Little Messiah: Naturally, we do not know how the very first performance of Messiah sounded. Particularly because Handel in his own life-time managed to make numerous changes in connection with later performances, so that there are now at least ten different versions from Handel’s own time. But one thing is for certain. Messiah sounded very different than in the later versions that had hundreds of musicians and hundreds of choir singers.
Music: Dunedin Consort ‘Handel’s Original Dublin Version 1742’