The sell-out performance was attended by the Prince
The Foundling Hospital was created to provide a home for the thousands of children abandoned on the streets of 18th century London. Its founder, Thomas Coram, was a successful shipwright of humble origins who, despite his class and trade, eventually managed to encourage the sympathetic elite of London to support his cause.After many years of struggle, in 1741 the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children – or The Foundling Hospital as it became known – opened its doors to the destitute infants of London. It depended for its maintenance not only on wealthy benefactors but also on artists such as William Hogarth, who contributed their talents to raising funds for the charity. Amongst these artists was the musician, George Frideric Handel.
The Composer HandelPoster George Frideric Handel began his association with The Foundling Hospital almost ten years after its opening. He is mentioned for the first time in the minutes of a meeting of The Foundling Hospital’s General Committee on 4th May 1749. The Committee thanks Handel for“...having generously and charitably offered a performance of vocal and instrumental music to be held at this Hospital, and that the money arising therefrom should be applied to the finishing the Chapel of the Hospital Resolved.”. (1)In May, 1749 Handel conducted his first concert in the Chapel itself. The sell-out performance was attended by the Prince and Princess of Wales, and raised more than £350 for the Foundling Hospital.Handel’s specially-composed piece, Blessed are they that considereth the poor and needy , soon became known as The Foundling Hospital Anthem.
The Foundling Hospital AnthemBy The Academy of Ancient Music Handel’s Messiah at The Foundling Hospital The next year, 1750, Handel conducted a performance of his Messiah in the same Chapel. In order to squeeze more guests into the Chapel, Handel requested that ladies remove the hoops from their skirts and gentlemen remove their swords. Despite these requests, so many tickets were over-sold that many ticket-holders were turned away. Handel gladly repeated the concert two weeks later, resulting in £1,000 from both concerts.After his generous musical contribution to The Foundling Hospital, Handel soon became a Governor of the institution. Messiah, which had not been well received on its first performance in 1743, became an annual event. Despite eventually being unable to conduct due to illness, Handel attended every performance until his death in 1759.
