I cannot count the number of times that I have sung it, but I will never get tired of it. I know all four parts by memory, soprano, alto, tenor, bass, yet I am thrilled to sing it as much the hundredth time as I was the first.
Great music lifts the heart and turns our spirit heavenward.
As a young man, he had been the court musician of the Elector of Hanover. When the elector became King George I of England, Handel followed him and both became British citizens. After 20 tumultuous but successful years as Britain's ruling musician, Handel lost his health, his wealth, and with them his friends. At this lowest point of his life, he was encouraged to set a libretto to music which was based on Scripture. He accomplished the task in a little more than three weeks in 1741.