Every Valley

Handel’s Messiah is the most performed piece of classical music ever written and one of the most enduring expressions of hope in the darkness. In this superbly written and effortlessly readable history, Charles King reveals the drama of intertwined lives that lies behind its creation, involving some of the most famous, scandalous, brilliant and moving personalities of the 18th century.

These include Charles Jennens, the melancholic obsessive who compiled its unusual libretto; Susannah Cibber, the spectacularly exploited, ultra-famous actress whose moving performance of the Messiah transformed her into one of the most revered figures in theatrical history; Thomas Coram, whose foundling hospital became the annual venue for performances of the Messiah; Jonathan Swift, the rageful, ailing satirist who almost prevented it from being premiered; Ayuba Diallo, an enslaved African who became a celebrity of the era; and of course Handel himself, a German immigrant famous for his stratospheric rise under the new Hanoverian regime as well as his foul-mouthed wit.

Through their collective story, King shows Handel's Messiah to be not only the creation of his musical genius but an encapsulation of the era in which he lived – a time of extraordinary political tumult, uncertainty and fear, which shaped Britain and the world to this day - and thus why this extraordinary piece of music still moves people so profoundly, bringing audiences to their feet for its iconic Hallelujah chorus every year.