"The most satisfying, historically accurate, reconstructions" of Handel's Messiah "generally date from the early 1750s."1 On May 15th 1754 the Messiah was produced in London for the first time with the vocal and instrumental ensemble that one often finds in productions today.2 At this time Shaykh Ahmad, the great precursor of the Babi and Baha'i Revelations, was one year old. -Ron Price with thanks to 1David Vickers, "A Sacred Oratorio," Internet, 2003; 2ABC FM Radio, December 23rd, 2003, 12:30 pm.
The greatest single musical production
in the history of humankind,
in one epic music-poem,
the whole of human experience
in a blend of elegant melody,
virtuosic vocalism,
with its capacity for self-renewal
was ready for the world,
the world as text, mystical tree.
And so there was born
in eastern Arabia--
as these melodic tones
entered the air--
creative imagination
of another ilk
which saw the world as text
and the melody of a new
Revelation as its sine qua non
and what was coming next.
Ron Price
24 December 2003
