♪ Music notes ♪

Various legends, registering differing degrees of reality and truth, inevitably surround such a famous and long-lived composition as Messiah by George Frideric Handel (1685-1759). It is known that he wrote most of the work in an astonishingly short three weeks time, beginning on August 22, 1741. Another legend attached to the work relates to his inspiration, which casts the frenzied composition as a sort of divine dictation. Handel is said to have emerged at some point (usually, it is noted, after finishing the “Hallelujah Chorus”), and proclaimed: “I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God himself!” The first performance of Messiah took place in Dublin, on April 13, 1742. Handel gave the London premiere less than a year later at Covent Garden, and in the almost 300 years since then, Messiah has taken its rightful place as one of the most frequently performed and most beloved choral works of all time.

Boris Ord (1897-1961) was a British organist and choirmaster. Educated at Clifton College, Bristol, he then went to study at the Royal College of Music on an organ scholarship. Ord’s studies were interrupted by the outbreak of World War I, and he went to serve as a pilot of the Royal Flying Corps. After the war, he returned to the Royal College to continue his musical studies, and in 1920 won an organ scholarship at Christi College, Cambridge. In 1929, Ord took the position of Organist at King’s College, Cambridge, a role which placed him in charge of the chapel choir. At the onset of World War II, he and his then organ scholar, David Willcocks, left King’s to join the armed forces. Ord served in an administrative position in the Royal Air Force, as he was considered too old to fly. In the mid 50s, he began to suffer from disseminated sclerosis, and it was decided to split his role into two new positions. Ord took on the new title of Director of Music and Willcocks was appointed to the role of Organist. After Ord’s retirement in 1957, Willcocks took over as Organist and Director of Music – a title which has since been held by all his successors. Today, Ord is best known for his only published composition, Adam Lay Ybounden.

Charles Wesley (1707-1788) was an English leader of the Methodist movement, most widely known for writing about 6,500 hymn texts. He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford, and after graduating with a masters degree in classical languages and literature, Charles followed his father and brother into Anglican orders in 1735. He was a younger brother of Methodist founder John Wesley, and Anglican cleric Samuel Wesley the Younger, the father of musician Samuel Wesley, and the grandfather of musician Samuel Sebastian Wesley.

Paul Trepte (b. 1954) is a British organist, choirmaster and composer. Between the years 1972 and 1990, he was the organ scholar at New College, Oxford, the Assistant Organist at Worcester Cathedral, and the Director of Music at St. Edmundsbury Cathedral. In 1990, he accepted the post of Director of Music at Ely Cathedral, where he served until his retirement in 2019.

Eleanor Farjeon (1881-1965) was a British poet, biographer, and author of children’s books. Her magical but unsentimental tales, which often mock the behaviour of adults, earned her a revered place in many British nurseries! The daughter of a British novelist and granddaughter of an American actor, she grew up in the bohemian literary and dramatic circles of London. Although frequently ill as a child, thereby having to spend a great deal of time at home reading and writing, she nevertheless attended opera and theatre productions at age 4, and began writing on her father’s typewriter at age 7. When she was 16, she came to public attention as the lyricist of an opera, with music written by her brother Harry, which was produced by the Royal Academy of Music. She was the first recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Award for lifetime achievement in children’s literature, and also received the Carnegie Medal.

John Cennick (1718-1755) was an early Methodist and Moravian evangelist, as well as a successful and prolific hymn writer. His family was originally from Bohemia, but Cennick was born in England to an Anglican family and raised in the Church of England. He spent much time as an itinerant evangelist in England and Ireland, enduring great and often violent opposition. By the time of his early death, he had established over 40 churches. Although he wrote many hymns, he is probably best remembered for the popular Advent hymn “Lo, He Comes with Clouds Descending”, the text of which was subsequently revised by Charles Wesley.

Georg Weissel (1590-1635) was a Prussian pastor who served a church in Königsberg for most of his career. One of the most important of the earliest hymn writers of Prussia, he wrote Macht hoch die Tür (Lift Up Your Heads) for the first Sunday of Advent. This morning’s choral commissioning is the text of the third verse (translated into English by Catherine Winkworth). Although Weissel wrote some 20 hymn texts in total, this hymn is the only one to endure.

Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878) was the foremost 19th century British translator of German hymns into English. Her translations were polished, and yet remained close to the original, and are still used extensively in many denominational hymnals. Educated initially by her mother, she lived with relatives in Dresden, Germany in 1845, where she acquired her knowledge and interest in German hymnody. A pioneer in promoting women’s rights, Winkworth put much of her energy into the encouragement of higher education for women.