In 1741 in just 24 days the German-born British-naturalized composer George Frideric Handel wrote an oratorio rich in tuneful arias & choruses of robust grandeur Coolly received in London at first after Handel's death Messiah enjoyed an extraordinary surge in popularity it was performed at festivals across England; other composers rushed to rearrange it; it would be commercially recorded on more than 100 occasions Jonathan Keates tells the story of the composition & musical afterlife of Handel's masterpiece he considers the first performances & its place in Handel's output; he looks at the oratorio itself & its relationship with spirituality in the age of the Enlightenment; & he examines why Messiah became such an essential element in the national culture of Britain Illustrated with beautiful images including the original score of the work Messiah is a richly informative & affectionate celebration of a high-point of Britain's Georgian golden age