In 1789, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart undertook a remarkable reimagining of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah, adapting the Baroque masterpiece for the musical tastes and resources of late-18th-century Vienna. Commissioned by Baron Gottfried van Swieten—an ardent champion of Handel’s music—Mozart’s arrangement was not intended to replace the original, but to make it newly accessible to contemporary audiences accustomed to Classical sonorities.

Mozart preserved Handel’s monumental choral writing and expressive vocal lines while enriching the orchestration with the colors of the Classical orchestra. Clarinets, flutes, horns, and trombones add warmth, depth, and dramatic shading, particularly in reflective arias and choruses. The result is a version that sounds at once familiar and freshly illuminated, revealing new layers of emotional nuance without altering Handel’s architectural brilliance.

This arrangement stands as a testament to Mozart’s reverence for Handel and his own compositional insight. Bridging Baroque grandeur and Classical elegance, Mozart’s Messiah offers listeners a unique perspective on one of Western music’s most enduring sacred works—timeless, adaptable, and profoundly expressive.