Every valley : the desperate lives and troubled times that made Handel's Messiah / by Charles King.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

King, Charles, 1967- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Handel, George Frideric, 1685-1759.

Handel, George Frideric.

Handel, George Frideric, 1685-1759. Messiah.

Handel, George Frideric, 1685-1759--Performances.

Great Britain--Social life and customs--18th century.

Great Britain.

Great Britain--History--18th century.

Physical Description:

x, 335 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Desperate lives and troubled times that made Handel's Messiah

Place of Publication:

New York : Doubleday, [2024]

Summary:

"The epic, dramatic story of the 18th century men and women behind the making of Handel's Messiah, one of the world's most beloved works of classical music, from a New York Times bestselling historian and National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. George Frideric Handel's Messiah is arguably the greatest piece of participatory art ever created. Adored by millions, it is performed each year by renowned choirs and orchestras as well as by fans singing along to the lyrics on their cell phones. But this work of triumphant joy was born in an age of anxiety. Britain in the early eighteenth century, the so-called age of Enlightenment, was a time of war, enslavement, political conspiracy, social polarization, and conflicts over everything from the legitimacy of government to the meaning of truth. Contrary to popular belief, the Messiah was not the product of a lone genius scribbling furiously on a musical staff. It came about because of a depressive political dissenter; an actress plagued by an abusive husband; an Atlantic sea captain and penniless philanthropist; an African Muslim man held captive in the American colonies; and Handel himself, once composer to kings but, at midlife, in ill health and straining to keep an audience's attention. Set amid royal intrigue and theatrical scandal, and exploring the rich ideas of its day, Every Valley is a cinematic drama of the entangled lives that shaped a masterpiece"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Part I Portents. "The Famous Mr. Hendel"

"An undertaking so hazardous"

Jacobites

Grub Street

Yahoos

Part II Sorrows and Grief. The Hyp and the prodigious

Oratorio

"Dying by inches"

A design for rescuing

The book of Job

Scorn

Foundlings

The return of a Prince

Part III Resurrection. To the Hibernian Shore

Fishamble

"Hope is a curtail dog"

Anthems and choruses

Exalted

Epilogue.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: King, Charles, 1967- Every valley

ISBN:

9780385548267

0385548265

OCLC:

1421928973