The original Handel Festival or "Commemoration" took place in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

between 26 May and 5 June 1784, to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the death of

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

in 1759.Kroll, Mark. ''Bach, Handel and Scarlatti: Reception in Britain, 1750-1850'' (2022), p. 1, 28-29 A series of further commemorations were held between 1785 and 1859.

1784 Commemoration

The commemoration was organized by

John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, Privy Council of Great Britain, PC, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (13 November 1718 – 30 April 1792) was a British politician, statesman who succeeded his grandfather Edward Montagu, 3rd Earl of Sandwic ...

and the

Concerts of Antient Music The Concerts of Antient Music, also known as the ''Ancient Concerts'' or ''The King's Concerts'', were an influential concert series put on annually in London from 1776 to 1848. The concerts consisted solely of music composed at least twenty year ...

and took the form of a series of concerts of Handel's music, given in the Abbey by vast numbers of singers and instrumentalists. Above Handel's own monument in the Abbey, there is a small additional tablet to record the commemoration. An account of the event was published by

Charles Burney Charles Burney (7 April 1726 – 12 April 1814) was an English music historian, composer and musician. He was the father of the writers Frances Burney and Sarah Burney, of the explorer James Burney, and of Charles Burney, a classicis ...

in the following year. The commemoration established a fashion for large-scale performances of Handel's choral works throughout the nineteenth century and much of the twentieth. E.D. Mackerness described it as "the most important single event in the history of English music".

Later commemorations

Five further Handel commemorations followed over the next seven years - in 1785, 1786, 1787, 1790 and 1791, the last with over 1,000 participants and an estimated audience of 2,200 people, including

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

. Then in 1834, there was another larger scale commemoration - the Royal Musical Festival - also held at Westminster Abbey, this time with 625 participating musicians (223 instrumentalists, 397 choral singers and five soloists) and an audience of 2,700. The 100th anniversary of Handel's death was commemorated at the

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

in 1859 on a similarly large scale. The festival included complete performances of ''

The Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

'', the ''

Dettingen Te Deum The ''Te Deum for the Victory at the Battle of Dettingen'' in D major, HWV 283, is the fifth and last setting by George Frideric Handel of the 4th-century Ambrosian hymn, ''Te Deum'', or ''We Praise Thee, O God''. He wrote it in 1743, only a ...

'', and ''

Israel in Egypt ''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 enti ...

'', along with excerpts from ''

Belshazzar's Feast Belshazzar's feast, or the story of the writing on the wall, chapter 5 in the Book of Daniel, tells how Neo-Babylonian royal Belshazzar holds a great feast and drinks from the vessels that had been looted in the destruction of the First Temple. ...

'' and ''

Judas Maccabaeus Judas Maccabaeus or Maccabeus ( ), also known as Judah Maccabee (), was a Jewish priest (''kohen'') and a son of the priest Mattathias. He led the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire (167–160 BCE). The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah ("Ded ...

''.'The Great Handel Festival at the Crystal Palace', in ''The Musical Times'', Vol. 9, No 197, July 1859, pp. 75-78 and 83

References

External links

Charles Burney, An Account of the Musical Performances in Westminster-Abbey (London: Payne, 1785)
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061014160518/http://www.westminster-abbey.org/library/burial/handel.htm , date=14 October 2006

by Donald Burrows

by William Weber George Frideric Handel Baroque music Handel festivals 1784 festivals Classical music festivals in England 1784 in England

1784 Commemoration

Later commemorations

References

Further reading

External links