Sternstunden der Menschheit

After struggling with ill health, anxiety and lack of success for several years, George Frideric Handel decides to take a breather and to pass on composing a major work for the 1741–42 season. His friend Charles Jennens, however, badgers him with his plans for a new oratorio project, and an invitation to Dublin ultimately gives Handel the final push to accept the job. Inspired by Jennens’s adaptation of the bible passages, Handel feels like he is struck by an “angel’s command from an overcast sky” and writes his famous Messiah in an almost delirious state.

“Millions of idle world hours must always pass before a truly historic one, a shining hour of humanity, makes its appearance.” Hans Dieter Knebel reads the chapter entitled RESURRECTION OF GEORG FRIEDRICH HÄNDEL from Stefan Zweig’s book "Decisive Moments in History", in which the author, paying little heed to historical accuracy, devotes himself to this important event in music history.