Charles Jennens, Belshazzar: An oratorio, verse and music; performed in March; music by Handel
After his death, Jennens' second cousin Heneage Finch, 3rd Earl of Aylesford inherited his music library and much of it is now preserved in the Henry Watson Music Library at Manchester Central Library.
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After his father's death in 1747, Jennens had Gopsall Hall completely rebuilt in the Palladian style, including within the estate an Ionic temple built in memory of his friend, the poet and classical scholar, Edward Holdsworth.
Charles Jennens, who created the libretti for both Saul and Messiah, described Imeneo as "the worst of all Handel’s Compositions", but added "yet half the Songs are good".
Charles Jennens (1700 – 20 November 1773) was an English landowner and patron of the arts, who assembled the text for five of Handel's oratorios: Saul, Israel in Egypt, L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, Messiah, and Belshazzar.
This article covers Part I and describes the relation of the musical setting to the text supplied by Charles Jennens.
The libretto by Charles Jennens is entirely drawn from the Bible, mostly from the King James Bible, whereas several psalms are taken from the Book of Common Prayer.
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Charles Jennens owned a copy of the Memoirs, and provided the book with critical remarks on Semele and Benedetto Pamphili.
Following the departure of the Cockayne Family, Pooley Hall fell into the hands of Charles Jennens of nearby Gopsall Hall and was subsequently inherited by Jennens' god-son The Hon. Charles Finch MP, son of the 3rd Earl of Aylesford.
The organ that Handel specified for Charles Jennens in 1749 is now to be found in St James' Church, Great Packington.