Kempenkoor

Who is Handel, the composer of Messiah?
Georg Friedrich Handel is one of the most famous composers of the Baroque period, an era (1600-1800) when lush ornamentation and fierce emotions characterized the art. He was born in 1685, the son of a physician. His father wants him to study law. He even forbids little Georg to play music. The latter in turn smuggles a harpsichord into the attic, where he secretly practices.
One day a nobleman hears the eleven-year-old child playing the organ and sees his great talent; he convinces father Handel to let his son become a musician. Things move quickly for this child prodigy after that.

What is Messiah?
Messiah is an oratorio, a biblical drama set to music. The art form takes its name from the prayer hall begun by Italian priest Filippo Neri in the mid-16th century in the Roman church of San Girolamo della Carità. The group was even given separate status by the pope: the Order of Oratorians. During the meetings, long biblical texts are set to music, in Latin or Italian. 
Neri believes it is important that his followers become absorbed in their faith. Music can evoke that rapture: it gives words more meaning and allows them to penetrate deeper into people.

Some oratorios have one clear Bible story as their subject, such as Johann Sebastian Bach's famous St. Matthew Passion about the death of Jesus on the cross. Others deal with allegorical characters, for example Handel's Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, in which Time, Insight and Pleasure vie for the heart of Beauty. Messiah is unique because the composition belongs to neither category: the piece is a collection of biblical texts about the coming, suffering and resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Kempenkoor would like to meet you on December 20 in this theater.