I still remember the questions that used to appear on elementary school music exams: “Who is the Father of Music?” and “Who is the Mother of Music?” The expected answers were Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel. Some of my classmates, however, amused by Handel’s portrait—with its elaborate curled wig—would insist, with great confidence, that he must surely have been a woman. Such childhood memories now seem both charming and telling, for the titles bestowed upon Bach and Handel reflect the extraordinary historical significance and artistic legacy of these two towering figures in Western music.

For our Christmas Concert in December 2026, we have chosen Handel’s Messiah and will begin rehearsals in August. As we prepare this monumental work—majestic in scale and grandeur, like a vast mountain range—the entire choir, me included, is continually humbled by the sheer power of Handel’s music. The more deeply we explore the historical background of Messiah—its conception, composition, and early performances—as well as its structure, libretto, Baroque style, and the remarkable way its music illuminates the text, the more I am convinced that this performance offers us something profound and singular. It is a musical and spiritual journey unlike any other.

I am therefore deeply grateful for the opportunity to share some of these reflections with you. Over the next several installments, I invite you to join me on this journey: In Search of the Messiah.

I. The Life of Handel

Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel share one of the most striking coincidences in music history: both were born in Germany in the same year, 1685. Each would go on to devote his life to music—Bach until 1750 and Handel until 1759. Yet despite these remarkable parallels, the two men never met.

Their artistic paths, however, diverged significantly. Bach devoted the core of his compositional life to sacred music, producing passions, cantatas, motets, and other works for the church. Handel, by contrast, began his career largely in the realm of secular music, particularly opera, before turning increasingly toward sacred genres later in life. In this context, the term “secular” should not be understood negatively; rather, it reflects the customary distinction of the time between church music and music intended for the theater or the public sphere.

Handel was born to Georg Handel, a distinguished court barber-surgeon, and Dorothea Taust, the daughter of a Lutheran pastor. Unlike Bach, he did not come from a long line of professional musicians. Indeed, his father is said to have hoped that his son would pursue a career in law. Nevertheless, Handel grew up in an environment shaped by Lutheran church music, and it was there that he encountered his first important teacher, Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow, the organist and composer of the local church. Under Zachow’s guidance, Handel studied composition, organ, and several other instruments, and he began composing music for worship at an early age.

After serving briefly as an organist and later working as a violinist and harpsichordist in Hamburg’s public opera scene, Handel presented his first opera, Almira, in 1705. At that time, Italy stood at the center of Europe’s musical life. For ambitious composers—especially those drawn to opera—Italy represented both the pinnacle of artistic cultivation and the key to international recognition. Handel, like many of his contemporaries, longed to experience this world firsthand.

With the support of patrons including Gastone de’ Medici, Handel traveled to Italy, where he visited Florence, Venice, Naples, and Rome. There he absorbed the richness of the Italian style and composed works distinguished by brilliance, elegance, and expressive depth. In 1709, his opera Agrippina achieved remarkable success, receiving 27 performances and firmly establishing his reputation. By the time he left Italy, Handel was widely regarded as one of the most gifted young composers in Europe.

Building on this international acclaim, Handel moved to England, where he would eventually make his permanent home. He composed numerous operatic works, enjoyed aristocratic patronage, and in 1727 became a naturalized British subject. Although he wrote more than fifty operas, changing public tastes and shifting cultural circumstances gradually diminished the success of Italian opera in London. Handel responded not by retreating, but by reinventing himself. Turning increasingly to the English oratorio, he entered one of the most fruitful phases of his career, producing such enduring masterpieces as Saul, Israel in Egypt, Messiah, Samson, and Solomon.

In his later years, Handel faced severe physical hardship. Around 1751, the vision in one eye began to fail, interrupting work on what would become his final oratorio, Jephtha. Though the work was completed and performed in 1752, his eyesight continued to deteriorate. Surgery in 1753 proved unsuccessful, and he eventually became completely blind. Yet even in blindness, Handel’s devotion to music remained unshaken. No longer able to compose with ease, he continued to perform organ concertos from memory and, with the help of trusted colleagues, to oversee performances of his oratorios.

Most moving of all, only ten days before his death, Handel still conducted performances of Messiah. He died on the morning of April 14, 1759, at the age of seventy-four, leaving behind a body of work that continues to move audiences across centuries, cultures, and traditions.

In Handel, we encounter not only a composer of immense brilliance, but also an artist of resilience, faith, and vision. To study Messiah is therefore not merely to examine a great musical score; it is to enter the world of a composer who transformed personal adversity and artistic mastery into one of the most enduring work