Messiah libretto charles jennens biography
Handel's messiah song list.
Messiah lyrics in english pdf
Charles Jennens
English landowner and art patron (1700–1773)
Charles Jennens (1700 – 20 November 1773) was an English landowner and patron of the arts.
As a friend of Handel, he helped author the libretti of several of his oratorios, most notably Messiah.
Life
Jennens was brought up at Gopsall Hall in Leicestershire, the son of Charles Jennens and his second wife, Elizabeth Burdett.[1][2] He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, matriculating in 1716, but did not graduate.
He was a devout Christian and a non-juror, upholding the legitimacy of the deposed Stuart line.[1][2] He became interested in Primitive Apostolic (Sabbatarian) Christianity and John Chrysostom.[citation needed] Jennens has been identified as an anti-Deist.[3]Richard Kidder's book A Demonstration of the Messias influenced him.[citation needed]
After his father's death in 1747, Jennens had Gopsall Hall completely rebuilt