, recapturing us again in the grips of Christ and grace. That is what I pray will happen as you listen. Let us set context for the sounding of the seventh trumpet. The Apostle John was in exile on the island of Patmos, a small rocky island of the coast of modern-day Turkey, for preaching the Word of God, the testimony of Jesus. He had a vision of the resurrected glorified Christ moving through seven golden lamp stands. Later, a voice invited him to rise from the surface of the earth to enter through a doorway into the heavenly realms. He was enabled to do that by the power of the Holy Spirit. When he went through the doorway, he saw the central reality of the universe, a throne with Almighty God seated on it. In that vision, Almighty God had in his right hand a scroll with writing on both sides, sealed with seven seals. Jesus Christ alone was worthy to take the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne, to break open its seven seals. As Christ opens the seals, successive judgments pour out on the earth. As the seventh seal is opened, there is silence in Heaven for half an hour, followed by seven angels with seven trumpets emerging from the seventh seal. These seven trumpets unleash a series of horrific judgments on planet earth, such as has never been seen ever in human history. They are depicted as the direct answer to cries from suffering, martyred saints, the people of God, for vengeance and justice. Their prayers are incense, the smoke of which rises before the heavenly altar. An angel fill a golden censer with coals from the incense and hurls it to the earth in answer to the cries for justice and vengeance. The first trumpet sends fires to rage on the surface of the earth, burning up a third of all of the trees and vegetation and all the green grass. The second trumpet turns a third of the sea to blood, kills a third of the sea creatures, and sinks a third of the ships. The third trumpet poisons a third of the fresh water on planet earth, rendering it bitter. The fourth trumpet reduces a third of the celestial beings — the sun, the moon and the stars — in their heavenly luminosity. When the fifth angel sounds his trumpet, he releases from the Abyss billowing smoke and a demonic invasion, producing an unimaginable level of torment, pain, and agony. It was like a locust swarm but with power to sting like scorpions. Those who reject God are tormented for five months. The sixth angel unleashes with his trumpet a terrifying demonic army, 200 million strong, to rampage over the surface of the earth to kill a third of the human race, perhaps two or three billion people. Despite all of these incredible judgments being poured out on planet earth, we have this incredibly sad statement at the end of Revelation 9:20: “The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent” of their wickedness. Despite that level of agony and judgment, the people are still hardened in their sins. Just as an interlude happened between the sixth and seventh seals, there is also break in the action between the sixth and seventh trumpets. Revelation 10 shows a mighty, massive, powerful, radiant angel standing with one foot on the dry land and one foot in the sea, his head in the clouds. In his right hand is a scroll lying open with writing on it. John is commanded to take the scroll and eat it. It is sweet in his mouth but bitter in his stomach. Then he is commanded, or rather recommissioned, to prophesy to many nations and languages and peoples and tribes. He is sent as a prophetic messenger to the world through the writing that he will do. Thus, the scroll represents the written Scripture. In the first half of Revelation 11, two flesh and blood witnesses take their place in this moment in redemptive history to explain God’s purpose for these plagues of judgment and to provide a final warning to urge people to repent and flee to Christ. The witnesses’ testimonies combine with John’s writings to make it clear to all. After the witnesses are killed and resurrected, the seventh angel sounds his trumpet. Just as the seventh seal seems to unfold or unleash the seven trumpets, so the seventh trumpet is will unfold or unleash the seven bowls. The description of those appear later, in Revelation 16. With those seven bowls come the final judgments at the very end of human history. It is telescoping action, like those little Russian dolls which are opened to reveal increasingly smaller dolls. The judgments cover similar but not identical ground, so they are clearly not simultaneous but subsequent. Before we get to the seven bowls, we will go behind the scenes in Revelation 12 and 13 to see Satan the red dragon, his demons, and then the Antichrist and his world system. We will look into “this present darkness” [Ephesians 6:12] that will escalate to a degree we can scarcely imagine. We will seek to understand the career of Satan and that of the Beast from the Sea the Beast from the Earth, as well as the evil world system that Satan has set up in which we already live but which will reach its worst level, which God calls Babylon, the Great Whore in this end time. We will examine the world and the devil and the powers that are assaulting the people of God right to the end, which will lead us to Revelation 19, the Second Coming of Christ. Heaven Celebrates: God’s Eternal Kingdom Has Come! The Seventh Angel Sounds His Trumpet Let us begin with Revelation 11:15, “The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.’” The seventh angel sounds his trumpet. Much of this awesome book involves waiting for God’s timing. As we read, it seems to be happening all at once, but in reality there is an unfolding over time. God has conceived meticulous timing for everything he does. The unfolding sequences as John sees them correspond in a complex way to a timetable of judgments that God has already worked out in his mind to come later. For John these are visionary, not actually happening before him. He recorded what he saw, and we, by faith, can also see it happening even though it has not happened yet. The account of numbering the seals and the trumpets in order gives a sense of wise sequencing by God, who is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. His order is perfect and right. The seventh trumpet and the consummation of the coming Kingdom of Christ are decisive. Now that all this judgment has occurred, at last the seventh angel sounds his trumpet. With that blast it is as though heaven is saying it is finished; it is as good as accomplished, even though there are many chapters left in the book of Revelation. Imagine watching a game in which something so decisive happens on the field that you realize the game is over; there is no way the other team can recover. That is the feel here: the declaration of the seventh trumpet is so decisive that there is no way the powers of evil will recover. “Loud Voices” Immediately John hears loud voices, in contrast to the seventh seal which results in silence for half an hour in Heaven. Powerful angels and elders and the redeemed celebrate with all their might. Elsewhere, the sound of their voices is compared to a mighty waterfall, like Niagara Falls, an overpowering, cascading sound. They are not shy or holding back; they are excited. What Heaven Celebrates What do they celebrate? Verse 15 says, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.” The kingdom of the world represents the force that is in obvious control of the earth. It is singular — not the “kingdoms” of the world, but the kingdom of the world. The human race is a single unit. We all descend from one man, Adam. Through him, the whole human race was given planet earth as a stewardship, one kingdom of this world. But Satan usurped Adam’s place and took over the kingdom of the world. Adam surrendered the keys of that kingdom to Satan, so Satan is in some dark ways the god of this age or the king of this present kingdom. He rules in devious ways as the power, the puppet master, behind all the thrones of dictators and tyrants. When he takes Christ up a mountain to tempt him in Luke 4:5-8, he shows him in an instant all the kingdoms (plural) of the world, with their glory and riches. “And he said to him, ‘I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.’” The kingdoms become one entity in Satan’s hands. He offers it to Jesus, who refuses, answering heroically, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” Satan has been ruling in secret behind various thrones, over the various large and small kingdoms and fiefdoms and countries of the world all along, pitting one against the other, causing one to rise and another to fall. He does that for his own wicked and evil purposes. We will learn more about that in Revelation 12. Christ refused Satan’s offer of all the kingdoms of the world on his wicked terms, that Christ would bow down and worship him instead of God. Instead, Christ submitted to his Father, doing His will, and his Father has given him the world. This is what the angels and elders and all the redeemed are celebrating in Revelation 11, that the Father is giving the world to the Son in his own time and in his own way. The Kingdom Has Become... It says, “The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ” indicating that it is a finished work even though it has not happened yet. These words were written twenty centuries ago, but there is a sense of certainty in the prophetic past tense. The prophets often speak about future events as though they have already happened. For example, Isaiah 53:5-6 says, “But he [Jesus] was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah wrote those words seven centuries before Jesus was born, yet he uses the past tense. For us, it has happened in the past, but for Isaiah the prophet, it was a future event that he described as past. The Lord’s Prayer Now Fulfilled This statement proclaims the fulfillment of the very thing we, as disciples of Christ, have been praying for throughout our Christian lives in the Lord’s prayer: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” How many hundreds of millions of times have those words been said to God? Here at last, God has answered all those prayers; the time has come. A “kingdom” is the place where a ruler openly, evidently rules. This verse refers to the time when God is clearly ruling on earth. Currently He is already the king of the world. “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof…” [Psalm 24:1] It is His and He rules it now, though not openly. He is secretly maneuvering free-will beings to do His will, whether they acknowledge Him or not. Thus Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.” His will is not presently done on earth as it is in Heaven, but after the Second Coming, all will see. The seventh trumpet will quickly set in motion the final judgments that will culminate in the destruction of Satan’s wicked kingdom and of the Antichrist. God the Father’s Pledge to Christ the Son Here at last we also see a fulfillment of the pledge that the Father made to the Son to give him the world. Psalm 110 shows powerfully how God makes it plain that He will give all the world to the Kingdom of His Son. Psalm 110:1-2 says, “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies.” After Christ died, rose again and ascended, Hebrews tells us he went through the Heavenly realms to the right hand of God. He is seated there and has been for twenty centuries. During that time, God has been extending Christ’s scepter to the ends of the earth. He is ruling in the midst of his enemies in secret permeation. It is not evident and obvious. Jesus said the Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast that a woman took and hid in kruptós — Greek meaning encrypted — in a large amount of flour until it permeated the whole dough. That has been happening for twenty centuries. But God intends a more open obvious glory for his Son because he was willing to leave Heavenly glory and make himself nothing to be found as a servant and to be obedient even to the point of death on a cross. God said He would give Christ “the name that is above every name” and guarantee “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” [Philippians 2:9-11] The Eternity of God’s Kingdom Revelation 11:15 shows the eternality of God’s reign: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.” All human kingdoms terminate in death. In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of a statue with a head of gold and chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, feet partly iron, partly clay. He did not know what it meant, so Daniel interpreted it for him. These various precious and other metals represented a span of history from the Babylonian empire through the Medo-Persian Empire, through the Greeks and the Romans — they represent human kingdoms. But then the focus comes in on the feet of clay. Having feet of clay refers to a weakness in a great man or leader, like an Achilles heel. The coming kingdom of Christ strikes the statue on its feet of clay, smashing them and collapsing the entire statue as a result. Daniel 2:34-35 says, “While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.” The chaff is particles of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay — a pile of nothing, like sawdust. All the human kingdoms of the world, all evidence of their glory, are like dust, which is blown away in a whirlwind. There is nothing left; the threshing floor is clean. The rock that strikes the statue and the feet of clay becomes a huge mountain that filled the whole earth. The rock represents the kingdom of Christ; unlike all of those human kingdoms, it will last forever. Daniel 2:44 says, “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.” The feet of clay is the mortality of the leaders. God said to Adam, “You will sink back down into the dust from which you came for dust you are and to dust you will return.” We will die, but Jesus has triumphed over death. He cannot die again, so He will reign forever and ever. Human kingdoms are dust in the wind, just as Isaiah said in Isaiah 40:22-24, “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.” Every morning, I read a biography to my kids of Adoniram Judson. He was a missionary in the 1820s to Burma. He sailed up the Irrawaddy River, along the jungles of Burma, to see the king, or to “prostrate himself at the golden feet” as it was called. Along the river, he saw many former ancient royal cities of previous Burmese kings. In Burma, when a son took the throne, he would build his own royal city rather than ruling in his father’s royal city. Within 10-20 years or less the jungle would capture former royal cities and turn them back to nothing. This represented a cautionary tale to each ruler of Burma: someday you will die and your royal city will be reduced to jungle again. The Kingdom of God and of Christ, however, will last for all eternity. The final conquest of this royal Kingdom will be achieved only by the immeasurable greatness of God’s sovereign power. The 24 elders join the praise. Verses 16-17 say, “And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying: ‘We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign.’” They are prostrating themselves before God in joyful worship, thanking Him for the open display of His sovereign power, which is essential to seizing back the kingdom of the world from Satan and from the Antichrist — the wicked human rulers. The elders celebrate the awesome power of God to finally establish Christ’s reign on earth. My understanding of history is that God raises up monsters, such as Pharaoh who enslaved the Jews, allows them to have a wide range of power, and then crushes them as a display of His power. Romans 9:17 says, “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: ‘I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’” This is true of all tyrants in history who have had massive power, but the greatest monster, the beast, is yet to come. Verse 17 says, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign.” This is a great display of His power. Satan, Antichrist, and all the human opposition will not hand it to Him; He must take it from them. Most people read this verse without pause, but we need to realize that this is about omnipotence — infinite power. If we asked God “Was that particularly difficult for you to do?” What would He say? It would be like asking Jesus, “Of all your healings, which was the hardest ?” It is a ridiculous question. They were equally easy for him; he can do anything. Or if we asked the raging inferno that is the sun, “Which is hardest for you to ignite, a matchstick, a twig, a branch, a tree or a forest?” what would it say? None would be difficult. That is a picture of God’s omnipotence. But from our perspective, as created beings, this is a huge accomplishment. The power of Satan, of the Red Dragon, and of the demons, and of the beast, and of the world-conquering empire that he will set up will be the most powerful the world has ever seen, directly attacking the people of God and slaughtering them. From our perspective, it will take immense power to set this kingdom up, and God will do it. The elders fall on their faces to worship and give Him thanks for it. They have yearned for that in their hearts, that God would use Him omnipotence of yours to clean this world up. At last He does it. Earth Enraged: God’s Eternal Kingdom Has Come! The Coming of the Kingdom of God ENRAGES the People of the Earth But the joy of heaven is not shared by the inhabitants of the earth. Verse 18 says, “The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great-- and for destroying those who destroy the earth.” The coming of God’s kingdom enrages the people of the earth. They have not been praying, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The kingdom of God and of Christ is repulsive to them, to every fiber of their being. It is the very thing they do not want. They do not find Jesus’ yoke easy and his burden light. They are not excited that a thrice holy God actively reigns over every aspect of His kingdom, not thrilled that God is light and in Him, there is no darkness at all. They are not attracted to the person and work of Jesus Christ. They hate this work of God and are filled with rage. Rage Characterizes Twenty Centuries of Opposition to Christ and His Kingdom This rage is clearly depicted in Psalm 2. Here we see twenty centuries of human opposition to Christ and his Kingdom. Psalm 2:1-3 says, “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One. ‘Let us break their chains,’ they say, ‘and throw off their fetters.’” They do not consider his yoke easy; they want to throw it off. The kings of the earth, who have always been enemies of Christ, have taken their power and authority at every stage of history and fought against the Lord and against His Christ. Psalm 2:4 gives God's reaction, “The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.” He laughs in judgment and derision. If you all of you banded together to combine your power, I would still laugh. If all of the demons, every one were together against me, if every created being took their stand against me, I would still laugh. Omnipotence. This is God’s decree and action after that laughter: “He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, ‘I have installed my King on Zion, my holy mountain.’ I will proclaim the LORD’s decree: He said to me, ‘You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.’” Then the psalmist gives some advice: “Therefore, you kings be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling. Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.” The End of the Rage-Filled Opposition This rage-filled opposition to Christ and His kingdom will reach its final act in those last chapters in the book of Revelation. We will see it in the coming of the Antichrist and his blasphemous reign and in the great escalation of persecution. The overwhelming majority of Christian martyrs that will have lived have not yet been murdered. There is a huge number of martyrs yet to come. We will see it in the way that the world and its leaders, its sub-kings under the Antichrist, will gather for one last battle against the people of God at Armageddon. One last time they will fight. Their rage is a replica of the dragon, Satan’s, rage, that we will see in the next chapter. Revelation 12:12. He, Satan, “is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” Judgment Day: Eternal Rewards and Endless Wrath Judgment Day Imminent Finally, verse 18 gives us Judgment Day, eternal rewards and endless wrath. “The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great-- and for destroying those who destroy the earth.” Judgment Day is coming. The seventh trumpet heralds the events that will lead rapidly to the Day of the Lord and judgment on the wicked forces of evil. Many verses talk about the day of the Lord or Judgment Day. Hebrews 4:13 says, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Jesus said that on the Day of Judgment we must give an account for every careless word that we have spoken. The time will have come at last for that judgment. God Waits Patiently for That Day and its Rewards for His Servants God has been waiting patiently for that day to come and predicting again and again that it will come. Later in the book, we will have Judgment Day clearly depicted. Revelation 20:12, “And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.” All of us who are genuine believers in Christ will be rewarded by God for any good deed you did, done by faith, done for the glory of God, done with a loving demeanor. He will reward anything, no matter how great or small. He will reward great courage shown in going to an unreached people group and taking your life in your hands, maybe dying that that group might come to faith in Christ; or small things like giving a cup of cold water to somebody in need. God does not forget anything. Hebrews 6:10 says, “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him…” He will reward the saints and prophets and all those who have served him faithfully. Destroying those who Destroy the Earth He will also destroy those who destroy the earth. This shows the special anger that God has reserved for the wicked of the earth whose sins have resulted in the destruction of His beautiful planet. After God made this beautiful world and everything was arranged just how he wanted it to be, it was so beautiful. The oceans and the rivers and the lakes and the mountains and all of the sea creatures and all of the air breathing animals, and insects, and birds — everything was beautiful. God saw all that He had made and behold, it was very good. Who are those who destroy the earth? The entire human race, for one, because in Adam we sinned, we fell, and God cursed the earth as a result. Romans 8:20-21 says, “…the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” But this verse — “The time has come … for destroying those who destroy the earth.” — might also zero in on people who have, in a specific way, destroyed aspects of the earth with ecological disasters through industrial greed or policies that have ravaged some aspect of the planet, polluting the sky, the earth, the water. God will judge people who destroy the earth and He will make in its place a beautiful new world. Heaven’s Temple Unveiled The Heavenly Realities Behind Moses’ Sacrificial System In verse 19, we see Heaven’s temple unveiled: “Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant.” In the language of the Old Covenant, Moses’ tabernacle and the Ark, the golden box that he made of acacia wood inlaid and overlaid with gold, were a type and a shadow and a symbol of a heavenly temple. So also was Solomon’s temple. Hebrews 8 tells us that the Levitical priesthood in the sanctuary is a copy, a replica of the heavenly reality. This is not like in Steven Spielberg’s movie in which the ark was found at Tannis and stored in a shipping crate in a warehouse in Washington D.C. I believe that God is in the habit and process of destroying his physical replicas of heavenly realities, such as the ark and the bronze serpent. God’s temple in heaven is the genuine reality of what the ark symbolizes: the place where one hears God’s voice and has communion with Him, where the glory cloud was over the mercy seat, where He spoke to Moses and to the high priest, where the blood was poured out by the high priest once a year, where the actual stone tablets of the law of Moses and the jar of manna were. All of those items and actions represent communion — intimate, close fellowship — of God with atoned-for sinners. This is what is seen in heaven in verse 19, bringing the sense of fear and judgment that comes with flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, earthquakes and a great hailstorm. Applications Christ’s Kingdom and Judgment are Coming Week after week I preach astonishing things from this book, and for me, the most important thing you can do is delight in the coming king and kingdom. Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you [that means let me be your king, stop fighting my kingly rule. Bow your neck, let me put my yoke on your neck] and learn from me for I am gentle and humble at heart and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Do not fight my kingdom; delight in my kingdom. Submit to Christ. If you have never trusted in Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, do it right now. Christ is the Son of God; He died on the cross in your place as an atoning sacrifice. Trust in Him and come to Christ. Yearn for the Coming Kingdom! For believers, our job is to delight in that kingdom ever more, to celebrate it, yearn for it, look forward to it. One of the big differences between Christians and non-Christians is we are looking forward to and cannot wait for this kingdom to come. Non-Christians are enraged at the coming Kingdom. We need to pray, as never before: Oh God, may your name be held in honor, may it be hallowed all over the world, and may your kingdom come, and may your will at last be done on earth in the same way that it is being done right now in heaven. And then we need to live like this. “So do not worry, saying ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” [Matthew 6:31-33] What does it mean to seek first His kingdom? It means to pray for it to come, to evangelize and embrace missions to talk to lost people about this, and to look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. I am looking forward to the international picnic tomorrow because I never get an easier chance to share the gospel to people from all over the world. I do not have to get on a plane. People from all over the world come to a picnic that we host, eating our food, so they will have to listen to at least some of us talking to them about Jesus. It never gets easier. This is worldwide evangelism in one picnic place. If you do not come to the picnic, pray tomorrow around noon when we will be sharing the gospel with people from all over the world. And if you cannot come, find somebody this week whom you think is lost and share the Gospel with them. Delight in the Eternal Nature of Christ’s Coming Kingdom Finally, feed the delight that you have in the coming kingdom — get excited, look forward to it, celebrate it. Think about the Hallelujah Chorus: “The kingdom of this world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, hallelujah, and he will reign forever and ever.” Make those your prayer this afternoon. Closing Prayer Father, thank you for the time we have had to celebrate, to rejoice, to delight in the coming Kingdom. I pray that you would give us a zeal and an energy and a delight such as we have never had before, based on the Scripture, that we would be so evidently, clearly filled with joy and hope, and that we would allow that to move us to share the Gospel with people as we have opportunity. Father, we thank you for these things, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Catherine Bott visits the Handel House in London where Ruth Smith has curated an imaginative exhibition on the life of Handel's librettist, Charles Jennens. It was Jennens who created the libretto for Handel's Messiah, he might even have suggested the idea to Handel, and he also furnished the composer with words for several other of his oratorios including Saul, Belshazzar, L'Allegro and perhaps Israel in Egypt. As such, Jennens often features as a footnote in Handel's biography, but the academic and author Ruth Smith believes more credit should be given to Jennens for the contribution he made to 18th century artistic life in this country. Not only did he provide Handel with libretti, he was also one of the first to faithfully edit the works of Shakespeare. Ruth Smith has curated an exhibition about Jennens at the Handel House in London and Catherine Bott visits and Dr Smith to find out more about the man and his achievements.

George Frideric HANDEL 1685-1759Our version ofAllemande in Am (HWV 478)George Frideric HANDEL 1685-1759© 2012 Shiloh Worship Music COPY FREELY;This Recording is copyrighted to prevent misuse, however,permission is granted for non-commercial copying-Radio play permitted. Www.ShilohWorshipMusic.com Georg Friedrich Händel (1685-1759)George Frideric Handel(from Wikipedia) George Frideric Handel, born in the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach and Domenico Scarlatti. By Thomas Hudson (1749)George Frideric Handel SignatureGeorge Frideric Handel (German: Georg Friedrich Händel; pronounced [ˈhɛndəl]) (23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music. He received critical musical training in Halle, Hamburg and Italy before settling in London (1712) and becoming a naturalised British subject in 1727.[1] By then he was strongly influenced by the great composers of the Italian Baroque and the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition.Within fifteen years, Handel, a dramatic genius, started three commercial opera companies to supply the English nobility with Italian opera, but the public came to hear the vocal bravura of the soloists rather than the music. In 1737 he had a physical breakdown, changed direction creatively and addressed the middle class. As Alexander's Feast (1736) was well received, Handel made a transition to English choral works. After his success with Messiah (1742) he never performed an Italian opera again. Handel was only partly successful with his performances of English Oratorio on mythical and biblical themes, but when he arranged a performance of Messiah to benefit the Foundling Hospital (1750) the critique ended. The pathos of Handel's oratorios is an ethical one. They are hallowed not by liturgical dignity but by the moral ideals of humanity.[2] Almost blind, and having lived in England for almost fifty years, he died a respected and rich man.Handel is regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time, with works such as Water Music, Music for the Royal Fireworks and Messiah remaining popular. Handel composed more than forty operas in over thirty years, and since the late 1960s, with the revival of baroque music and original instrumentation, interest in Handel's operas has grown. His operas contain remarkable human characterisation—especially for a composer not known for his love affairs.Early yearsHandel's baptismal registration (Marienbibliothek in Halle)Handel was born in 1685 in Halle, Duchy of Magdeburg, to Georg Händel and Dorothea Taust.[3] His father, 63 when his son was born, was an eminent barber-surgeon who served to the court of Saxe-Weissenfels and the Margraviate of Brandenburg.[4] According to Handel's first biographer, John Mainwaring, he "had discovered such a strong propensity to Music, that his father who always intended him for the study of the Civil Law, had reason to be alarmed. He strictly forbade him to meddle with any musical instrument but Handel found means to get a little clavichord privately convey'd to a room at the top of the house. To this room he constantly stole when the family was asleep".[5] At an early age Handel became a skillful performer on the harpsichord and pipe organ.[6]Händel-Haus (2009) – birthplace of George Frideric HandelEntrance of Teatro del Cocomero in FlorenceHandel and his father travelled to Weissenfels to visit either Handel's half-brother, Carl, or nephew, Georg Christian,[7] who was serving as valet to Duke Johann Adolf I.[8] Handel and the duke convinced his father to allow him to take lessons in musical composition and keyboard technique from Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow, the organist of the Lutheran Marienkirche. He learned about harmony and contemporary styles, analysed sheet music scores, learned to work fugue subjects, and to copy music. In 1698 Handel played for Frederick I of Prussia and met Giovanni Battista Bononcini in Berlin.From Halle to ItalyThe Hamburg Opera am Gänsemarkt in 1726In 1702, following his father's wishes, Handel started studying law under Christian Thomasius at the University of Halle;[9] and also earned an appointment for one year as the organist in the former cathedral, by then an evangelical reformed church. Handel seems to have been unsatisfied and in 1703, he accepted a position as violinist and harpsichordist in the orchestra of the Hamburg Oper am Gänsemarkt.[10] There he met the composers Johann Mattheson, Christoph Graupner and Reinhard Keiser. His first two operas, Almira and Nero, were produced in 1705.[11] He produced two other operas, Daphne and Florindo, in 1708. It is unclear whether Handel directed these performances.According to Mainwaring, in 1706 Handel travelled to Italy at the invitation of Ferdinando de' Medici, but Mainwaring must have been confused. It was Gian Gastone de' Medici, whom Handel had met in 1703–1704 in Hamburg.[12] Ferdinando tried to make Florence Italy's musical capital, attracting the leading talents of his day. He had a keen interest in opera. In Italy Handel met librettist Antonio Salvi, with whom he later collaborated. Handel left for Rome and, since opera was (temporarily) banned in the Papal States, composed sacred music for the Roman clergy. His famous Dixit Dominus (1707) is from this era. He also composed cantatas in pastoral style for musical gatherings in the palaces of cardinals Pietro Ottoboni, Benedetto Pamphili and Carlo Colonna. Two oratorios, La Resurrezione and Il Trionfo del Tempo, were produced in a private setting for Ruspoli and Ottoboni in 1709 and 1710, respectively. Rodrigo, his first all-Italian opera, was produced in the Cocomero theatre in Florence in 1707.[13] Agrippina was first produced in 1709 at Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo, the prettiest theatre at Venice, owned by the Grimanis. The opera, with a libretto by cardinal Vincenzo Grimani, and according to Mainwaring it ran for 27 nights successively. The audience, thunderstruck with the grandeur and sublimity of his style,[14] applauded for Il caro Sassone.Move to LondonGeorge Frideric Handel (left) and King George I on the River Thames, 17 July 1717, by Edouard Jean Conrad Hamman (1819–88).In 1710, Handel became Kapellmeister to German prince George, Elector of Hanover, who in 1714 would become King George I of Great Britain.[15] He visited Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici and her husband in Düsseldorf on his way to London in 1710. With his opera Rinaldo, based on La Gerusalemme Liberata by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso, Handel enjoyed great success, although it was composed quickly, with many borrowings from his older Italian works.[16] This work contains one of Handel's favourite arias, Cara sposa, amante cara, and the famous Lascia ch'io pianga.In 1712, Handel decided to settle permanently in England. He received a yearly income of £200 from Queen Anne after composing for her the Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate, first performed in 1713.[17][18]One of his most important patrons was the young and wealthy Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington.[19] For him Handel wrote Amadigi di Gaula, a magical opera, about a damsel in distress, based on the tragedy by Antoine Houdar de la Motte.The conception of an opera as a coherent structure was slow to capture Handel's imagination[20] and he renounced it for five years. In July 1717 Handel's Water Music was performed more than three times on the Thames for the King and his guests. It is said the compositions spurred reconciliation between the King and Handel.[21]Cannons (1717–18)Main article: Handel at CannonsThe Chandos portrait. The 1st Duke of Chandos was an important patron for Handel.In 1717 Handel became house composer at Cannons in Middlesex, where he laid the cornerstone for his future choral compositions in the twelve Chandos Anthems.[22] Romain Rolland stated that these anthems were as important for his oratorios as the cantatas were for his operas.[23] Another work he wrote for the Duke of Chandos, the owner of Cannons, was Acis and Galatea: during Handel's lifetime it was his most performed work. Winton Dean wrote, "the music catches breath and disturbs the memory".[24]In 1719 the Duke of Chandos became one of the main subscribers to Handel's new opera company, the Royal Academy of Music, but his patronage of music declined after he lost money in the South Sea bubble, which burst in 1720 in one of history's greatest financial cataclysms. Handel himself invested in South Sea stock in 1716, when prices were low[25] and sold before 1720.[26]Royal Academy of Music (1719–34)Main article: Royal Academy of Music (company)Handel House at 25 Brook Street, Mayfair, LondonIn May 1719 Lord Chamberlain Thomas Holles, the Duke of Newcastle ordered Handel to look for new singers.[27] Handel travelled to Dresden to attend the newly built opera. He saw Teofane by Antonio Lotti, and engaged the cast for the Royal Academy of Music, founded by a group of aristocrats to assure themselves a constant supply of baroque opera or opera seria. Handel may have invited John Smith, his fellow student in Halle, and his son Johann Christoph Schmidt, to become his secretary and amanuensis.[28] By 1723 he had moved into a Georgian house at 25 Brook Street, which he rented for the rest of his life.[29] This house, where he rehearsed, copied music and sold tickets, is now the Handel House Museum.[30] During twelve months between 1724 and 1725, Handel wrote three outstanding and successful operas, Giulio Cesare, Tamerlano and Rodelinda. Handel's operas are filled with da capo arias, such as Svegliatevi nel core. After composing Silete venti, he concentrated on opera and stopped writing cantatas. Scipio, from which the regimental slow march of the British Grenadier Guards is derived,[31] was performed as a stopgap, waiting for the arrival of Faustina Bordoni.In 1727 Handel was commissioned to write four anthems for the coronation ceremony of King George II. One of these, Zadok the Priest, has been played at every British coronation ceremony since.[32] In 1728 John Gay's The Beggar's Opera premiered at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre and ran for 62 consecutive performances, the longest run in theatre history up to that time.[citation needed] After nine years Handel's contract was ended but he soon started a new company.The Queen's Theatre at the Haymarket (now Her Majesty's Theatre), established in 1705 by architect and playwright John Vanbrugh, quickly became an opera house.[33] Between 1711 and 1739, more than 25 of Handel's operas premièred there.[34] In 1729 Handel became joint manager of the Theatre with John James Heidegger.A musical portrait of Frederick, Prince of Wales and his sisters by Philip Mercier, dated 1733, using Kew Palace as its plein-air backdropThe Queen's Theatre in the Haymarket in London by William CaponHandel travelled to Italy to engage seven new singers. He composed seven more operas, but the public came to hear the singers rather than the music.[35] After two commercially successful English oratorios Esther and Deborah, he was able to invest again in the South Sea Company. Handel reworked his Acis and Galatea which then became his most successful work ever. Handel failed to compete with the Opera of the Nobility, who engaged musicians such as Johann Adolf Hasse, Nicolo Porpora and the famous castrato Farinelli. The strong support by Frederick, Prince of Wales caused conflicts in the royal family. In March 1734 Handel directed a wedding anthem This is the day which the Lord hath made, and a serenata Parnasso in Festa for Anne of Hanover.[36]Opera at Covent Garden (1734–41)In 1733 the Earl of Essex received a letter with the following sentence: "Handel became so arbitrary a prince, that the Town murmurs". The board of chief investors expected Handel to retire when his contract ended, but Handel immediately looked for another theatre. In cooperation with John Rich he started his third company at Covent Garden Theatre. Rich was renowned for his spectacular productions. He suggested Handel use his small chorus and introduce the dancing of Marie Sallé, for whom Handel composed Terpsichore. In 1735 he introduced organ concertos between the acts. For the first time Handel allowed Gioacchino Conti, who had no time to learn his part, to substitute arias.[37] Financially, Ariodante was a failure, although he introduced ballet suites at the end of each act.[38] Alcina, his last opera with a magic content, and Alexander's Feast or the Power of Music based on John Dryden's Alexander's Feast starred Anna Maria Strada del Pò and John Beard.In April 1737, at age 52, Handel apparently suffered a stroke which disabled the use of four fingers on his right hand, preventing him from performing.[39] In summer the disorder seemed at times to affect his understanding. Nobody expected that Handel would ever be able to perform again. But whether the affliction was rheumatism, a stroke or a nervous breakdown, he recovered remarkably quickly .[40] To aid his recovery, Handel had travelled to Aachen, a spa in Germany. During six weeks he took long hot baths, and ended up playing the organ for a surprised audience.[41]Deidamia, his last and only baroque opera without an accompagnato, was performed three times in 1741. Handel gave up the opera business, while he enjoyed more success with his English oratorios.[citation needed]OratorioFurther information: List of Handel's OratoriosHandel by Philip MercierIl Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, an allegory, Handel's first oratorio[42] was composed in Italy in 1707, followed by La Resurrezione in 1708 which uses material from the Bible. The circumstances of Esther and its first performance, possibly in 1718, are obscure.[43] Another 12 years had passed when an act of piracy caused him to take up Esther once again.[44] Three earlier performances aroused such interest that they naturally prompted the idea of introducing it to a larger public. Next came Deborah, strongly coloured by the Anthems[45] and Athaliah, his first English Oratorio.[46] In these three oratorios Handel laid foundation for the traditional use of the chorus which marks his later oratorios.[47] Handel became sure of himself, broader in his presentation, and more diverse in his composition.[48]It is evident how much he learnt from Arcangelo Corelli about writing for instruments, and from Alessandro Scarlatti about writing for the solo voice; but there is no single composer who taught him how to write for chorus.[49] Handel tended more and more to replace Italian soloists by English ones. The most significant reason for this change was the dwindling financial returns from his operas.[50] Thus a tradition was created for oratorios which was to govern their future performance. The performances were given without costumes and action; the performers appeared in a black suit.[51]Caricature of Handel by Joseph Goupy (1754)In 1736 Handel produced Alexander's Feast. John Beard appeared for the first time as one of Handel's principal singers and became Handel's permanent tenor soloist for the rest of Handel's life.[52] The piece was a great success and it encouraged Handel to make the transition from writing Italian operas to English choral works. In Saul, Handel was collaborating with Charles Jennens and experimenting with three trombones, a carillon and extra-large military kettledrums (from the Tower of London), to be sure "...it will be most excessive noisy".[53] Saul and Israel in Egypt both from 1739 head the list of great, mature oratorios, in which the da capo and dal segno aria became the exception and not the rule.[54] Israel in Egypt consists of little else but choruses, borrowing from the Funeral Anthem for Queen Caroline. In his next works Handel changed his course. In these works he laid greater stress on the effects of orchestra and soloists; the chorus retired into the background.[55] L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato has a rather diverting character; the work is light and fresh.During the summer of 1741, the 3rd Duke of Devonshire invited Handel to Dublin to give concerts for the benefit of local hospitals.[56] His Messiah was first performed at the New Music Hall in Fishamble Street, on 13 April 1742, with 26 boys and five men from the combined choirs of St Patrick's and Christ Church cathedrals participating.[57] Handel secured a balance between soloists and chorus which he never surpassed.The use of English soloists reached its height at the first performance of Samson. The work is highly theatrical. The role of the chorus became increasingly import in his later oratorios. Jephtha was first performed on 26 February 1752; even though it was his last oratorio, it was no less a masterpiece than his earlier works.[58]Later yearsGeorge Frideric Handel in 1733, by Balthasar Denner (1685–1749)In 1749 Handel composed Music for the Royal Fireworks; 12,000 people attended the first performance.[59] In 1750 he arranged a performance of Messiah to benefit the Foundling Hospital. The performance was considered a great success and was followed by annual concerts that continued throughout his life. In recognition of his patronage, Handel was made a governor of the Hospital the day after his initial concert. He bequeathed a copy of Messiah to the institution upon his death.[60] His involvement with the Foundling Hospital is today commemorated with a permanent exhibition in London's Foundling Museum, which also holds the Gerald Coke Handel Collection. In addition to the Foundling Hospital, Handel also gave to a charity that assisted impoverished musicians and their families.In August 1750, on a journey back from Germany to London, Handel was seriously injured in a carriage accident between The Hague and Haarlem in the Netherlands.[61] In 1751 one eye started to fail. The cause was a cataract which was operated on by the great charlatan Chevalier Taylor. This led to uveitis and subsequent loss of vision. He died eight years later in 1759 at home in Brook Street, at age 74. The last performance he attended was of Messiah. Handel was buried in Westminster Abbey.[62] More than three thousand mourners attended his funeral, which was given full state honours.Handel never married, and kept his personal life private. His initial will bequeathed the bulk of his estate to his niece Johanna. However four codicils distributed much of his estate to other relations, servants, friends and charities.[63]Handel owned an art collection that was auctioned posthumously in 1760.[64] The auction catalogue listed approximately seventy paintings and ten prints (other paintings were bequeathed).[64]WorksSenesino, the famous castrato from SienaMain articles: List of compositions by George Frideric Handel and List of operas by Handel.Handel's compositions include 42 operas, 29 oratorios, more than 120 cantatas, trios and duets, numerous arias, chamber music, a large number of ecumenical pieces, odes and serenatas, and 16 organ concerti. His most famous work, the oratorio Messiah with its "Hallelujah" chorus, is among the most popular works in choral music and has become the centrepiece of the Christmas season. Among the works with opus numbers published and popularised in his lifetime are the Organ Concertos Op.4 and Op.7, together with the Opus 3 and Opus 6 concerti grossi; the latter incorporate an earlier organ concerto The Cuckoo and the Nightingale in which birdsong is imitated in the upper registers of the organ. Also notable are his sixteen keyboard suites, especially The Harmonious Blacksmith.Handel introduced previously uncommon musical instruments in his works: the viola d'amore and violetta marina (Orlando), the lute (Ode for St. Cecilia's Day), three trombones (Saul), clarinets or small high cornetts (Tamerlano), theorbo, horn (Water Music), lyrichord, double bassoon, viola da gamba, bell chimes, positive organ, and harp (Giulio Cesare, Alexander's Feast).[65]Handel's works have been catalogued in the Händel-Werke-Verzeichnis and are commonly referred to by an HWV number. For example, Messiah is catalogued as HWV 56.LegacyA Masquerade at the King's Theatre, Haymarket (c. 1724)Handel's works were collected and preserved by two men in particular: Sir Samuel Hellier, a country squire whose musical acquisitions form the nucleus of the Shaw-Hellier Collection,[66] and abolitionist Granville Sharp. The catalogue accompanying the National Portrait Gallery exhibition marking the tercentenary of the composer's birth calls them two men of the late eighteenth century "who have left us solid evidence of the means by which they indulged their enthusiasm".[67]After his death, Handel's Italian operas fell into obscurity, except for selections such as the aria from Serse, "Ombra mai fù". The oratorios continued to be performed but not long after Handel's death they were thought to need some modernisation, and Mozart orchestrated a German version of Messiah and other works. Throughout the 19th century and first half of the 20th century, particularly in the Anglophone countries, his reputation rested primarily on his English oratorios, which were customarily performed by enormous choruses of amateur singers on solemn occasions.Since the Early Music Revival many of the forty-two operas he wrote have been performed in opera houses and concert halls.Handel's music was studied by composers such as Haydn, Mozart and BeethovenRecent decades have revived his secular cantatas and what one might call 'secular oratorios' or 'concert operas'. Of the former, Ode for St. Cecilia's Day (1739) (set to texts by John Dryden) and Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne (1713) are noteworthy. For his secular oratorios, Handel turned to classical mythology for subjects, producing such works as Acis and Galatea (1719), Hercules (1745) and Semele (1744). These works have a close kinship with the sacred oratorios, particularly in the vocal writing for the English-language texts. They also share the lyrical and dramatic qualities of Handel's Italian operas. As such, they are sometimes performed onstage by small chamber ensembles. With the rediscovery of his theatrical works, Handel, in addition to his renown as instrumentalist, orchestral writer, and melodist, is now perceived as being one of opera's great musical dramatists.A carved marble statue of Handel, created for the Vauxhall Gardens in 1738 by Louis-François Roubiliac, and now preserved in the Victoria & Albert Museum.Handel's work was edited by Samuel Arnold (40 vols., London, 1787–1797), and by Friedrich Chrysander, for the German Händel-Gesellschaft (105 vols., Leipzig, 1858–1902).Handel adopted the spelling "George Frideric Handel" on his naturalisation as a British subject, and this spelling is generally used in English-speaking countries. The original form of his name, Georg Friedrich Händel, is generally used in Germany and elsewhere, but he is known as "Haendel" in France. Another composer with a similar name, Handl or Händl, was an Austrian from Carniola and is more commonly known as Jacobus Gallus.Musician's musicianHandel has generally been accorded high esteem by fellow composers, both in his own time and since.[68] Bach attempted, unsuccessfully, to meet with Handel while he was visiting Halle.[69] Mozart is reputed to have said of him, "Handel understands affect better than any of us. When he chooses, he strikes like a thunder bolt."[70] To Beethoven he was "the master of us all... the greatest composer that ever lived. I would uncover my head and kneel before his tomb".[70] Beethoven emphasised above all the simplicity and popular appeal of Handel's music when he said, "Go to him to learn how to achieve great effects, by such simple means".HomagesHandel Commemoration in Westminster Abbey, 1784After Handel's death, many composers wrote works based on or inspired by his music. The first movement from Louis Spohr's Symphony No. 6, Op. 116, "The Age of Bach and Handel", resembles two melodies from Handel's Messiah. In 1797 Ludwig van Beethoven published the 12 Variations in G major on ‘See the conqu’ring hero comes’ from Judas Maccabaeus by Handel, for cello and piano. Guitar virtuoso Mauro Giuliani composed his Variations on a Theme by Handel, Op. 107 for guitar, based on Handel's Suite No. 5 in E major, HWV 430, for harpsichord. In 1861, using a theme from the second of Handel's harpsichord suites, Johannes Brahms wrote the Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24, one of his most successful works (praised by Richard Wagner). Several works by the French composer Félix-Alexandre Guilmant use Handel's themes, for example his March on a Theme by Handel uses a theme from Messiah. French composer and flautist Philippe Gaubert wrote his Petite marche for flute and piano based on the fourth movement of Handel's Trio Sonata, Op. 5, No. 2, HWV 397. Argentine composer Luis Gianneo composed his Variations on a Theme by Handel for piano. In 1911, Australian-born composer and pianist Percy Grainger based one of his most famous works on the final movement of Handel's Suite No. 5 in E major (just like Giuliani). He first wrote some variations on the theme, which he titled Variations on Handel's ‘The Harmonious Blacksmith’ . Then he used the first sixteen bars of his set of variations to create Handel in the Strand, one of his most beloved pieces, of which he made several versions (for example, the piano solo version from 1930). Arnold Schoenberg's Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra in B flat major (1933) was composed after Handel's Concerto Grosso, Op. 6/7.VenerationHandel is honored together with Johann Sebastian Bach and Henry Purcell with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church (USA) on 28 July.He is commemorated as a musician in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church on 28 July, with Johann Sebastian Bach and Heinrich Schütz.He is commemorated as a musician along with Johann Sebastian Bach on 28 July by The Order of Saint Luke in their calendar of saints prepared for the use of The United Methodist Church.EditionsBetween 1787 and 1797 Samuel Arnold compiled a 180-volume collection of Handel's works—however it was far from complete.[72] Also incomplete was the collection produced between 1843 and 1858 by the English Handel Society (found by Sir George Macfarren).[73]The 105-volume Händel-Gesellschaft edition was published in the mid 19th century and was mainly edited by Friedrich Chrysander (often working alone in his home). For modern performance, the realisation of the basso continuo reflects 19th century practice. Vocal scores drawn from the edition were published by Novello in London, but some scores, such as the vocal score to Samson are incomplete.The still-incomplete Hallische Händel-Ausgabe started to appear in 1956 (named for Halle in Saxony-Anhalt Eastern Germany, not the Netherlands). It did not start as a critical edition, but after heavy criticism of the first volumes, which were performing editions without a critical apparatus (for example, the opera Serse was published with the title character recast as a tenor reflecting pre-war German practice), it repositioned itself as a critical edition. Influenced in part by cold-war realities, editorial work was inconsistent: misprints are found in abundance and editors failed to consult important sources. In 1985 a committee was formed to establish better standards for the edition.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On the December Pastor's Resource Call, Doug Webster talked about preaching through Advent and Christmas and helping people celebrate but also better understand the theological connection of the Incarnation and the birth of Christ to God's entire redemptive narrative found throughout the Bible. One suggestion was to use as a preaching text the Scripture found in George Frederick Handel's majestic work Messiah, often a Christmas musical tradition even though it was originally written for the Easter season. But it is not just Handel's Messiah. Without Charles Jennens, there would have been no Messiah.  Every word of Messiah was taken directly from the Bible, primarily the King James version and the entire Libretto was written by a man named Charles Jennens, an English nobleman and frequent collaborator with Handel. He completed the manuscript in July, 1741 in the hope that his friend, George Handel, would compose the music to accompany it. In September, Handel would write day and night for 24 days and produce the masterpiece that is known throughout the world as “The Messiah.” In December 2010, a well-known seminary president delivered the Fall commencement address using the “back story” of Charles Jennens and the prophetic passage of Isaiah 40 that begins the Messiah.  His address ends with a charge for those in ministry and Christian service.  “The Christian ministry is deadly serious business. The preacher stands to preach — what will he say? Click here for the full address.