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Freakonomics Radio

657. Whose “Messiah” Is It Anyway?

All sorts of people have put their mark on “Messiah,” and it has been a hit for nearly 300 years. How can a single piece of music thrive in so many settings? You could say it’s because Handel really knew how to write a banger. (Part three of “Making ‘Messiah.’”)
Duration
55m
Broadcast on
19 Dec 2025
Audio Format
other

All sorts of people have put their mark on Messiah, and it has been a hit for nearly 300 years. How can a single piece of music thrive in so many settings? You could say it’s because Handel really knew how to write a banger. (Part three of “Making Messiah.”)

 

  • SOURCES:
    • Charles King, political scientist at Georgetown University.
    • Jane Glover, classical music scholar, conductor.
    • Katharine Hogg, musicologist, head librarian at the Foundling Museum.
    • Susannah Heschel, religion professor, chair of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College.
    • Mark Risinger, teacher at St. Bernard’s School.
    • Michael Marissen, professor emeritus of music at Swarthmore College, author of Tainted Glory in Handel’s Messiah: The Unsettling History of the World’s Most Beloved Choral Work.

 

 


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Transcription truncated.

All sorts of people have put their mark on “Messiah,” and it has been a hit for nearly 300 years. How can a single piece of music thrive in so many settings? You could say it’s because Handel really knew how to write a banger. (Part three of “Making ‘Messiah.’”)