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p / / V ^ ' 4-, f < * j - The Chronicle Strives To Be A Clean News paper, Complete, Newsy and Reliable ©hr If You Don’t Read The Chronicle Y’ou Pon’t Get the Newa Volume LIV Clinton, S. C, Thursdoy, December 24, 1953 Number 52 HANDEL’S MESSIAH By W. BRI CE BELL (In December Issue The KiwanisiMagiazne) ♦ eVeaMVVeVea# V#%VV#V#a ♦♦♦♦»♦♦ ♦We ♦♦♦•♦♦> The glorious music of the Mes-1 of notes, blots and fierce erasures siah that gladdens the world at that only the master himself could Christmastide was created out of decipher. But it was the imperish- the depths of despair and afflic- 1 able music of the Messiah. Emo tion. Handel was fifty-six years tionally and physically exhausted, old, sick, destitute and apparently Handel stumbled to his bed and finished as a composer when the slept for seventeen hours, miracle occurred. The story ofi He awoke refreshed. He had Handel’s great oratorio is one of the i wr jtten all the bitterness out of his most dramatic episodes in musical | and, miraculously, his crea- history. It is also a testament to tive power had been so restored by the power of faith. 500 voices. To Handel it seemed especially fitting that the music he had written to glorify the birth of a Babe in a manger should be conse crated to the welfare of homeless old and broken in health. His eye sight was failing and while writ ing Jeptha (the oratorio containing a crorus significantly titled “How Dark, O Lord, Are Thy Ways’), and unwanted infants. At least once Handel went blind, a year, as long as he lived, he con- Despite the loss of his sight and ducted Messiah for the Foundling his feeble health, Handel continued Hospital, and from these concerts f 0 compose and conducf. On April he contriouted a total of more than g 1759 ^hen he was seventy-four On the appointed day, as Handel $35,000. For many years after his -Ithe aging genius was led to the or- woul d ^ ave wished, the audience! ’ “ ' ‘ 1 ^ gathered in the chapel of his belov ed orphanage. There, under the direction of a trusted assistant. day,” he said, "in the hope of join ing my Lord and Saviour on the day of His Resurrection.” And at midnight, ars Good Friday passed into a new day, George Frederick Handel died. He was buried with pomp and ceremony in Westminster Abbey. death, Messiah wah the favorite g an Covent Garden and there he composition for charities of all ciirected Messiah for the last time, kinds. Ane one writer of the time At the end of the concert he col- reported, “It fostered the orphan. ; a p Sed and was taken to his rooms a e a » n the immortal music pro fed the hungry, clothed the naked and put t0 fed. Handel knew that j claimed: • and relieved suffering more than posters were already up announcing! For unto us a child is born, unto, any single musical production in t h a t the traditional performance ofi us a Son is given; and the govern- 1 CREDITORS' NOTICE All persons having claims agnuwk the estate of Claude Vernon Moo- roe, deceased, are hereby notified, to file same duly verified, with the undersigned and those indebted to said estate will please make pay ment likewise. MINNIE MONROE, Clinton, S. C, CLAUDE B MONRO* Newberry, S. C., Executors of Estate. Dec. 8, 1953 the ordeal that within a few days George Frederick Handel was the; he was able to fling himself into i ^, suir “S ain - ““ ne K- usical-prodigy son of a German the composition of a new oratorio. lecte< * compositions were brought musical-prodigy barber. At twenty-five, after four! Handel could not bear the triumphant years in Italy, he arriv-, thought of submitting to a capric- ed in London, where he proceeded; ious society audience the sacred to compose and produce Italian op-, music that had been bom of his He wrote an incredible own profound emotion. So at first any country in the world. Mesiah for the Foundling Hospital With the success of Messiah, Han- would take place in the chapel on del’s star rose again. All his neg- May 3, “under the direction of the author.” But Handel knew he would not be present. out and London rediscovered her adopted genius. But Handel was ment shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Won derful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting -Father, the Prince of Peace ‘I should like to die on Good Fri- Dr. Felder Smith OPTOMETRIST Lourens, S. C. PtMoe 7*4 eras. amount of music (of which his forty-four operas were only a small part) and he worked at such phe- he refused to present Messiah London. m That fall he received from the nomenal speed that as soon as in-jL ord Lieutenant of Ireland an invi- terest in one production began to ( tation to visit London and perform wane, he was ready to stage an- some D f hj s music for that “gener- other. For years Handel and his Italian operas were the rage of Lon ous and polite nation.” Handel accepted at and don. King George I was his host and pau-on “ e "» s v m ^ d ' u d s ‘^i Dublin, Uking with hta the o«to- he l ^ y e al aXS, 0 c'”en: Cand ™ - d “ But Handel had a talent for mak ing enemies as well as friends in soloists. The Messiah was saved until the very end of the season . and, expecting the profits to be high places. Arrayed against him large, he announced that every pen- were many influential writers and ny WO uld be used for the relief of men who had been imprisoned for debt. For weeks he trained instrumen- the leaders of smart society. Gradu ally his fortunes declined—the pub lic abandoned opera in favor of French farces and he lo « ulists and the choir of boys and fluence wih t e g- men from Dublin’s two cathedrals. Handehan music nval impresarios 0 A n] ,, m2 m , h Muslc HaU filched his best-known melodies' str ^, a reverf . nt and and , sU e ed p ' spellbound audience first heard the calleif The Beggars Opera One now th . failure followed another B 1 ® B**?! out the world. The profits were ater and his creditors threatened, mor( . than 2 000 and H H andel whoie him with prison f\nally. al fifty- m , £lortunK had b h , h , m with . two Kamiel suffered a Paralytic j h h d f £ b . n stroke from which he never fully. lejuced , ha , hjs music had the recoverea. means of freeing less fortunate On the night of August 21, I'M], , nen after wandering aimlessly, through Back jn £„ , and hc waited aI . he streets of London, Handel re- before he had the cour- turned to his flat in Hanover I0 Messlah , 0 the Square, feeling ,n his heart the bit- b , k F , na „ hc „ dvertl „ ed a terness of utter defeat Nothing f , pcrf „ rmanres to be given , n mattered now, for he had ost faith Ma h ^ 17M at Covent ‘ G arden in his own ability. . HechamcaUy, ThM , tr | going about his study to light the inimrt , a „ lv hi , , nemlM ,, unch .| candles he noticed a Pockage on ^ a iam gn vimfic , Uon tha , his desk. Beside it was an envelope had * ,, j , , hi ,l addressed in a familiar hand Street urchins were hired to 1 Charles Jennens. h,s librettist ,t d „ wn hls ters as (as , as he l tumc-d out had sent hun a compd- , d h h £ To rob atior. of Scriptural texts called hls au ^ enc ^ society I Messiah. Jennens hoped that per- _ women organized balls and private haps Handel would find in it an in- co ts on , he on>torio nights and spiration for the new oratorio he sen , mvitations to Han- had been planning. de ,. s f altbdu j patrons. Theatergo*. A wealthy, conceited dilettante, w ho could giggle over the lewd; Jennens had been a devoted friend f arC es then current on the English; through the composer’s misfortunes stage raised hypocritical protests and had written the librettos for his 1 that Handel had profaned the earlier oratorios, Saul and Israel in Scripture by setting it to dramatic Egypt. Although Handel had only a Bigots took up the cry. meager knowledge of English, be Branding the Messiah as sacrileg- knew that Jennens’ rhymes were j 0USf they tried to obtain an injunc- faulty and amateurish. Not even tion against its performance on the the best muic could redeem them, grounds that Covent Garden was a Wearily he opened the new man- piac^ 0 f worldly amusement’ Cler-f uscript and began to read: Comfort 1CS denounced the blasphemy of ye, comfort ye my people, saith printing the word "Messiah” on a your God. Prepare ye the way of p i ay bill, and until 1749 it was ad-, the Lord; make straight in the des- vertised only as “A Sacred Orato- ert a highway for your God . . r j 0 ” And the glory of the Lord shall In the face of all this opposition, be revealed, and all flesh shall see Handel went ahead with his plans, it together; for the mouth of the but each of the three performances Lord hath spoken it. in 1743 was a flat failure. He pre- No lumbering verses these, he sented Messiah twice in 1745 and marveled, but poetry of power and once again four yeras later, but wondrous beauty. He read on; | with no more success. For behold, 1 bring you good tid-; It is an odd fact that during the, ings of great joy, which shall be to first eight years of its existence, the all people. For unto you is born tfcjs oratorio which today fills every day, in the city of David, a Savior, church or auditorium in which it i5 which is called the Lord. . . . i sung was heard with chilling indif- Hallelujah! for the Lord God Om- ference. Geniune music lovers must nipotent reigneth. King of Kings, and Lord of Lords; and He shall reign for ever and ever. Hallelu jah!. . . And it was then that one of the great miracles of musical creation took place. Suddenly the harmonies of mighty choruses, the music of violins and organ and trumpet flooded the barren mind and heart of George Frederick Handel. He reached for his pen and began to stab the notes onto paper. Night and day the musk poured forth, always faster than the crip pled fingers could capture the melo dies and write them down.' For three weeks Handel worked in such a fever of intensity that afterwards he was to confess: “Whether I was in my body or out of my body as I wrote it, I know not.” He slept at intervals, but never soundly—never out of hearing of the musk that tormented him. His man-servant brought food f ro m time to time, but usually returned to find the tray untouched. Peep ing into the study, he would see Handel sitting motionless and star ing into space, while tears dribbled down his face and fell upon the pa per. More than once he discovered his master with his head on his arms, his giant frame racked with sobs. On September 14 he wrote, the final note and autographed his work. The manuscript was a maze have appreciated the beauty of Messiah, but they were not num erous or powerful enough to over come the pressure of bigotry and social ostracism. « If the gruff and sometimes ill- tempered Handel had been a less charitable person at heart, the re jected oratorio might have perish ed. But Handel, although a bach elor, loved children. He was one of the governors of L o n d o n’s Foundling Hospital, an institution devoted to “the reception, mainte nance and education of exposed and deserted young children. When wealthy sponsors of the hospital contributed funds for a ^hapeL Handel promptly donated a splen did organ and offered to dedkate it on May 1, 1750, with a special performance of his “Sacred Orato- ff * The Foundling Hospital was a fashionable charity and on the day of the concert the chapel was crowded to its capacity of 1,000. Many had to be turned awgy. Here in the solemnity of the chapel, the musk made so profound an impres sion that Handel was begged to re peat rt. Scorned for eight years, Messiah suddenly became London’s best loved oratorio—and the composer’s most profitable work. The Church endorsed it, and' eventually it was performed in Westminster Abbey with full orchestra and a choir of MAY THIS HAPPY HOUDAY SEASON BRING TO YOU AND YOURS MERRY-MAKING HAPPINESS AND EVERY FULL MEASURE OF CONTENTMENT With all sincerity, your city officials wish for you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year. CITY of CLINTON JOE P. TERRY. Mayor W. B. OWENS. Clerk A Treasurer MRS. ARTHUR HOWARD, MISS MARY FRANCES PLNSON. Asustants BOARD OF ALDERMEN: Hugh C. Ray. L. 8. Reddeck. W. M. McMillan. H. L Lichelberger. Woodrow L Wilson. James Craine AND ALL CITY EMPLOYEES