The chapter on ‘Printed Editions’ in Watkins Shaw’s A Textual and Historical Companion to Handel’s ‘Messiah’ (1965) gives a summary of the publication of music from Messiah (by John Walsh the younger) during Handel’s lifetime. Shaw concluded that this area of sources did not provide much useful material for his edition, but the history of the early publication (and non-publication) of Messiah remains intriguing. A reassessment of Walsh’s publications, in combination with other evidence, has provided new insights and revised some previously held assumptions. Walsh probably received copy soon after the first London performances in spring 1743, and this was the common source for the music from Messiah that appeared in the series Handel’s Songs Selected from his Latest Oratorios from 1749 onwards, and for the full-score volume Songs in Messiah. The latter was not published during Handel’s lifetime, but the music engraving probably commenced soon after the copy was received, and gaps in Walsh’s publication lists suggest that he contemplated issuing the edition in the period 1747–50. Although Songs in Messiah has hitherto been regarded as an integral publication, the music pages reveal a complex picture with five different engraving styles, opening up the possibility that work on the edition was halted for a time and then resumed. The reason for the delay in publication remains unclear, but it is likely that there was obstruction from Handel himself. The publication of the complete work in full score (which used some plates from Songs in Messiah) followed soon after the death of Walsh in 1766 and may have been a rather speculative venture by his successors. However, it led to a series of similar publications and may, in the longer term, be viewed as a first step towards Arnold’s collected edition of Handel’s works.
Handel, Walsh, and the Publication of ‘Messiah’
