Page "Messiah (Handel)" Paragraph 7

In 1735 Handel received the text for a new oratorio named Saul from its librettist Charles Jennens, a wealthy landowner with musical and literary interests.

Because Handel's main creative concern was still with opera, he did not write the music for Saul until 1738, in preparation for his 1738 – 39 theatrical season.

The work opened at the King's Theatre in January 1739 to a warm reception, and was quickly followed by the less successful oratorio Israel in Egypt ( which may also have come from Jennens ).

Although Handel continued to write and present operas, the trend towards English-language productions became irresistible as the decade ended, and after three performances of his last Italian opera Deidamia in January and February 1741, he abandoned the genre.

In July 1741 Jennens sent him a new libretto for an oratorio, and in a letter dated 10 July to his friend Edward Holdsworth, Jennens wrote: " I hope will lay out his whole Genius & Skill upon it, that the Composition may excell all his former Compositions, as the Subject excells every other subject.

The Subject is Messiah ".