0:00:10 > 0:00:14# Hallelujah, hallelujah
0:00:14 > 0:00:16# Hallelujah, hallelujah
0:00:16 > 0:00:18# Hallelujah
0:00:18 > 0:00:22# Hallelujah, hallelujah
0:00:22 > 0:00:26# Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah... #
0:00:26 > 0:00:30On 1st May 1750, the great and the good of London
0:00:30 > 0:00:33crowded into a chapel to listen to the music of the most
0:00:33 > 0:00:38celebrated composer of the day - George Frideric Handel.
0:00:38 > 0:00:43# For the Lord God, omnipotent reigneth... #
0:00:43 > 0:00:46But what they didn't realise was that this evening
0:00:46 > 0:00:48was about to make history.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52# For the Lord God, omnipotent reigneth... #
0:00:52 > 0:00:57This concert wasn't staged in a palace or a grand theatre.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01It was staged in the London Foundling Hospital and behind it was
0:01:01 > 0:01:03a ground-breaking idea -
0:01:03 > 0:01:07raising money to help the city's abandoned children.
0:01:09 > 0:01:10# Hallelujah... #
0:01:12 > 0:01:16This was a benefit concert on a massive scale,
0:01:16 > 0:01:19and at its heart was Handel's mighty Messiah.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27Today, Messiah ranks as the most popular piece of choral music
0:01:27 > 0:01:28in the world.
0:01:28 > 0:01:33And it contains a melody that's as recognisable as anything in music.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35Yet it wasn't always this way.
0:01:35 > 0:01:40In fact, Messiah started life as a controversial experiment.
0:01:40 > 0:01:46# And He shall reign for ever and ever... #
0:01:46 > 0:01:49And that it survived at all is thanks to a remarkable
0:01:49 > 0:01:52set of events, which not only transformed
0:01:52 > 0:01:56the fortunes of Messiah - but also changed us as a nation.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01At the heart of this story are two exceptional men.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05In this film, I'm going to find out how an ageing sea captain
0:02:05 > 0:02:08named Thomas Coram forced society
0:02:08 > 0:02:13to face up to the scandalous treatment of its vulnerable children.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16While I'll be discovering how the great composer Handel
0:02:16 > 0:02:19joined forces with Coram's trailblazing charity,
0:02:19 > 0:02:24and rescued his masterpiece Messiah in the process.
0:02:24 > 0:02:26# Hallelujah, hallelujah
0:02:26 > 0:02:28# Hallelujah, hallelujah
0:02:28 > 0:02:29# Hallelujah
0:02:32 > 0:02:40# Hallelujah. #
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Sometime in the year 1720, a weathered sea captain
0:02:56 > 0:02:59stepped off a boat in London's Docklands.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01His name was Thomas Coram.
0:03:03 > 0:03:08A man of humble origins, he had first gone to sea at the age of 11.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12And he'd spent much of his life as a shipbuilder in the New World of America.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19Now, after 40 years, Coram had come home.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25But what he saw on the streets of the great metropolis
0:03:25 > 0:03:27shocked him to the core.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34London was the national hub of commerce and culture.
0:03:34 > 0:03:37But beneath the glitter was the stench of overcrowding,
0:03:37 > 0:03:38poverty and disease.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42And all the time, the city kept growing,
0:03:42 > 0:03:46fuelled by a tide of migrant workers from the countryside.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53Most of the new arrivals were women lured by the prospect of work
0:03:53 > 0:03:55as domestic servants.
0:03:55 > 0:03:59But London was a city of hazard as well as opportunity.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Some were sexually exploited by their employers -
0:04:03 > 0:04:06and if they fell pregnant, shown the door.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10Others conceived during courtship,
0:04:10 > 0:04:12in expectation of marriage.
0:04:14 > 0:04:19But in the anonymous maze of the big city, it was all too easy for a man
0:04:19 > 0:04:23to cut and run before his pregnant girlfriend reached the altar.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30Jobless and friendless, the outlook for single mothers in the city was bleak.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37Some survived by selling rags - or selling themselves.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41Quietening babies with gin was not unknown.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50With scant means to support their infants,
0:04:50 > 0:04:55some unmarried mothers were driven to desperate measures,
0:04:55 > 0:05:00abandoning their babies on the doorsteps of churches - or worse.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09'The long and melancholy experience of this nation has shown many
0:05:09 > 0:05:13'horrid cruelties committed on poor infant children.'
0:05:13 > 0:05:19Murders. Exposing newborns to perish in the street.
0:05:19 > 0:05:23Or by putting them out to wicked nurses who suffer them
0:05:23 > 0:05:25to starve for want of sustenance.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30A barbarity and a disgrace.
0:05:32 > 0:05:37In the 1720s, around 1,000 babies a year were being abandoned
0:05:37 > 0:05:39to their deaths in London.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43Thomas Coram was outraged.
0:05:43 > 0:05:48So he set out to establish an institution to feed, clothe
0:05:48 > 0:05:52and educate London's abandoned children.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56But it would take him another 20 years to achieve his dream.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05There was another London.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08Alongside its poverty and deprivation,
0:06:08 > 0:06:12the city was a booming centre of art, culture and music.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18At the very pinnacle of London's high culture was the opera -
0:06:18 > 0:06:22and one of its most feted composers was George Frideric Handel.
0:06:23 > 0:06:28Handel had come to England in the footsteps of his patron, Prince George of Hanover,
0:06:28 > 0:06:30who later became King George I.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35Handel knew that the English had had their appetite whetted for
0:06:35 > 0:06:39the delights of Italian opera, and he sensed that he could be
0:06:39 > 0:06:43just the man to show London's elite audiences what they'd been missing.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49And over the next three decades, that's exactly what he did.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54Here at Her Majesty's Theatre on the Haymarket,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57or the Queen's Theatre, as it was at the time, Handel
0:06:57 > 0:07:01pulled off an astonishing run of two dozen hit operas in just 15 years.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10Handel's lavish opera productions made him rich and famous
0:07:10 > 0:07:15and paid for a fancy town house in Mayfair with a finely stocked
0:07:15 > 0:07:18- and frequently replenished - wine cellar.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25But by the end of the 1730s, Handel's fortunes were on the turn.
0:07:27 > 0:07:31He may have been the greatest opera composer of his day,
0:07:31 > 0:07:34but Handel was also satirised for his German accent,
0:07:34 > 0:07:37and his propensity for fine living.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39And there was worse -
0:07:39 > 0:07:44in the late 1730s, opera was falling out of fashion in London.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48The indulgent excesses and overpaid foreign stars of Italian opera
0:07:48 > 0:07:52were mercilessly sent up in the popular theatre.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56For example, The Beggar's Opera, a satirical attack in English
0:07:56 > 0:08:00on the overblown conventions of Italian opera.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02To make matters worse still for Handel,
0:08:02 > 0:08:05a rival opera company appeared on the scene.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07And that meant you had two Italian opera companies
0:08:07 > 0:08:11competing for the same shrinking audience and shrinking cash.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15Handel - increasingly - was playing to an empty auditorium.
0:08:17 > 0:08:22By the late 1730s, the word on the street was that Handel was finished.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32# Comfort ye
0:08:40 > 0:08:52# Comfort ye my people... #
0:08:55 > 0:08:59Throughout the 1720s, Thomas Coram was a man on a mission -
0:08:59 > 0:09:02to raise support for a Foundling Hospital -
0:09:02 > 0:09:06a place where mothers could bring babies they were unable to care for.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10But everywhere he went, doors closed in his face.
0:09:11 > 0:09:19# Comfort ye my people... #
0:09:20 > 0:09:23The problem was that in the eyes of many people,
0:09:23 > 0:09:29an illegitimate baby was the very personification of sin.
0:09:29 > 0:09:34And in offering mothers an easy way out, Coram could be seen to be
0:09:34 > 0:09:37endorsing their wickedness.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43One sermoniser thundered that Coram's hospital would reflect...
0:09:43 > 0:09:46..dishonour upon the whole community.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49The foundling reflects the highest disgrace on human nature,
0:09:49 > 0:09:51and supposes a depravity,
0:09:51 > 0:09:55destructive of all social order and control.
0:09:57 > 0:10:02# Speak ye comfortably
0:10:02 > 0:10:08# To Jerusalem
0:10:11 > 0:10:15# And cry unto her
0:10:15 > 0:10:22# That her warfare... #
0:10:24 > 0:10:28Coram was too bloody-minded to let narrow prejudice deflect him.
0:10:32 > 0:10:37The institution that he would eventually establish no longer stands.
0:10:37 > 0:10:43But Coram's portrait now hangs at the museum built on the site.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46So here he is - Coram, the man himself.
0:10:46 > 0:10:51I'm really struck that this is not your classic aristocratic-swagger portrait.
0:10:51 > 0:10:56Do you think the painting expresses the kind of man that he is?
0:10:56 > 0:10:59Absolutely. I think the fact that he is shown with his own hair -
0:10:59 > 0:11:03there's no wig - he very clearly has a face that's seen a life at sea
0:11:03 > 0:11:06and outdoors and is, you know, ruddy and sun-blasted.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10His coat is rumpled, his feet barely touch the ground,
0:11:10 > 0:11:13he seems to be anxious to get up and go and get away from the sitting -
0:11:13 > 0:11:17and he was - he was a can-do man.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21The casual cruelty to children is one of the striking features,
0:11:21 > 0:11:25isn't it, of the 18th century, you know, the sheer sort of wastefulness of life?
0:11:25 > 0:11:29Absolutely. There was really nothing that we understand as being
0:11:29 > 0:11:33a kind of a welfare system for very poor families to fall back on.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35And there were basically no options.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38There was the Poor Law and that was under massive pressure,
0:11:38 > 0:11:41and workhouses from 1722
0:11:41 > 0:11:44but there was upwards of a 95% mortality rate
0:11:44 > 0:11:46for children under five in a workhouse, so...
0:11:46 > 0:11:50and I think Coram saw these children exactly as that -
0:11:50 > 0:11:53as a waste, a wasted resource for the country.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57You need to be quite an awkward, sort of quite angry person,
0:11:57 > 0:11:59really, to effect social change.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03I think so. I think it's just the most extraordinary determination,
0:12:03 > 0:12:07because in those days you couldn't just go, "I want to set up a charity - right, I'll do it."
0:12:07 > 0:12:12You needed a Royal Charter from the king to do something like that
0:12:12 > 0:12:16and that, for Coram, was an extraordinary mountain to climb.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18We know very little about his origins
0:12:18 > 0:12:20but they were respectable but humble.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23He didn't have the connections, he didn't have extreme wealth
0:12:23 > 0:12:26but he had this incredible single-mindedness and
0:12:26 > 0:12:30perseverance and just determination that he wouldn't take no for an answer.
0:12:30 > 0:12:31He would just keep going.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39For seven years, Coram's appeals to the wealthy
0:12:39 > 0:12:42and powerful fell on deaf ears.
0:12:42 > 0:12:47Then in 1729, he had a moment of inspiration,
0:12:47 > 0:12:50which took him to the home of the Duke of Somerset.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55And he was aiming high.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58The Duke of Somerset was the richest
0:12:58 > 0:13:01and most prominent aristocrat in the country.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08But Coram hadn't come to nobble the proud duke.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11He had an altogether softer target in his sights.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23Oh, look! She's tucked up at the back!
0:13:23 > 0:13:26This is Lady Somerset,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29tucked away in this rather cold storeroom.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32She's certainly not given pride of place.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38So why has Coram come to see the mistress of the house -
0:13:38 > 0:13:40not the master?
0:13:40 > 0:13:44I think Coram's being quite canny here.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48She was still a teenager when she became a mother,
0:13:48 > 0:13:51so when Coram came to call,
0:13:51 > 0:13:56she still had a babe in arms.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00He must have suspected she would be moved
0:14:00 > 0:14:05by the plight of those poor unloved babies.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12But finally, you've got this new fashion called
0:14:12 > 0:14:14the cult of sensibility
0:14:14 > 0:14:17whereby the fashionable wanted to express their refinement
0:14:17 > 0:14:23by being interested in the plight and the sufferings of the poor,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26of children, of babies.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29So the teenaged mother
0:14:29 > 0:14:31on the cusp of fashion
0:14:31 > 0:14:35married to the richest man in England
0:14:35 > 0:14:39might be just the woman to launch his campaign.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44Coram's hunch paid off.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47History doesn't record the details of their conversation
0:14:47 > 0:14:50but we do know that by the time he left Petworth,
0:14:50 > 0:14:52Coram had his first sponsor.
0:14:54 > 0:14:59Coram not only had the name of the Duchess of Somerset
0:14:59 > 0:15:04flourishing on the top of his petition to present to the king -
0:15:04 > 0:15:07he also had wedged his foot in the door.
0:15:07 > 0:15:12He had a precious entree within that tight cabal of power
0:15:12 > 0:15:16and influence that dominated Georgian society.
0:15:34 > 0:15:39# Every valley
0:15:39 > 0:15:43# Every valley shall be exalted
0:15:43 > 0:15:54# Shall be exalted
0:15:54 > 0:15:57# Shall be exalted
0:15:57 > 0:16:05# Shall be exalted
0:16:05 > 0:16:10# And every mountain and hill made low
0:16:10 > 0:16:14# The crooked straight
0:16:14 > 0:16:22# And the rough places plain
0:16:22 > 0:16:24# The crooked straight
0:16:24 > 0:16:27# The crooked straight
0:16:27 > 0:16:30# And the rough places plain. #
0:16:30 > 0:16:34With Handel's opulent Italian operas playing to empty
0:16:34 > 0:16:38houses in London, in 1733 the composer travelled to Oxford.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47He had come here to the Sheldonian Theatre to stage
0:16:47 > 0:16:49a new season of performances.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52But the work he brought with him wasn't Italian opera.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59Handel had begun to experiment with a different musical form -
0:16:59 > 0:17:02one which combined the drama of opera
0:17:02 > 0:17:05with his genius for choral music.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08And which, most importantly of all, was in English -
0:17:08 > 0:17:11the phenomenon of the oratorio.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15So where we are now, the Sheldonian Theatre, in 1733,
0:17:15 > 0:17:19Handel travels here and puts on effectively a mini oratorio festival
0:17:19 > 0:17:21on the boards that we're standing on now.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24Who would've heard oratorios and what would they have heard?
0:17:24 > 0:17:27An oratorio, fundamentally, is a sacred drama.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31It's a drama that takes stories from the Bible -
0:17:31 > 0:17:34in England, particularly, Old Testament stories.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38And those sacred stories are then put on stage
0:17:38 > 0:17:41as dramatic presentations.
0:17:41 > 0:17:45But also crucially, Handel's oratorios are in English -
0:17:45 > 0:17:49and they're about stories that everyone knew, in a way that they
0:17:49 > 0:17:54didn't know the stories that were the kind of fodder for Italian opera,
0:17:54 > 0:17:56the stories of ancient Rome
0:17:56 > 0:18:01and ancient Greece and foreign cultures.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05And that means that they are accessible to a much wider audience
0:18:05 > 0:18:07than the Italian operas are.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10Is there a canny populist sense behind this for Handel, then?
0:18:10 > 0:18:12He wants this music to be used,
0:18:12 > 0:18:16he can sense there must be a market, and the fact that it was in English.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19The fact that it was in English was really telling
0:18:19 > 0:18:22in the context of 1730s London, because right
0:18:22 > 0:18:28from Handel's arrival in the first decade of the 18th century,
0:18:28 > 0:18:34people had been putting pressure on him to mount opera in English.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36Now actually, this was much better.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38Rather than doing opera in English,
0:18:38 > 0:18:42here he was doing stories that everyone in the country would know.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45So they had enormous potential appeal.
0:18:45 > 0:18:51Crucially, he didn't have to spend the money on sets, on costumes,
0:18:51 > 0:18:55on all of the kind of apparatus of production -
0:18:55 > 0:18:57it meant that you could bring oratorio
0:18:57 > 0:19:00to a place like the Sheldonian Theatre and mount it.
0:19:00 > 0:19:02And at the time it was really quite revolutionary.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06So it was a way of saying to an emerging mercantile or middle class,
0:19:06 > 0:19:09"Look - you, too, can hear..." what was otherwise reserved
0:19:09 > 0:19:13- for the uber-aristocracy or royalty itself?- Yes. Absolutely.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19Handel's first English oratorio, Esther,
0:19:19 > 0:19:23was performed here in 1733 and it went down a storm
0:19:23 > 0:19:27with audiences hungry for a new kind of choral music.
0:19:29 > 0:19:35Then in 1741, Handel received a libretto for a new oratorio
0:19:35 > 0:19:38and it was unlike anything that had been written before.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45'Handel says he will do nothing this winter
0:19:45 > 0:19:48'but I hope I shall persuade him to set a Scripture collection
0:19:48 > 0:19:49'I have made for him.'
0:19:49 > 0:19:53I hope he will lay out his whole genius and skill upon it,
0:19:53 > 0:19:57that the composition may excel all his former compositions,
0:19:57 > 0:20:00as the subject excels every other subject.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04The subject is Messiah.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08The libretto's author was a wealthy landowner
0:20:08 > 0:20:12and fundamentalist Christian curmudgeon named Charles Jennens.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16Now, it was Jennens' mission in life
0:20:16 > 0:20:19to stop what he saw as the rot in 18th-century society.
0:20:19 > 0:20:24He thought Christian values were being debased in public life,
0:20:24 > 0:20:27and he realised that if he could get the country's most famous composer
0:20:27 > 0:20:29to write music for his words,
0:20:29 > 0:20:33it could give his evangelical mission just the fillip it needed.
0:20:37 > 0:20:42'Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith the Lord.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44'Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
0:20:44 > 0:20:48'and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplish'd.'
0:20:52 > 0:20:55The libretto is divided into three parts -
0:20:55 > 0:20:58in the first, the Prophets tell of the coming of the Messiah.
0:21:00 > 0:21:06'Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son'
0:21:06 > 0:21:08and shall call his name Emmanuel.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14Part two depicts Christ's Passion and Resurrection.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16This is the work's emotional core.
0:21:17 > 0:21:23'He was despis'd and rejected of men, a man of sorrows,
0:21:23 > 0:21:25'and acquainted with grief.'
0:21:26 > 0:21:29The third and final part presents a divine
0:21:29 > 0:21:34vision of the world following Christ's death and resurrection.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37Behold, we shall not sleep,
0:21:37 > 0:21:44but we shall be changed - in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.
0:21:45 > 0:21:50Now, what's new and different about Jennens' text is how abstract it is.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52The words are a meditation
0:21:52 > 0:21:56on the spiritual power of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00And that's the exact opposite of something like, say, Bach's Passions
0:22:00 > 0:22:01which humanise Jesus' story
0:22:01 > 0:22:04by dramatising the events of the crucifixion.
0:22:04 > 0:22:09In Messiah, by contrast, there are no characters and there's no clear drama.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12It is, in other words, really pretty baffling.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14It's by no means clear from its text
0:22:14 > 0:22:18what Messiah ought to have become musically and dramatically speaking.
0:22:18 > 0:22:20How do you bring these words to life?
0:22:20 > 0:22:24How do you create a compelling sense of momentum, of musical
0:22:24 > 0:22:26and narrative power?
0:22:26 > 0:22:29# Glory to God, glory to God
0:22:29 > 0:22:33# In the highest... #
0:22:35 > 0:22:38On 20th of November 1739, Thomas Coram arrived
0:22:38 > 0:22:44here at Somerset House in London for a momentous occasion.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48# Glory to God, glory to God
0:22:48 > 0:22:52# Glory to God in the highest... #
0:22:53 > 0:22:56With the backing of the Duchess of Somerset
0:22:56 > 0:22:59and her fashionable friends, Coram had won the support
0:22:59 > 0:23:06of 172 of the most influential members of Georgian high society.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08# Glory to the Lord's name... #
0:23:08 > 0:23:11# Glory to the Lord's name... #
0:23:13 > 0:23:16It was something the king could no longer ignore.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18# Glory to God
0:23:18 > 0:23:23# Glory to God in the highest...
0:23:23 > 0:23:28After 17 years of struggle, Coram had his Royal Charter.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31I've tracked down a compelling record of his battle
0:23:31 > 0:23:35in the London Metropolitan Archives.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38What I've got here is something rather wonderful.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41It's Thomas Coram's own pocket book.
0:23:41 > 0:23:47In his own hand, a record of his great success,
0:23:47 > 0:23:52building momentum, a head of steam for his campaign.
0:23:52 > 0:23:57The Duchess of Somerset at Petworth, the Duchess of Bolton,
0:23:57 > 0:24:01the Duchess Dowager of Bolton, the Duchess of Richmond.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04So here we have this extraordinary roster
0:24:04 > 0:24:07of the great ladies of the land -
0:24:07 > 0:24:13duchess after duchess, lady after lady, countess after countess.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17But slowly, we see that he's beginning to hook the men.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21By 1734, he's got the Duke of Richmond.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24It goes on and on and on.
0:24:24 > 0:24:30This is proud testimony of his success as a campaigner.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33- # Good will - Good will
0:24:33 > 0:24:34- # Good will - Good will
0:24:34 > 0:24:39- # Good will - Good will towards men
0:24:39 > 0:24:45# Good will towards men... #
0:24:46 > 0:24:49Funded by its wealthy patrons,
0:24:49 > 0:24:53the Foundling Hospital opened its gates 18 months later.
0:24:53 > 0:24:58Initially in temporary quarters, and then at a purpose-built site
0:24:58 > 0:25:02on the northern edges of the city in what is now London's Bloomsbury.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10Although the building no longer stands today, contemporary images
0:25:10 > 0:25:16show the scale and ambition of Coram's ground-breaking charity.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20The key to getting mothers to come forward was anonymity.
0:25:20 > 0:25:25Advertisements assured women they would not be identified.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29And the gates were even opened under cover of darkness
0:25:29 > 0:25:33to encourage mothers who might otherwise feel ashamed.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36The governors' plan worked.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39Mothers flocked to the hospital gates.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43From the very first night, there were more babies than places.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49'They found a great number of people crowding about the door,
0:25:49 > 0:25:52'many with children and others for curiosity.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55'The expressions of grief of the women whose children could
0:25:55 > 0:25:59'not be admitted were scarcely more observable than
0:25:59 > 0:26:01'those of the women who parted with their children.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05'A more moving scene can't well be imagined.'
0:26:07 > 0:26:09And come forward, please.
0:26:14 > 0:26:15And how old is he?
0:26:17 > 0:26:18Seven weeks.
0:26:22 > 0:26:23Is he baptised?
0:26:25 > 0:26:27Which parish?
0:26:29 > 0:26:31St Giles.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36Could I have a look, please?
0:26:39 > 0:26:41BABY CRIES
0:26:41 > 0:26:44Does he have any distinguishing marks?
0:26:44 > 0:26:46No.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49Only babies under two months were admitted.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52Those carrying signs of disease were turned away.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54Could you pass him over to matron now, please?
0:26:56 > 0:26:57What - I don't get to say goodbye?
0:27:04 > 0:27:05I love you so much.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15Each baby was given a new name and baptised.
0:27:17 > 0:27:22Its previous identity and any blemish of sin was washed away.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26The child was reborn in the care of the hospital.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37The records of every child, known as billets, are preserved
0:27:37 > 0:27:41in a treasure trove which survives in the hospital archives today.
0:27:42 > 0:27:50This extraordinary document is one of the Foundling Hospital's billet books.
0:27:50 > 0:27:57Each one of these represents a baby under two months old
0:27:57 > 0:28:02and pinned to this document is a tiny piece of fabric.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06This is the only thing she could use
0:28:06 > 0:28:12to claim back her baby if her circumstances ever improved.
0:28:12 > 0:28:14One of the things these billet books reveal
0:28:14 > 0:28:18is that it wasn't only the babies of single white mothers
0:28:18 > 0:28:20who found a new life at Coram's hospital.
0:28:22 > 0:28:26This billet for a male child,
0:28:26 > 0:28:30left on May 23rd, 1746,
0:28:30 > 0:28:33interestingly has a letter -
0:28:33 > 0:28:41"Gentlemen, the parents of this holy infant is not in a capacity of maintaining it at present."
0:28:43 > 0:28:47So this baby seems to have been given up by a couple.
0:28:49 > 0:28:52This is an interesting entry.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55May 8th, 1741.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58A male child about a week old,
0:28:58 > 0:29:01"neatly dressed,
0:29:01 > 0:29:05"of a very tawny complexion".
0:29:05 > 0:29:08This little boy was probably black -
0:29:08 > 0:29:14there would be quite a few black children, or children of mixed race
0:29:14 > 0:29:18on the streets of 18th-century London.
0:29:18 > 0:29:23The overseers always took a piece of fabric.
0:29:23 > 0:29:28But some women came forward with tokens as well.
0:29:28 > 0:29:33All of these tokens are expressions of maternal hope.
0:29:35 > 0:29:40This one is particularly tragic.
0:29:41 > 0:29:45This is a hazelnut shell
0:29:45 > 0:29:50which bespeaks the poverty of the women
0:29:50 > 0:29:52who had to give up their babies.
0:29:52 > 0:29:57Perhaps this woman was illiterate. This was all that she could offer.
0:29:58 > 0:30:07So although I don't believe that any woman ever gave up her baby lightly,
0:30:07 > 0:30:10I do think that some of these women
0:30:10 > 0:30:13probably gave their babies in good faith,
0:30:13 > 0:30:17in the belief that the Foundling Hospital would give them a better life.
0:30:32 > 0:30:41# How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace
0:30:41 > 0:30:47# How beautiful are the feet
0:30:47 > 0:30:57# How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace... #
0:30:58 > 0:31:01In the summer of 1741, while the first babies were being
0:31:01 > 0:31:05admitted to the Foundling Hospital, Handel was sitting down to
0:31:05 > 0:31:08write the first notes of Messiah.
0:31:09 > 0:31:13Handel attacked the work with his customary zeal.
0:31:13 > 0:31:18In the first six days alone, he drafted 100 pages.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20And he completed the entire work -
0:31:20 > 0:31:24that's two and a half hours of music - in just 24 days.
0:31:24 > 0:31:28That is astonishing, by any standards.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31# And bring glad tidings
0:31:31 > 0:31:35# Good tidings of good things
0:31:35 > 0:31:41# And bring glad tidings
0:31:41 > 0:31:45# Glad tidings of good peace
0:31:45 > 0:31:52# Glad tidings of good peace. #
0:32:04 > 0:32:07But what is it about the music of Messiah
0:32:07 > 0:32:09that makes it such an enduring work?
0:32:13 > 0:32:16David, the real thing about Messiah is its music.
0:32:16 > 0:32:17Why is it so special?
0:32:17 > 0:32:22What I find in Handel's Messiah is grace,
0:32:22 > 0:32:24monumentality and mystery
0:32:24 > 0:32:27and those are three things quite rare in music
0:32:27 > 0:32:30and they all come together in this marvellous piece.
0:32:30 > 0:32:34- For example, "How Beautiful". - HE HUMS
0:32:34 > 0:32:38- Handel picks up on that... - PIANO
0:32:38 > 0:32:40..rhythm of the word "beautiful"
0:32:40 > 0:32:43and then he plays with it, he plays with it in the simplest way.
0:32:43 > 0:32:45We get...
0:32:45 > 0:32:48- PIANO - .."beautiful, beautiful",
0:32:48 > 0:32:51and then he plays with "beautiful" once, and "beautiful" twice
0:32:51 > 0:32:53and then we get beautiful different.
0:32:53 > 0:32:55PIANO
0:32:55 > 0:33:00So he can think of different simplicities and he can sort of balance its simplicities
0:33:00 > 0:33:03to make a gracefulness and that simplicity feeds in
0:33:03 > 0:33:06to his ability to be monumental because I suppose the most
0:33:06 > 0:33:10monumental piece is the Hallelujah Chorus, I mean, that's the one
0:33:10 > 0:33:13that we all love, and that's all based on this great...
0:33:13 > 0:33:16PIANO
0:33:16 > 0:33:17That sort of thing.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20And then of course he mysteriises other things.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24- My favourite bit, I mean, the key to the whole thing...- Your favourite bit of the whole piece?
0:33:24 > 0:33:29The whole piece - is "Behold, I tell you a mystery..."
0:33:29 > 0:33:32That is marvellous. Now what another composer might have done,
0:33:32 > 0:33:36where he might have used four chords, he uses only two.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39So for example, what you might have expected,
0:33:39 > 0:33:43"Behold, I tell you a mystery..."
0:33:43 > 0:33:44Still very beautiful.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47But...very beautiful but not as mysterious as
0:33:47 > 0:33:52"Behold, I..." The chord doesn't change.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55"..tell you a mystery..."
0:33:55 > 0:33:58It doesn't drop its gaze and we are left hanging on his lips.
0:33:58 > 0:33:59What is this mystery?
0:33:59 > 0:34:02And that, I think, is one of the great moments of all music.
0:34:02 > 0:34:06And this, of course, is Handel dramatising himself into his own oratorio.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10Handel the master storyteller, Handel the composer of operas.
0:34:10 > 0:34:21# Behold, I tell you a mystery... #
0:34:21 > 0:34:26# We shall not all sleep
0:34:26 > 0:34:30# But we shall all be changed in a moment
0:34:30 > 0:34:35# In the twinkling of an eye
0:34:35 > 0:34:40# At the last trumpet... #
0:34:42 > 0:34:45The really moving thing for me about the music of the Messiah
0:34:45 > 0:34:49is that it's a kind of lightning rod that connects
0:34:49 > 0:34:52the surface of the Earth with the world of the spirit
0:34:52 > 0:34:55and the musical energy moves both ways all the time.
0:34:55 > 0:34:59Handel can write the most deeply sensual operatic music and have
0:34:59 > 0:35:03it yet mean something spiritual, be part of the telling of the story of Christ's life.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06He's also telling our story, he's also telling a human story
0:35:06 > 0:35:11and it's because it's formed from this unique oratorio collision
0:35:11 > 0:35:14of the world of the opera house and the world of choral music and
0:35:14 > 0:35:19the world of Christian meditation that the Messiah is so moving.
0:35:22 > 0:35:24While Handel was composing Messiah,
0:35:24 > 0:35:27Coram's hospital was struggling with the realities
0:35:27 > 0:35:29of rearing its foundlings.
0:35:30 > 0:35:35The aim was to provide a humble, but practical education
0:35:35 > 0:35:38to turn out useful citizens -
0:35:38 > 0:35:41soldiers, servants and skilled labourers.
0:35:41 > 0:35:46But the scale of the challenge ahead soon became clear.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49At the beginning, the way they went about trying
0:35:49 > 0:35:51to set the hospital up, you know,
0:35:51 > 0:35:55nobody had any experience of what to do. It was a huge enterprise
0:35:55 > 0:35:57and everything had to be fundraised -
0:35:57 > 0:36:00from the clothes and food, laundry bills, the nurses,
0:36:00 > 0:36:02the wet nursing and the inspectors -
0:36:02 > 0:36:04it was a very big enterprise.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07The records say that very often there would be 100 babies
0:36:07 > 0:36:09being brought on an admission day
0:36:09 > 0:36:12when there were only 20 places available.
0:36:13 > 0:36:16Coram's hospital had to cope with huge demand
0:36:16 > 0:36:19and relentless financial pressure.
0:36:19 > 0:36:24Just keeping their foundlings alive was an achievement in itself.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28In the general population, for children under five,
0:36:28 > 0:36:30there were high mortality rates.
0:36:30 > 0:36:35So, for any child to grow up, it was no mean feat
0:36:35 > 0:36:37and it was the same for children in the Foundling Hospital,
0:36:37 > 0:36:41so a lot of the children, when they were admitted, were incredibly sickly already,
0:36:41 > 0:36:45so some of them only survived for a matter of hours or days
0:36:45 > 0:36:47after admittance before they actually died.
0:36:50 > 0:36:55Coram and his colleagues may have won the battle to open the hospital,
0:36:55 > 0:36:57but they were going to need more resources
0:36:57 > 0:37:00to give the children the best chance of survival.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03The records show that in the early years,
0:37:03 > 0:37:06more than half the babies died before their second birthday.
0:37:09 > 0:37:11It's a terrible record of loss.
0:37:11 > 0:37:16If you look in the registers for each child, again and again,
0:37:16 > 0:37:20in the right-hand column, you see the terrible litany...
0:37:21 > 0:37:24..dead, dead, dead.
0:37:28 > 0:37:32In the winter of 1741, Handel prepared to unveil
0:37:32 > 0:37:35his new oratorio to the world.
0:37:35 > 0:37:39But he decided not to premiere it in the capital.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42In an attempt to revitalise his flagging fortunes,
0:37:42 > 0:37:44and fed up with London,
0:37:44 > 0:37:48Handel travelled to Britain's second city of culture, Dublin,
0:37:48 > 0:37:51for Messiah's first performance.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54Handel hoped that this fresh start would restore
0:37:54 > 0:37:59a sense of purpose to his music and introduce him to a new public.
0:37:59 > 0:38:03Crucially, it would also allow his music to be really useful in society.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06All of the proceeds would go to charity.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09Instead of the self-indulgent glutton
0:38:09 > 0:38:11that some had dubbed him in London,
0:38:11 > 0:38:14in Dublin, Handel could restyle himself
0:38:14 > 0:38:17famous philanthropist as well as famous composer.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25# Surely, surely
0:38:25 > 0:38:30# He hath borne our griefs
0:38:30 > 0:38:34# And carried our sorrows
0:38:34 > 0:38:35# Surely
0:38:35 > 0:38:37# Surely
0:38:37 > 0:38:41# He hath borne our griefs
0:38:41 > 0:38:45# And carried our sorrows... #
0:38:46 > 0:38:51Handel's experimental oratorio was an immediate triumph in Dublin.
0:38:51 > 0:38:55But the trip cost him dear.
0:38:55 > 0:38:59Handel had gone to Ireland without so much as telling his librettist.
0:38:59 > 0:39:03Jennens, who wanted a metropolitan premiere, was furious -
0:39:03 > 0:39:05and not just about the performance.
0:39:05 > 0:39:06Unbelievably for us today,
0:39:06 > 0:39:11Jennens thought that Handel's music simply didn't do his words justice.
0:39:11 > 0:39:16# ..For our iniquities
0:39:17 > 0:39:20# The chastisement
0:39:20 > 0:39:25- # The chastisement - The chastisement
0:39:25 > 0:39:30# Of our peace
0:39:30 > 0:39:38# Was upon Him. #
0:39:46 > 0:39:51This was the start of a damaging feud between the two men.
0:39:51 > 0:39:53But Handel's problems just kept coming.
0:39:53 > 0:39:58Back in London, in 1743, Handel planned a performance of Messiah
0:39:58 > 0:40:01at the Opera House here, at Covent Garden.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05But what happened next didn't exactly replicate the glories
0:40:05 > 0:40:06of the Dublin performance.
0:40:10 > 0:40:14"An oratorio is either an act of religion or it is not.
0:40:14 > 0:40:18"If it is, I ask if the playhouse is a fit temple to perform it in
0:40:18 > 0:40:22"or a company of players fit ministers of God's Word.
0:40:22 > 0:40:26"What a profanation of God's name and Word is this,
0:40:26 > 0:40:28"to make so light use of them!"
0:40:31 > 0:40:33Before a single note had even been played,
0:40:33 > 0:40:36Messiah was publicly denounced.
0:40:36 > 0:40:38In fact, the controversy was so fierce
0:40:38 > 0:40:41that Handel was forced to remove the name of the piece
0:40:41 > 0:40:45from his posters - he called it instead, simply, a Sacred Oratorio.
0:40:50 > 0:40:53It's about the Messiah, it's about Christ,
0:40:53 > 0:40:56you know, you can't get a hotter topic.
0:40:56 > 0:41:00Britain's been through the puritan reformations,
0:41:00 > 0:41:05so it still has very strong elements within British society
0:41:05 > 0:41:08that really don't think you should be singing
0:41:08 > 0:41:12or putting into an opera house stories about the Bible.
0:41:12 > 0:41:15It points to something that we rarely think about now
0:41:15 > 0:41:17when the Messiah is so familiar, so performed,
0:41:17 > 0:41:20is how controversial a piece this really is.
0:41:20 > 0:41:22These were theatre singers.
0:41:22 > 0:41:26Anyone working in the theatre was seen to be of loose morals
0:41:26 > 0:41:31or a little bit suspect, so the idea that theatre singers would be
0:41:31 > 0:41:35performing biblical words, performing words about the life of Christ,
0:41:35 > 0:41:38for some audience members was just too much.
0:42:00 > 0:42:06After 1743, performances of Messiah were few and far between.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09The damage done to Handel's reputation was serious.
0:42:09 > 0:42:13But that was nothing compared to what it did to his health.
0:42:25 > 0:42:30# He was despised
0:42:37 > 0:42:43# Despised and rejected
0:42:48 > 0:42:55# Rejected of men
0:42:59 > 0:43:06# A man of sorrows
0:43:10 > 0:43:17# A man of sorrows
0:43:17 > 0:43:27# And acquainted with grief
0:43:27 > 0:43:33# A man of sorrows
0:43:33 > 0:43:40# And acquainted with grief... #
0:43:43 > 0:43:46Over-work and stress took their toll.
0:43:47 > 0:43:54And in May 1743, the hearty German bon viveur was felled by illness.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57Messiah seemed to have fallen into obscurity
0:43:57 > 0:43:59and Handel was close to death.
0:44:01 > 0:44:05# He was despised... #
0:44:05 > 0:44:10As the Daily Advertiser noted, "Mr Handel is dangerously unwell.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13"He has had a palsy and can't compose.
0:44:13 > 0:44:18"He is much out of order in his body and a little in his head."
0:44:18 > 0:44:20# ..He was despised
0:44:20 > 0:44:26# And rejected of men
0:44:26 > 0:44:32# A man of sorrows
0:44:32 > 0:44:42# And acquainted with grief
0:44:43 > 0:44:49# A man of sorrows
0:44:49 > 0:44:56# And acquainted with grief. #
0:45:00 > 0:45:06At the end of 1743, it wasn't only Handel who was at a low ebb.
0:45:06 > 0:45:09Thomas Coram had also tasted bitterness.
0:45:10 > 0:45:16Stubborn and outspoken to the last, he had become embroiled in a dispute
0:45:16 > 0:45:20with the very institution that he had helped to build.
0:45:20 > 0:45:22Coram fell out with the hospital
0:45:22 > 0:45:25after questioning the honesty of one of the governors
0:45:25 > 0:45:27and he was ejected from the board.
0:45:33 > 0:45:36Now aged 74, Coram retired
0:45:36 > 0:45:40to his humble lodgings here in Leicester Square.
0:45:43 > 0:45:48But before he left, Coram had taken a step that would transform
0:45:48 > 0:45:52not just the hospital, but the world of charity as we know it.
0:45:53 > 0:45:57William Hogarth was one of London's leading artists,
0:45:57 > 0:46:01a crusading moralist and satirist,
0:46:01 > 0:46:05who had done more than any other to highlight social injustice.
0:46:05 > 0:46:10He delighted in exposing the hypocrisy of London's high life
0:46:10 > 0:46:12and the desperation of the low.
0:46:15 > 0:46:19By lucky chance, Hogarth's studio was just a few doors away
0:46:19 > 0:46:21from Coram's rooms in Leicester Square.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27It's not known when Hogarth and Coram first met,
0:46:27 > 0:46:31but it was Hogarth who painted Coram's magnificent portrait.
0:46:33 > 0:46:36And if, in Thomas Coram,
0:46:36 > 0:46:40the hospital had lost its inspirational founding father -
0:46:40 > 0:46:44in William Hogarth it had found a new champion, who would draw
0:46:44 > 0:46:47the chattering classes to the hospital.
0:46:49 > 0:46:53Hogarth was running the only art school in London at the time
0:46:53 > 0:46:55and he basically approached all of his tutors
0:46:55 > 0:46:59and some of his students, like the 21-year-old Thomas Gainsborough,
0:46:59 > 0:47:01to produce work and give it to the hospital
0:47:01 > 0:47:03and it would serve two purposes.
0:47:03 > 0:47:06One, you had a huge new public building
0:47:06 > 0:47:08with all of this empty wall space
0:47:08 > 0:47:11that was trying to attract the public to come and see its work.
0:47:11 > 0:47:14But also, you had contemporary British artists who were trying
0:47:14 > 0:47:17to establish themselves at a time when everyone was buying
0:47:17 > 0:47:20Italian and French and going on the Grand Tour
0:47:20 > 0:47:23and they needed to show the art-buying classes
0:47:23 > 0:47:26what they could do, what British artists could do.
0:47:26 > 0:47:27So it was enlightened self-interest,
0:47:27 > 0:47:31they were both supporting the charity and promoting themselves as artists.
0:47:31 > 0:47:35That fusion of art and charity, is that new?
0:47:35 > 0:47:37It is completely new and it is extraordinary.
0:47:37 > 0:47:41This was about encouraging all the leading artists of the day
0:47:41 > 0:47:45to donate work to the Foundling Hospital to raise its profile,
0:47:45 > 0:47:47to give people a reason for coming
0:47:47 > 0:47:50and then, having come to the hospital, seen the work
0:47:50 > 0:47:53that the charity was doing, they would be encouraged to donate.
0:47:59 > 0:48:01Thanks to the efforts of Hogarth,
0:48:01 > 0:48:04and contemporaries such as Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds,
0:48:04 > 0:48:08the Foundling Hospital developed into nothing less
0:48:08 > 0:48:11than Britain's first public art gallery.
0:48:11 > 0:48:16That meant more visitors and more donations.
0:48:16 > 0:48:18..Who art in Heaven
0:48:18 > 0:48:21give us this day our daily bread
0:48:21 > 0:48:23and forgive us our trespasses
0:48:23 > 0:48:27as we forgive those who trespass against us...
0:48:28 > 0:48:33And with the charming spectacle of the rescued foundlings themselves
0:48:33 > 0:48:37at work and prayer, the hospital became
0:48:37 > 0:48:39a tourist attraction for the elite.
0:48:39 > 0:48:40..from evil.
0:48:40 > 0:48:42For Thine is the kingdom,
0:48:42 > 0:48:44the power and the glory
0:48:44 > 0:48:47for ever and ever. Amen.
0:48:47 > 0:48:49The Foundling Hospital was the social highlight,
0:48:49 > 0:48:53something you did of a weekend, it was a place to see and be seen.
0:48:53 > 0:48:57And, you know, coming to church service on a Sunday
0:48:57 > 0:49:01at the Foundling Hospital was an incredibly fashionable thing to do.
0:49:01 > 0:49:04It's interesting that Hogarth's first act,
0:49:04 > 0:49:07creative act, for the hospital was not to give a painting -
0:49:07 > 0:49:10he came up with a coat of arms, the brand effectively,
0:49:10 > 0:49:15and I love the fact that the motto of the coat of arms was not long,
0:49:15 > 0:49:19and not in Latin, it was a single word and the world was "help".
0:49:19 > 0:49:21Totally blunt, totally to the point.
0:49:21 > 0:49:24- So modern.- So modern, and it always reminds me of
0:49:24 > 0:49:27when you think of Bob Geldof and the Live Aid concert and for those of us
0:49:27 > 0:49:31who are old enough to remember, there was an electrifying moment
0:49:31 > 0:49:34where Geldof turned to the cameras and on live TV,
0:49:34 > 0:49:36because the bands were playing their hearts out,
0:49:36 > 0:49:38but people weren't giving the money,
0:49:38 > 0:49:41and he looked down the camera lens and said, "Give us your effing money."
0:49:47 > 0:49:52Charity had been a Christian duty for centuries,
0:49:52 > 0:49:54but thanks to the work of Thomas Coram,
0:49:54 > 0:49:59and his cultural coalition, charity became cool.
0:50:05 > 0:50:10A show of public benevolence made you feel good, but also look good.
0:50:10 > 0:50:13And with the Foundling Hospital now on the cultural map,
0:50:13 > 0:50:17it wasn't long before the country's greatest composer had a brainwave.
0:50:20 > 0:50:24After the fiasco of its performance at Covent Garden in 1743,
0:50:24 > 0:50:27Messiah had been all but neglected.
0:50:27 > 0:50:29But Handel hadn't given up on it.
0:50:29 > 0:50:31And in 1749, he approached the governors
0:50:31 > 0:50:34of the Foundling Hospital with a bold idea.
0:50:37 > 0:50:41Handel suggested a special charity performance of Messiah.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44This would be another chance to have his work heard
0:50:44 > 0:50:46by London's fashionable set,
0:50:46 > 0:50:50and it could help to salvage his controversial oratorio.
0:50:51 > 0:50:54The governors seized on his idea.
0:50:54 > 0:50:58The stamp of the great composer would be invaluable PR.
0:50:58 > 0:50:59But more than this,
0:50:59 > 0:51:04if the benefit concert succeeded, it would raise vital funds
0:51:04 > 0:51:08to complete their chapel, which, although open, remained unfinished.
0:51:10 > 0:51:14The Dublin premiere of Messiah had consecrated the idea of Handel
0:51:14 > 0:51:16as a man of charity.
0:51:16 > 0:51:19And with the hospital still desperately short of money,
0:51:19 > 0:51:22this was the opportunity that Handel was looking for
0:51:22 > 0:51:26to brand his sacred oratorio as a musical good work.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29The date for the performance of Messiah was set -
0:51:29 > 0:51:33Sunday the 1st of May, 1750.
0:51:35 > 0:51:40Tickets went on sale at London's most exclusive coffee shops.
0:51:43 > 0:51:46Hogarth came up with an added attraction -
0:51:46 > 0:51:50offering one of his paintings as the prize in a lottery draw -
0:51:50 > 0:51:55with the winner to be announced on the day before the concert.
0:51:55 > 0:51:59Better still, this would be the first-ever performance of Messiah
0:51:59 > 0:52:02in a place of worship - surely nobody could object.
0:52:04 > 0:52:06But would it be a success?
0:52:06 > 0:52:11The reputation of Handel and his oratorio was on the line,
0:52:11 > 0:52:15and the pulling power of the hospital about to be tested.
0:52:18 > 0:52:22BELLS RING
0:52:40 > 0:52:43The hospital governors needn't have worried.
0:52:44 > 0:52:46The concert was a sell-out.
0:52:51 > 0:52:53Demand for space was so high
0:52:53 > 0:52:56that ladies were even asked to come without their hoops,
0:52:56 > 0:53:00and gentlemen to leave their swords at home.
0:53:05 > 0:53:09Coram's Foundling Hospital, Hogarth's art,
0:53:09 > 0:53:12and Handel and his visionary oratorio
0:53:12 > 0:53:15were about to come together to make history.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53When Thomas Coram set out on his crusade
0:53:53 > 0:53:55a quarter of a century earlier,
0:53:55 > 0:53:59he had been a lone voice waging a thankless battle.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02But now, the foundlings were the most fashionable cause in London.
0:54:02 > 0:54:06In fact, so many "persons of distinction" were attracted
0:54:06 > 0:54:09by the combination of Messiah, the Foundling Hospital
0:54:09 > 0:54:11and a public display of their big-heartedness
0:54:11 > 0:54:14that they gate-crashed the concert.
0:54:14 > 0:54:16No surprise, really.
0:54:16 > 0:54:18Forget the opera - in May 1750,
0:54:18 > 0:54:22the Foundling Hospital was the place to see and be seen.
0:54:22 > 0:54:25And to give some money to a good cause, of course.
0:54:26 > 0:54:28# For unto us a child is born
0:54:28 > 0:54:30# Unto us
0:54:30 > 0:54:32# A child is given
0:54:32 > 0:54:37# Unto us, a son is given
0:54:37 > 0:54:39# For unto us a child is born
0:54:39 > 0:54:41# For unto us a child is born
0:54:41 > 0:54:45# Unto us a son is given
0:54:45 > 0:54:47# Unto us
0:54:47 > 0:54:49# A son is born
0:54:49 > 0:54:52# For unto us a child is born
0:54:52 > 0:54:54# For unto us a child is born
0:54:54 > 0:54:55# Unto us
0:54:55 > 0:54:57# A son is given
0:54:58 > 0:55:01# Unto us a son is given
0:55:01 > 0:55:04# Unto us a son is given
0:55:04 > 0:55:05# A son is given
0:55:05 > 0:55:10# And the government shall be upon his shoulder
0:55:10 > 0:55:15# And the government shall be upon his shoulder
0:55:15 > 0:55:18# And the government shall be upon his shoulder
0:55:18 > 0:55:20# And his name shall be called
0:55:20 > 0:55:22# Wonderful
0:55:22 > 0:55:24# Counsellor
0:55:24 > 0:55:28# Almighty God the everlasting Father
0:55:28 > 0:55:31# The Prince of Peace
0:55:31 > 0:55:34- # Unto us a child is born - For unto us a child is born
0:55:34 > 0:55:36# Unto us... #
0:55:36 > 0:55:40For Handel, linking Messiah with London's most fashionable charity
0:55:40 > 0:55:42was a masterstroke.
0:55:42 > 0:55:44The event single-handedly revived
0:55:44 > 0:55:48the reputation of his much-criticised oratorio,
0:55:48 > 0:55:51and in the process changed the nation's musical life.
0:55:51 > 0:55:54# And his name shall be called
0:55:54 > 0:55:56# Wonderful
0:55:56 > 0:55:58# Counsellor... #
0:55:58 > 0:56:03Today, Messiah has been sung more often and heard by more people
0:56:03 > 0:56:07than any other single piece of music of the last 300 years.
0:56:07 > 0:56:10And it's probably earned more money for charity
0:56:10 > 0:56:13than any other musical work in history.
0:56:13 > 0:56:18Not bad for an oratorio that started life as a leap in the dark.
0:56:19 > 0:56:22Messiah isn't a masterpiece in a museum -
0:56:22 > 0:56:24it's much more important than that.
0:56:24 > 0:56:26It's a verb, an action, a doing.
0:56:26 > 0:56:31It's a call to charity, a clarion song of selflessness
0:56:31 > 0:56:34that's still as powerful today as ever.
0:56:40 > 0:56:43But this remarkable event didn't only kick-start
0:56:43 > 0:56:46the great annual tradition of Messiahs
0:56:46 > 0:56:48that is going strong to this day.
0:56:48 > 0:56:51It also played a crucial part
0:56:51 > 0:56:55in awakening the social conscience of the nation.
0:56:55 > 0:56:59Boosted by this concert, the Foundling Hospital prospered.
0:56:59 > 0:57:02In the years to come, it would go on save the lives
0:57:02 > 0:57:05of 25,000 abandoned babies.
0:57:07 > 0:57:11And became a model for how art, music and philanthropy
0:57:11 > 0:57:13together can improve the world.
0:58:14 > 0:58:16# King of kings
0:58:16 > 0:58:18# Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
0:58:18 > 0:58:20# And Lord of lords
0:58:20 > 0:58:22# Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
0:58:22 > 0:58:24# And King of kings
0:58:29 > 0:58:30# King of kings
0:58:30 > 0:58:32# And Lord of lords
0:58:32 > 0:58:34# King of kings
0:58:34 > 0:58:37# And Lord of lords
0:58:37 > 0:58:39# And He shall reign
0:58:39 > 0:58:43# And he shall reign for ever and ever
0:58:43 > 0:58:47# Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
0:58:47 > 0:58:51# Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
0:58:54 > 0:59:06# Hallelujah! #