• Philippa Hyde soprano
• Jennie Cassidy alto
• Tom Stapleton tenor
• Giles Davies bass
• Psalmody
• Essex Baroque Orchestra
• directed by Peter Holman

We present Handel’s great masterpiece in an unfamiliar guise.  He wrote Messiah in a hectic few weeks in the summer of 1741 for his visit to Dublin; it was first performed there on 13 April 1742.  He later performed the work repeatedly in London, modifying it substantially to accommodate new solo singers and changing circumstances.

The version normally performed today derives from those he gave at the Foundling Hospital in the 1750s.  In this performance we go back to Handel’s original conception, with startlingly different versions of some of the solos and even an extra chorus, ‘Break forth into joy’, coming at the end of the rarely performed duet version of ‘How beautiful are the feet’.  

We recreate the work as heard in Dublin, with a small choir and period-instrument orchestra. SVF favourite Philippa Hyde takes the role created by the Italian soprano Christina Maria Avoglio, and renowned early music singer Jennie Cassidy makes a welcome return to the Festival to sing the parts Handel wrote for the great tragic actress Susanna Maria Cibber.

As part of our outreach to young people, a youth choir from Holmwood House School in Colchester will join us at several climactic points.

We are dedicating this performance to the memory of Selene Mills, a regular member of Psalmody who lost her long battle with cancer on 10 August; she was only 54.