A pioneering venture by the Gramophone and Typewriter company in 1906 produced the first recording of Handel’s Messiah; Simon Heighes takes a listen to the original 25 shellac-disc set
Messiah on record
Handel’s Messiah has been recorded more often than any other major choral work. If we want to listen at home today, the choice is breathtaking. But winding the clock back, things were a little different at the beginning of the last century. Although fledgling record companies seized on Messiah as a money spinner, they were only able to offer a few short extracts. The earliest records and cylinders ran for just a couple of minutes, so Handel’s music was mercilessly chopped to fit.
Although radical, this surgery was surprisingly successful. Because Handel’s style was fairly repetitive, many of his simpler airs and choruses actually slimmed down quite easily. In any case, most listeners already knew the music well, especially the ‘Hallelujah’ chorus whose march-like style was especially popular with brass bands who recorded it regularly – adding a bit of class to the catalogues of even the humblest record companies.
The first attempt to record a sizeable chunk of Messiah was made by the wonderfully named Gramophone and Typewriter company (G&T) during the summer of 1906. Their 1907 catalogue must have created quite a stir, offering customers an unprecedented 25 movements spread over twelve 10-inch and thirteen longer playing 12-inch records: all single sided – the idea of recording on both sides of the record had yet to catch on. This amounted to nearly an hour-and-a-half’s music – a rare achievement. And an expensive one. Customers could buy the records singly or at a special combined price of £5 15s 6d. Compared with average annual earnings of around £70, it’s clear that this was a prestige product aimed at the high end of the market.
High end or not, the memory of the recording’s importance soon faded. Today, it’s Sir Thomas Beecham’s Messiah of 1927 which is celebrated as the first in the field, while the pioneering G&T recording of 1906 has been virtually airbrushed out of the story. Perhaps it was overlooked because it didn’t include all Handel’s of music – though neither did Beecham’s – or maybe because its fragile shellac discs were just very hard to find.
Today, the p
