brought out at a rival theater. It was a collection of most beautiful
melodies from various sources, used with words quite unworthy of them.
But the fickle public hailed the piece with delight, and its success
was the means of bringing total failure to the Royal Academy. Handel,
however, in spite of the schemes of his enemies, was determined to
carry on the work with his own fortune. He went again to Italy to
engage new singers, stopping at Halle to see his mother who was ill.
She passed away the next year at the age of eighty.

Handel tried for several years to keep Italian opera going in London,
in spite of the lack of musical taste and the opposition of his
enemies; but in 1737, he was forced to give up the struggle. He was
deeply in debt, his whole fortune of ten thousand pounds had been
swept away and his health broken by anxiety. He would not give up;
after a brief rest, he returned to London to begin the conflict anew.
The effort to re-awaken the English public's interest in Italian opera
seemed useless, and the composer at last gave up the struggle. He was
now fifty-five, and began to think of turning his attention to more
serious work. Handel has been called the father of the oratorio; he
composed at least twenty-eight works in this style, the best
known being "Samson," "Israel in Egypt," "Jephtha," "Saul," "Judas
Maccabæus" and greatest of all, the "Messiah."

The composer conceived the idea of writing the last named work in
1741. Towards the end of this year he was invited to visit Ireland
to make known some of his works. On the way there he was detained at
Chester for several days by contrary winds. He must have had the score
of the "Messiah" with him, for he got together some choir boys to try
over a few of the choral parts. "Can you sing at sight?" was put to
each boy before he was asked to sing. One broke down at the start.