The famous theatrical architect Servandoni was
commissioned to design an elaborate entertainment of fireworks on a
colossal scale to be let off in the Green Park, accompanied by the music of
Handel. The Fireworks Music was scored for fifty-six wind instruments. A
rehearsal of it (without fireworks) was held at Vauxhall Gardens a week
before, at half a crown admission, and it is said to have been attended by
a crowd of twelve thousand persons. At the actual performance the fireworks
were a disastrous failure, owing to various accidents, but Handel's music,
accompanied by the firing of ordnance, was the real event of the evening. A
month later Handel repeated the music at the Foundling Hospital, along with
selections from Solomon, and a new work, composed for the occasion, known
as the Foundling Anthem. His next act of generosity was to present the
hospital with an organ, which he inaugurated on May 1, 1750, with a
performance of Messiah. Henceforth the performance of Messiah at the
Foundling Hospital for the benefit of the institution became an annual
event, and it was this charitable association which really secured the work
its subsequent popularity.
Handel's next oratorio, Theodora (March 16, 1750), came out at a bad
moment, for a series of earthquakes were being felt in London, with the
result that many people took refuge in the country, and those who stayed
behind were reluctant to go to the theatre.
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