Charles Jennens

Charles Jennens; painting by Thomas Hudson.

Charles Jennens; painting by Mason Chamberlin the elder.

Charles Jennens (1700 – 20 November 1773) was an English landowner and patron of the arts, who assembled the text for five of Handel's oratorios: Saul, Israel in Egypt, L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, Messiah, and Belshazzar. Much of this served to promote his own views concerning kingship (he was a supporter of the deposed Stuart line).^[1]

Life

Jennens was born in Leicestershire and educated at Balliol College, Oxford.^[2] He lived at Gopsall, till 1747 together with his father, unmarried, melancholic and extravagant.^[3] His neighbours called him Suleyman the Magnificent.^[4] Lord Guernsey was his second cousin.^[5]

Jennens was friendly with Edward Holdsworth, sending the poet and classical scholar letters.^[6] He became a non-juror, interested in "primitive Christianity" and John Chrysostom.^{[citation needed]} Jennens was an anti-Deist, in those days very popular. Richard Kidder's book A Demonstration of the Messias influenced him.^{[citation needed]}

Jennens owned scores of many operas, he already subscribed in 1725, and added corrections, bass figures, rejected pieces and dates.^[7] In regards to the libretto of Messiah, some scholars attribute Messiah's emphasis on the Old Testament — and choice of the Old Testament title "Messiah" — to Jennens' theological choices.^[8]

Jennens had an interesting collection of books by Shakespeare, on philology and theology.^[9] Today many of his books can be found in the Henry Watson Music Library in Manchester. A portrait of Charles Jennens by Thomas Hudson is currently on display in Handel House Museum in London.

See also

• Letters and writings of George Frideric Handel

References

1. ^ Biographical entry in the Musical Times
2. ^ Ruth Smith, "Jennens, Charles (1700/01–1773)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.
3. ^ Handel. A Celebration of his Life and Times 1685-1759, p. 201. National Portrait Gallery London
4. ^ Biographical entry in the Musical Times
5. ^ Biographical entry in the Musical Times
6. ^ Biographical entry in the Musical Times
7. ^ Winton Dean (2006) Handels operas (1726–1741), p. 122, 278, 302, 310.
8. ^ Clifford Bartlett. Introduction, Oxford Choral Works edition of Messiah. Oxford University Press, 1998.
9. ^ Tassilo Erhardt, Händels Messiah. Text, Musik, Theologie, Comes Verlag, Bad Reichenhall 2007, ISBN 9783888205002.

External links

• Letter from Handel to Charles Jennens regarding the organ for Gopsall

Persondata
Name	Jennens, Charles
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1700
Place of birth
Date of death	20 November 1773
Place of death