Handel’s Messiah is one of the best-known and most influential oratorios of music history. The three-part composition citing exclusively Biblical texts greatly inspired Haydn to compose two late oratorios of his, but its tableau-like, not strictly chronology- and history-based but rather contemplating nature also resonates in Liszt’s Christus Oratorio. For Handel himself, it also meant a real break-through in his career as a composer, though he completed this all-night work extremely fast, even for his usual pace: it took him only 24 days, though he re-used themes from some earlier pieces of his. Part I of the oratorio focusses on the prophecies of the coming and the birth of the Saviour, Part II concentrates on His life on earth, his death and resurrection, while Part III observes eternal life and the last judgement. The closing chorus of Part II “Hallelujah” is one of the most famous movements in classical music.