Handel Composes Messiah
April 13, 1741
George Frideric Handel, his Italian-opera career collapsing in London, shut himself up for twenty-four days and composed his greatest oratorio. It premiered in Dublin the next April to a small, rapturous audience. King George II, hearing the Hallelujah Chorus in London, rose to his feet. The world's audiences have been rising ever since.
In context
Also in 1741 (4 other events on record)
- Bering Sights Alaska · North America · Exploration
- Elizabeth of Russia Seizes the Throne · Europe · Politics
- Battle of Mollwitz · Europe · War
- Dahomey Sacks Whydah · Africa · War
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Culture
Era
Enlightenment (1651–1800), one of 696 events from that era on Saeculum.
Sources