Q 01/05

Which rock guitarist later lived next door to Handel's London home?

A) Clapton

B) Hendrix

C) Page

D) Richards

Answer · why

B) Hendrix

Hendrix moved into the top-floor flat at 23 Brook Street in 1968, two centuries after Handel composed Messiah and died next door at number 25; the two...

Q 02/05

For which Christian festival was Messiah originally intended and first performed?

A) Easter

B) Pentecost

C) Epiphany

D) All Saints' Day

Answer · why

A) Easter

Easter was the plan from the start: the text was ready in July 1741 for a performance the following spring, and the last Messiah Handel attended, eigh...

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

Charles Jennens wrote none of the words himself: he chose and stitched together verses from across the Bible, which is why nobody in Messiah plays a c...

Q 04/05

Which Old Testament prophet's book supplies the words of Messiah's 'Ev'ry valley' and 'For unto us a child is born'?

A) Isaiah

B) Jeremiah

C) Ezekiel

D) Daniel

Answer · why

A) Isaiah

Isaiah's book was written centuries before Jesus, and that was the librettist's point: Part I tells of Christ's coming almost entirely through ancient...

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

The Anointed One is also what the Greek word 'Christ' means, so 'Jesus Christ' was at first less a name than a title: Jesus the Messiah.