In all of classical music, George Frederic Handel"s 1741 devotional masterpiece "Messiah", an oratorio based entirely on Biblical texts, stands as one of the great, enduring works taking as its theme the birth of the Savior. Profoundly impressed by the intensely devotional character and expressive beauty of the texts, Handel composed all of the "Messiah" in a concentrated burst of inspired creativity, working ceaselessly for 24 days, hardly eating or sleeping, and producing, in the words of Sir Malcolm Sargent, conductor of this stirring performance, "an oratorio of incomparable grandeur and ineffable beauty which to this day brings glimpses of Heaven and the Peace of God" to all who hear it. Of the widely familiar "Hallelujah Chorus" the story is told that when King George II attended the first London performance, he was so overcome by its grandeur that he rose to his feet and remained standing to its conclusion, giving rise to the custom, still frequently observed, of audience"s rising while it is sung. Handel himself said when he wrote this great, moving chorus, "I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the Great God Himself." Two centuries and more after its creation, the "Messiah" remains one of the inspired, and inspiring masterworks of all music of the Nativity.Track listing:1. Recitative: Comfort Ye (Richard Lewis, tenor)2. Air: Ev"ry Valley Shall Be Exalted (Richard Lewis, tenor)3. Chorus: And The Glory Of The Lord Shall Be Revealed4. Chorus: For Unto Us A Child Is Born5. Recitative: Then Shall The Eyes (Marjorie Thomas, contralto)6. Air: He Shall Feed His Flock (Marjorie Thomas, contralto)7. Air: Come Unto Him (Elsie Morison, soprano)8. Chorus: Behold The Lamb of God9. Air: He Was Despised (Marjorie Thomas, contralto)10. Chorus: Hallelujah!11. Air: I Know That My Redeemer Liveth (Elsie Morison, soprano)12. Chorus: Worthy Is The Lamb