Thank you to Charles King, the publisher and NetGalley for this advance reader copy.

I originally received this book this summer but was sadly unable to finish before the release date.

I enjoy a good memoir or a history of 20th century music, but I'm not at all a classical music aficionado so I’m not sure what compelled me to request this book but I’m glad I did.

This is partially a biography of the composer George Friderick Handel, but also a history of what led to his “Messiah” composition, including the scandals, indignities and injustices of those connected to it.

Charles King’s writing is scrupulous and somewhat beguiling for the subject matter. What could have been a very short biography on Handel’s life was made far more interesting by the seemingly disparate stories about its parts and players.

I’m glad to have read it and highly recommend it for music history buffs.

I have two degrees in music and as a singer I have performed Messiah in its entirety well over 100 times, not counting the times when I sang solos or performed in individual choruses of the work. It’s popular for a reason - it’s a work of genius, accessible and as majestic on its hundredth hearing as it was on the first. I was looking forward to reading this book because of the description of “behind the scenes” stories and was eager to hear something beyond what I had studied in graduate school. I was disappointed. The truth is, the stories, history and people surrounding Handel and Messiah for the most part just aren’t very interesting.

It seems to me that Charles King wanted to present an Eric Larson-style narrative that would expand and illuminate Handel’s work. The publisher’s blurb even mentions that the material is “cinematic,” so it seems clear what hopes they had for the book. But King didn’t present the story in a way that kept us turning pages. Too much time was spent on historical details that had little relationship to Handel, and characters were introduced whose purpose in being there was not made clear until about 3/4 of the way through the story. I’m also curious to know how much a non-musician would understand. There were a lot of technical terms that I think would be inaccessible to the general public. Handel himself is not a main character - he only speaks once, and the author here chose to make him say words using a very bad transcription of a German accent.

The book also contains the complete original libretto (script) and extensive notes and bibliography. Thanks to Doubleday and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Against the backdrop of 18th-century Britain’s turbulent political and social landscape, this book tells the story of the creation of Handel’s “Messiah.” This cinematic narrative weaves together the lives of diverse and unexpected characters whose experiences shaped this masterpiece of hope. The book is fascinating and entertaining.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Thank you Netgalley and Doubleday Books for access to this arc.

I read the blurb. I knew that this would cover much more than just the work in question which I agree "is arguably the greatest piece of participatory art ever created." I just didn't realize that there would be so much other than the "Messiah." If I had wanted to read about interesting details of the early 18th century, this would be a fascinating book. It's obviously well researched, the writing is good if at times confusing enough that I needed to stop and reread sentences a time or three. But, I did sign up to learn specifically about the "Messiah" and I've just lost patience with getting to that point. DNF

A fascinating book about the origins of/making of Handel's Messiah. I did not know I needed this book in my life, and now I'd love to go see a full performance. Definitely a book I will be recommending to friends and family.

It took a universe of pain to make a musical monument to hope. from Every Valley by Charles King

The highlight of my choral singing career was performing the Messiah with the Philadelphia Orchestra. I had been singing alto since Third Grade, a part of school choirs and community choruses for decades. I had learned the Hallelujah chorus in high school. But, what a thrill to sing in the Academy of Music with one of the top orchestras in the country!

To tell the history of the Messiah, Every Valley vividly recreates the world of Georgian London, a time of political and religious turmoil, war, disease and high early childhood mortality rates, poverty, and cruel entertainments (including public hangings). There was a rise in literacy and publishing, a public demand for sensational stories, and operas were all the rage.

George Frideric Handel left Germany for London, which was on its way to becoming the largest city in Europe. He wrote music for royal occasions that we still hear in concert, including his Water Music that entertained King George I on his royal barge. His operas were so crowded that men were asked to leave their swords at home and women were begged to forgo their hoops.

It was the age of Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, and Samuel Johnson; Johann Sebastian Bach and Vivaldi. John Gay created the first comic opera and Swift wrote satires that still sting. There was Grub Street and newspapers (written by novelists, that is reporters of novel facts) that kept the public riveted to scandals and crime stories. The Little Ice Age resulted in crop failures and famines. And a time of wars and political intrigue with supporters of Bonnie Prince Charlie plotting to restore the Stuarts to the throne, and a splintering of Protestantism into suspect sects.

British trade reached across the world, and including transporting slaves. Georgia was being settled in America; the founders’ ideals soon abandoned as slaves were ‘leased’ to do the onerous work of settlement. One of Handel’s patrons supported Ignatius Sancho, a composer and playwright who was born on a slave ship.

She sang again of a man who knew sadness without being drowned by it, someone who taught that the opposite of fear was not bravery but understanding. […]By the end of the aria, it was wholly possible to believe that the greatest heroism was simple survival, that transcendence might even depend on knowing horror from the inside. from Every Valley by Charles King

The woman who sang in Handel’s operas was involved in a notorious scandal. Susannah Cibber was a popular actress whose husband sold her favors. She fell in love with the purchaser and they ran off together. Her husband took her to court, airing the sordid affair to the public. She was forgiven when her performance in the first presentation of the Messiah in Dublin profoundly moved listeners. She became the star of the stage, appearing with David Garrick.

The proceeds from the first performance of Messiah, went to charity, and later performances funded the first Foundling Hospital. Handel also donated concert profits to establish the Fund for Decay’d Musicians, which became the Royal Society of Musicians.

The story of how the Messiah came to be is unexpectedly filled with colorful characters, including the man who penned the libretto of Messiah. Charles Jennens was eccentric, often plagued by physical and mental distress. He was dedicated to his friend Edward Holdsworth and after Holdsworth’s death Jennens building him an elaborate memorial on his estate.

King does a marvelous job of explaining the Messiah and the message Jennens wanted to send. “Comfort ye” are the first words. “The Messiah is a work of anguish and promise, of profound worry and resounding joy, all expressed in ingenious, irresistible melodies,” King writes. It moved audiences then, and even the most secular of listeners are moved today.

At the end of the book you can read Jennens’ entire libretto.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.

I was not expecting a book packed with so much history. It became tedious after awhile and instead of learning about one of my favorite pieces of music, I couldn't wait to get to the end. And it wasn't because of interest any longer, I just wanted to get it done. I thank NetGalley and Doubleday Books for the advance read.

From the promotional blurb that I read, I assumed that this would be an engaging, fictionalized account of Handel's life and his works. I am sad to say that I could not finish this as it read more like a graduate course textbook for music majors. The author tried to stuff so many facts onto each page that the going was slow and very dry. I'm giving it two stars in appreciation of all of the research that the author must have done.

I want to thank NetGalley, Doubleday Books Publishing for the opportunity to read the ebook, “Every Valley” by Charles King.
Charles King traces the long and very interesting creation of George Frederich Handel’s “Messiah.” The world is so familiar with the great oratorio, but perhaps not at all familiar with the man who created the text, artists who originally performed it and so much about the cosmopolitan career of Handel himself.
I found the opening chapters of European history to be some of the most interesting. Author King, like all great historical analysts brings the period to life in great detail and with the wonderful gift of making it all pointed and exciting. Handel’s life and career in London was so rich and intricate and far more business-oriented than most of us know. As a composer and educator I found the details fascinating. “The Messiah” is one of the most famous and well-known musical masterpieces. It receives as many annual performances as any musical work ever. It’s long and very detailed history as told by Charles King is a tour-de-force of musical creation and the often vulnerable, but always fascinating human beings who with George Frederich Handel gave it life for all the world.
Book to be on sale October 29, 2024