HÄNDEL'S HALLELUJAH
THE BACKSTORY
Messiah, HWV 56: Hallelujah Chorus
Ayo, Händel here, bruh, and I'm about to spill the whole backstory of Hallelujah, so lean in close, homie! Sometimes I just kick back and think, man, how'd one chorus get so gigantic, crazy, right? So are you lowkey itching to hear the backstory of Hallelujah, or what, my dude? Stick with me, 'cause I'm your guide through every twist and turn of it, no sweat, I've got your back, champ! And once I've dropped the whole story, I'll hook ya up with ways to dig deeper into Hallelujah, so the party keeps rollin', for real, for real!
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Not A Solo Single, Chief
Yo, first things first, homie: Hallelujah isn't some stand-alone banger I dropped on the radio, nah, nah, nah! It's a chorus living inside my oratorio Messiah, which is basically a giant concert-length story set to music, ya feel me? That bad boy's got three parts and 53 movements, so pullin' Hallelujah out alone is like grabbin' one fry and callin' it a whole buffet, no joke! Fifty-three movements, dawg, my poor writing hand was throwin' a full-blown tantrum, for real!The Words Came From A Dude Named Jennens
Now hold up, 'cause I didn't write the words myself, nope, not a single syllable, zero! A guy named Charles Jennens, born in 1700, stitched the whole libretto together outta Bible passages, like a patchwork hoodie made of scripture, yo! So all I had to do was make the music, easy-peasy, right? Ha, wrong, homie! He lived until 1774, so he had a long run, and honestly he's earned his shoutout, period!Twenty-Four Days, No Cap
Peep this, I wrote the entire Messiah between 22 August and 14 September 1741, and that's 24 days, my guy! Twenty-four days for the whole thing, which is wilder than most folks finishin' a single binge-watch, straight up! At the very end of the manuscript I scribbled SDG, short for Soli Deo Gloria, like signin' my homework with a big ol' shoutout upstairs, boom! Folks'd say, bro, go touch some grass, but nope, I was cookin', baby, cookin'!Dublin Called Me Up
Okay, so Dublin hit me up with an invite to give a series of six musical entertainments, and I was like, yeah, say less! Six shows, a whole city, and a fresh oratorio ready to roll, how's that for perfect timing, huh? Everybody figures Messiah must've debuted in London, but nah, that's total nonsense, homie! Dublin got it first, and that city can flex about it forever, no lie!Fishamble Street Went Off
The premiere went down on 13 April 1742 at Neale's music hall on Fishamble Street in Dublin, baby, mark your calendar! Picture a regular ol' music hall, no giant glitzy palace, and suddenly the whole room's gettin' smacked with Messiah, whoa! Funny thing, it was a charity gig, a benefit for prisoners' debt relief, Mercer's Hospital and the Charitable Infirmary, so everybody walked in doin' good deeds, big respect! Not a bad way to kick off a masterpiece, right, when opening night literally helps folks in need, sweet!Hoop Skirts Had To Chill
Here's a tidbit that cracks me up: the ladies were asked to wear dresses without hoops, so more people could squeeze in, yikes! Hoop skirts were basically wearable trampolines hoggin' the space, so ditchin' 'em meant a bigger crowd, genius move! Soloists that night included Christina Maria Avoglio and Susannah Cibber, and those two brought the heat, for real! Nobody needed a giant hoop to steal the spotlight, trust me, that room was packed and buzzin', period!London Gave Me The Side-Eye
London got it on 23 March 1743 at Covent Garden, and lemme tell ya, the reviews came in cooler than a freezer full of ice cream, brrr! Church folks were totally sideways about it too, 'cause sacred texts in a theatre? Straight-up scandal, yo! Imagine clutchin' your pearls over scripture bein' sung where people usually go to catch a show, wild, right? Zoom ahead, though, and that chorus is hollered everywhere, so the grumpy crowd looks kinda silly now, ha!The Standing Ovation Gossip
Now the juicy gossip, y'all: the story goes the king jumped to his feet during Hallelujah, like his throne caught fire, haha! Hold up, though, 'cause there's no evidence King George II ever attended a performance of Messiah or stood during it, so that tale's sketchy as heck, bro! Nobody knows if the tradition kicked off at the London premiere or at a second London performance, 'cause the sources totally disagree, ugh! What we do know is that the first documented mention of standing at the chorus dates from 1756, so folks've been poppin' outta their seats for ages, boom!Easter Not Christmas, Y'all
Another mix-up that drives me up the wall: I meant Messiah for Easter, not Christmas, dude! Yet somehow December rolls around and everybody grabs it like a cozy holiday sweater, no questions asked, wild! Case in point, the American debut landed on Christmas Day 1818, courtesy of the Boston Handel and Haydn Society, cheers, yo! So my Easter piece got adopted by the whole December crowd, and I'm just sittin' here lowkey amused, snort!My Farewell Lap
From 1750 on, Messiah got performed almost every year at the Foundling Hospital in London, so that piece had a regular gig, baby! I last attended a performance of my own music before my death at a Messiah at Covent Garden in 1759, how poetic is that, whoa! I lived from 1685 to 1759, so that was basically my victory lap, chef's kiss! And my old crib on Brook Street in Mayfair is a museum now, so go creep on my former hangout, mad cool!---
Yo, real talk, fam, did ya enjoy diggin' into the backstory of Hallelujah with me? I'm hyped that ya stuck around, bruh, 'cause this whole ride started in Dublin in 1742, and now look at us, chillin' together centuries later, wild! Think about it for a sec: a four-minute chorus that I scribbled down once, and folks are still losin' their minds over it, no cap! That's the kinda staying power that makes my old quill hand wanna do a victory lap, deadass! But hold up, hold up, we've barely scratched the surface, homie! There's way more Hallelujah left to explore, like the story of folks jumpin' to their feet, which goes back to 1756 and still has people arguin' about who started it, whoa! And the music itself? Bro, it's got layers on layers, like a lasagna that learned to sing! So go ahead and smash those links below, ya hear me? Click 'em, poke around, and fall down the rabbit hole, 'cause I promise it's a good one, fo' sho! Whenever ya hear those trumpets kick in again, give me a little nod, my friend, and I'll be right there groovin' with ya, peace out!