FOR UNTO US A CHILD IS BORN
GEORGE FRIDRICK HANDEL & MAKING OF MESSIAH
On July 10, 1741, an aging, depressed musician sat in his room reliving the shame and the humiliation, he had suffered at the hands of his fellow musicians and the fickle public. The man, George Fridrick Handel, was a has been, once a great opera composer; he was now bankrupt, sick, and alone. What seemed to have been the darkest day in his life became his day of redemption. His friend Charles Jennens, who had written a libretto about the life of Jesus and his work of redemption using the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayers, sent him the text some time after July 10. When Jenner solicited his collaboration, he took one look at the manuscript, and told him it would take a year to set his libretto to music.