N. A. Woychuk (1915–2009)

It has been a long time since I cried when reading a book. I’m not even sure I ever have. As I read this book, on two occasions I burst out sobbing. I believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, the Messiah of the world. This book treats the composition of the Messiah from the perspective of a believer conscious of the context of the religious sentiments of the times.

Chapters
1. Messiah’s Enduring Greatness
2. Impressive Musical Beginnings
3. Italy’s Musical Influence
4. “I Must Go To England”
5. Upon a Solid Foundation
6. Birth of the Oratorio Messiah
7. First Performance of The Messiah
8. Performance of Messiah in London
9. “It Will Rise Again”
10. Messiah: Entertainment or Edification
11. Handel And His Messiah
12. The Impact of Messiah on the Composer
13. Handel’s Masterpiece Lives On

The second half of the book goes into the scriptures used in the Messiah, followed by a bibliography and indexes.


“The Strong Influence of Pietism”
The Lutheran Church in the early seventeenth century remained orthodox, but the spiritual element was weak. The emphasis was ‘upon pure doctrine and the sacrament as the constituent elements of the Christian life. The layman’s role was the entirely passive one of accepting the dogmas and remaining loyal to the church’ (John Weinlick). The Catholic leadership was anemic, well characterized by H. G. Wells as ‘weak popes, declining monasteries and lazy bishops.’ Furthermore, the rationalism of the philosophers in the ‘Age of Reason’ created a further deadening effect upon the churches. (Page 8-9)
…
“Pietism was inherently a ‘protest’ movement in its opposition to the weakening protestant ‘establishment.’” (Page 9)

“Georg Friedrich Handel arrived in London sometime late in 1710. At the time in London, the rich were enormously rich and powerful, the poor ‘terribly degraded, the middle class small and unstable. Nonconformist and Catholics lived under intermittently crippling restrictions.’ … The English loved music, … Crime was prevalent and people were reluctant to venture out at night. Operas failed one after another.” (Page 23)

“Biographers observe correctly that Jennens had a subtle purpose behind his selection of the Scripture texts. The passages he chose presented the truth concerning redemption from sin, including the resurrection, at a time when Anglicans of the orthodox caste found themselves in theological conflict with Deists and Freethinkers. “(Page 39)

“Handel’s Messiah was born of failure and affliction.” (Page 40)

It was first performed in Dublin, where it was exceedingly well received. In London it got a very poor reception. Chapter 9 brought on my tears and sobs, as did chapter 13.

“From the very beginning, some of the Anglican clergy objected to all playhouse performances as a kind of profanation, while others with equal zeal opposed all cathedral performances of the oratorio as sacrilegious. (Page 62)

“England’s unparalleled evangelical revival was linked and enhanced by the strong presentation of the Redeemer in Handel’s Messiah.” (Page 65)

Hayden saw it performed and “was struck as if he had been put back to the beginning of his studies and hand known nothing up to that moment.” (Page 68)

“To Handel the three Persons of the Trinity were entities as real as people around him.” (Page 79)

“In speaking of the time when he composed Messiah, Handel said, ‘Whether I was in the body or out of the body, I know not.’” (Page 84)


The second half of the book goes through the scriptures the Messiah is based on; commenting on the scriptures, and upon the music.

Section 14 the author elaborates on the theme that all that is necessary is to believe in Jesus and be saved.
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Rather straightforward (sometimes bordering on the simplistic) re-telling of the life, works, and significance of Isaac Watts. I appreciated the author's mastery of primary sources, but felt he could have integrated them more smoothly into the fabric of his narrative. I was a bit startled by the author's positing of Watts as an early dispensationalist -- something I had not heretofore encountered in my reading about him; this bears further investigation. For someone with little time and only a passing interest in Watts, or for a younger person, this book might fit the bill. It left me hungry for more...… (more)