Q 01/05

In which year did Handel compose Messiah?

A) 1685

B) 1727

C) 1732

D) 1741

Answer · why

D) 1741

He wrote it in about three and a half weeks that summer; 1685 is his birth year and 1759 the year he died.

Q 02/05

On what date was Messiah first performed?

A) 25 December 1741

B) 13 April 1742

C) 1 January 1743

D) 6 April 1759

Answer · why

B) 13 April 1742

The premiere was in Dublin; the London premiere followed a year later at Covent Garden, to a much cooler reception.

Q 03/05

Who compiled the libretto of Messiah from the King James Bible and the Coverdale Psalter?

A) Alexander Pope

B) John Gay

C) Charles Jennens

D) Thomas Morell

Answer · why

C) Charles Jennens

A wealthy landowner and devout Anglican, Jennens had earlier supplied the text for Saul.

Q 04/05

Handel became a naturalised subject of which country in 1727?

A) Britain

B) Prussia

C) The Dutch Republic

D) Ireland

Answer · why

A) Britain

He had lived in London since 1712; Messiah was his sixth work in the English oratorio genre he took up in the 1730s.

Q 05/05

The Hebrew word 'Messiah' means what?

A) The Chosen King

B) The Anointed One

C) The Son of Man

D) The Good Shepherd

Answer · why

B) The Anointed One

In New Testament Greek the equivalent is 'Christ', the title given to Jesus of Nazareth.