HÄNDEL: MESSIAH

MS 5498
MS Short Title HÄNDEL: MESSIAH
Text GEORGE FRIEDRICH HÄNDEL: MESSIAH, FULL COPYIST'S SCORE OF THE ORATORIO'S CHORUSES AND SOME OF THE ARIAS WITH THE TEXTS IN GERMAN.
Description MS in German and Italian on paper, Hamburg, ca.1772, 276 pp. (complete), 35x23 cm, single column (31x21 cm), ruled with 15-18 staves, music notated in systems of 4 to 15 staves, texts in German Gothic cursive script.
Binding Hamburg, Germany, ca. 1772, marbled paper over boards, sewn on 5 cords.
Context The text is a hitherto unknown and unpublished German translation predating the first German publication. The music follows Händel's original autograph in British Library closely. It possibly relates to Michael Arne's first German performance in Hamburg in 1772. Mozart's famous orchestration, based on the German translation by Johann Hiller, was first performed in 1789, and published in 1803. Händel bequeathed his library of his works to the faithful copyist Smith the elder in 1759, who later transferred the bulk of it to King George III, now in British Library. Most of the other autographs came to Cambridge, Fitzwilliam Museum, while Händel's conducting scores, by copyists, are in Hamburg, Univärsitetsbibliothek.
Provenance 1. Quaritch, London, June 2011.
Commentary Händel's Messiah was composed in 3 weeks in 1741, first performed in Dublin in 1742, in London in 1743, and first published in 1767.
Place of origin Hamburg
Dates 1772