Pastor Tracy Reads | Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel’s Messiah by Charles King.

January 27, 2025 | Pastor Tracy Troxel

I know what you think: Pastor Tracy spends most of his free time watching sports. Well, it is true that I enjoy sports. (Although the 3 decades of the Dallas Cowboys’ demise have dampened my enthusiasm for football.) But I enjoy reading quite a bit. Over the next few months, I would like to review books that I have enjoyed reading recently. While I do read books on theology, my reviews will focus on other areas. There are important books that believers ought to be reading. Reading books opens our minds to think more clearly about our world. And it helps us to see how the gospel intersects with that world. So, I hope you enjoy the reviews and that you may decide to read some of the books that are reviewed for you.

Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel’s Messiah by
Charles King (Doubleday 2024)

I love listening to Handel’s Messiah. I have participated in sing-a-longs of the Messiah. Several times I have tried not to ruin the performance of the Messiah when playing the trumpet for the Hallelujah Chorus. And, I have air conducted the Robert Shaw Chorale’s performance of the Messiah from my living room many times.

Every Valley opened a whole new appreciation of the Messiah Oratorio for me. What I did not know is that Handel did not write the libretto for the Messiah. While George Frideric Handel wrote the incredible music of the Messiah, it was Charles Jennens who compiled the scriptures that form the ‘book’ of the Messiah. Charles Jennens was born in 1700 and was a man of many worries. He believed that England had taken a wrong turn and was on the decline. Part of the motivation for Charles Jennen was to put together a set of scriptures that provided something solid to hold on to in a world that seemed to Charles to be terribly fragile. This is why the Messiah begins with the words, “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.”

The original performance of the Messiah took place in Ireland. One of the chief soloists at the opening performance, Susannah Cibber, had experienced a life of suffering and shame. As she sang of Christ’s humiliation and shame on the cross, the audience was also aware of Susannah’s shame and suffering. One audience member reportedly exclaimed after Cibber’s singing, “Woman, for this, be all thy sins forgiven.” These and other stories throughout the book give a personal perspective on the Messiah.

Finally, you will find it fascinating to see how the Messiah was part of a grassroots fundraising effort for a charitable effort called the Foundling Hospital. Amazing.

I believe you will find the stories in Every Valley to add to your appreciation of the Messiah and provide rich textures of new meaning the next time you listen to this great piece of music.