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Messiah Jonathan Keates

Messiah By Jonathan Keates

Messiah by Jonathan Keates


$10.00
Condition - Very Good
Only 2 left

Summary

The story of the composition, first performances and cultural afterlife of one of the best-loved and most widely performed works in the entire history of music.

Messiah Summary

Messiah by Jonathan Keates

In 1741, in just 24 days, the German-born, British-naturalized composer George Frideric Handel wrote an oratorio rich in tuneful arias and 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 and musical afterlife of Handel's masterpiece: he considers the first performances and its place in Handel's output; he looks at the oratorio itself and its relationship with spirituality in the age of the Enlightenment; and 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 and affectionate celebration of a high-point of Britain's Georgian golden age.

Messiah Reviews

'Admirably concise and evocative' The Times.
'This delightful book [...] contains a lot to muse over ... the author clearly knows what he is talking about, and illuminates what we thought we knew' Book of the Week, Guardian.
'However you like to hear your Messiah, you should enjoy it all the more for reading Keates's lucid guide ... his analysis is taut and his narrative skilfully concise' The Times.

About Jonathan Keates

Jonathan Keates is a distinguished and prize-winning biographer, novelist and travel writer, and author of lives of the composers Handel (1985) and Purcell (1995). He is chairman of the Venice in Peril fund.

Additional information

GOR007861624
9781784974008
1784974005
Messiah by Jonathan Keates
Used - Very Good
Hardback
Head of Zeus
2016-10-20
224
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - Messiah