Hi All - sorry - it just got late for me last night, and I didn't have the answer ready!! Although future prospects for Italian operas in London declined during the 1730s, Handel remained committed to the genre; however he began to introduce English-language oratorios as occasional alternatives to his staged works. As a young man in Rome in 1707 - 08 he had written two Italian oratorios at a time when opera performances in the city were temporarily forbidden under papal decree. His first venture into English oratorio had been Esther which was written and performed for a private patron in about 1718. He was also moving away from writing expressly for the nobility, and moving to the growing middle class. The music for Messiah was completed in 24 days of swift composition. Having received Jennens's text some time after 10 July 1741, Handel began work on it on 22 August. Some report that Handel, a stern and composed German wept often during its writing, and felt that he was a vessel to write the music down. At the end of his manuscript Handel wrote the letters "SDG - Soli Deo Gloria, "To God alone the glory". He did continue throughout the rest of his life to adapt and update it. Handel's decision to give a season of concerts in Dublin in the winter of 1741 - 42 arose from an invitation from the Duke of Devonshire, then serving as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. A violinist friend of Handel's, Matthew Dubourg, was in Dublin as the Lord Lieutenant's bandmaster; he would look after the tour's orchestral requirements. Whether Handel originally intended to perform Messiah in Dublin is uncertain; he did not inform Jennens of any such plan, for the latter wrote to Holdsworth on 2 December 1741: "...it was some mortification to me to hear that instead of performing Messiah here he has gone into Ireland with it." The warm reception accorded to Messiah in Dublin was not repeated in London when Handel introduced the work at the Covent Garden theatre on 23 March 1743. Avoglio and Cibber were again the chief soloists; they were joined by the tenor John Beard, a veteran of Handel's operas, the bass Thomas Rheinhold and two other sopranos, Kitty Clive and Miss Edwards. The first performance was overshadowed by views expressed in the press that the work's subject-matter was too exalted to be performed in a theatre, particularly by secular singer-actresses such as Cibber and Clive. In an attempt to deflect such sensibilities, in London Handel had avoided the name Messiah and presented the work as the "New Sacred Oratorio". In continental Europe, performances of Messiah were departing from Handel's practices in a different way: his score was being drastically reorchestrated to suit contemporary tastes. In 1786, Johann Adam Hiller presented Messiah with updated scoring in Berlin Cathedral. In 1788 Hiller presented a performance of his revision with a choir of 259 and an orchestra of 87 strings, 10 bassoons, 11 oboes, 8 flutes, 8 horns, 4 clarinets, 4 trombones, 7 trumpets, timpani, harpsichord and organ. In 1789, Mozart was commissioned by Baron Gottfried van Swieten and the Gesellschaft der Associierten to re-orchestrate several works by Handel, including Messiah. Writing for a small-scale performance, he eliminated the organ continuo, added parts for flutes, clarinets, trombones and horns, recomposed some passages and rearranged others. The performance took place on 6 March 1789 in the rooms of Count Johann Esterhazy, with four soloists and a choir of 12. Mozart's arrangement, with minor amendments from Hiller, was published in 1803, after his death. The musical scholar Moritz Hauptmann described the Mozart additions as "stucco ornaments on a marble temple". In the 1860s and 1870s ever larger forces were assembled. Bernard Shaw, in his role as a music critic, commented, "The stale wonderment which the great chorus never fails to elicit has already been exhausted"; he later wrote, "Why, instead of wasting huge sums on the multitudinous dullness of a Handel Festival does not somebody set up a thoroughly rehearsed and exhaustively studied performance of the Messiah in St James's Hall with a chorus of twenty capable artists? Most of us would be glad to hear the work seriously performed once before we die." The employment of huge forces necessitated considerable augmentation of the orchestral parts. Many admirers of Handel believed that the composer would have made such additions, had the appropriate instruments been available in his day. Shaw argued, largely unheeded, that "the composer may be spared from his friends, and the function of writing or selecting 'additional orchestral accompaniments' exercised with due discretion." Which reminds me, Franz Joseph Haydn was not only a comtemporary, but also a great friend of Handel's, but no, he did not do a rewrite. I had intended to ask how long he took to write it, but it was early, I forgot!! So, Bobbie: And for TM: Bravo, and bravissimo!! Thanks for playing, sorry this came so late. I have included about the only link I could find to the whole thing below - be warned, it is 2 1/2 hours long. Not a pro orchestra, but from New Orleans Loyola University. Not bad!! Enjoy if you have the time, good for unwrapping presents, perhaps?? Have a great Christmas. See you next Weekend!! Nancy. Here is a link that might be useful: Full Version- Loyala University Symphony Orchestra

If the temperature don't drop below 15F it should be okay to unwrap it. most likely the coldest temperatures are gone, You'll need to unwrap it to avoid molding which is common with wrapped tree. I'm planning to unwrap mine this weekend. Bass

Yes its snowing now..Unbelievable.I was hoping it would not but it is..So what did I do? Absolutely nothing..Will have to see what's left after that...

If you're in zone 8 and you're already having temps in the 70s and 80s, it's time to uncover your palms, especially hardy types like pindos and sabals. Those types of temps are perfect growing temps. And yes, the drugstore type of peroxide in the brown bottle is what you use. Just pour it right into the crown where the new leaves come up out of the trunk. I usually pour until I see a puddle of it form inside there. Too much, and it will leak down the trunk into the root zone.