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3 unusual facts about John Christopher Smith


John Christopher Smith

Between 1759 and 1768 he directed the annual performances of Messiah at the Foundling Hospital, where he was organist.

Of his own oratorios, mostly written in the 1760s, Paradise Lost (1760) was the greatest success (with words by Benjamin Stillingfleet); three later ones (Nabal, Rebecca, and Gideon) were largely reworkings of Handel's music.

William Coxe

After his father's death his mother Martha married John Christopher Smith, who was Handel's amanuensis.



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