Charles Jennens
Charles Jennens (1700 – 20 November 1773) was an English landowner and patron of the arts, who assembled the text for five of Handel's oratorios: Saul, Israel in Egypt, L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, Messiah, and Belshazzar. Much of this served to promote his own views concerning kingship (he was a supporter of the deposed Stuart line).[1]
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[edit] Life
Jennens was born in Leicestershire and educated at Balliol College, Oxford.[2] He lived at Gopsall, till 1747 together with his father, unmarried, melancholic and extravagant.[3] His neighbours called him Suleyman the Magnificent.[4] Lord Guernsey was his second cousin.[5]
Jennens was friendly with Edward Holdsworth, sending the poet and classical scholar letters.[6] He became a non-juror, interested in "primitive Christianity" and John Chrysostom.[citation needed] Jennens was an anti-Deist, in those days very popular. Richard Kidder's book A Demonstration of the Messias influenced him.[citation needed]
Jennens owned scores of many operas, he already subscribed in 1725, and added corrections, bass figures, rejected pieces and dates.[7] In regards to the libretto of Messiah, some scholars attribute Messiah's emphasis on the Old Testament — and choice of the Old Testament title "Messiah" — to Jennens' theological choices.[8]
Jennens had an interesting collection of books by Shakespeare, on philology and theology.[9] Today many of his books can be found in the Henry Watson Music Library in Manchester. A portrait of Charles Jennens by Thomas Hudson is currently on display in Handel House Museum in London.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Biographical entry in the Musical Times
- ^ Ruth Smith, "Jennens, Charles (1700/01–1773)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.
- ^ Handel. A Celebration of his Life and Times 1685-1759, p. 201. National Portrait Gallery London
- ^ Biographical entry in the Musical Times
- ^ Biographical entry in the Musical Times
- ^ Biographical entry in the Musical Times
- ^ Winton Dean (2006) Handels operas (1726–1741), p. 122, 278, 302, 310.
- ^ Clifford Bartlett. Introduction, Oxford Choral Works edition of Messiah. Oxford University Press, 1998.
- ^ Tassilo Erhardt, Händels Messiah. Text, Musik, Theologie, Comes Verlag, Bad Reichenhall 2007, ISBN 9783888205002.
[edit] External links
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