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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Messiah
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(1742) Oratorio composed by *Handel to verses from various parts of the Bible. Performed in Dublin in April 1742, it was first heard in London at Covent Garden theatre in March 1743. The Hallelujah Chorus, at the end of Part 2, acquired on that occasion a lasting tradition: George II rose to his feet as it began, in a gesture followed by British audiences ever since. The work only gradually acquired its status as one of the most popular pieces of English music, largely through the annual performances for charity which Handel gave at London's Foundling Hospital.
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The Messiah has been the occasion of a notable piece of academic snobbery. By those in the know it is considered deeply ignorant to use 'the' in front of Messiah, as at the start of this paragraph – in spite of its being the more natural usage in English. The uninitiated can take heart from the advertisement for the first performance in Dublin, which announced a performance of 'Mr. Handel's new Grand Oratorio, called the Messiah'; and later that year Handel himself wrote to a friend promising to send him 'the printed Book of the Messiah'.
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