George Frideric Handel fought a duel with a fellow composer, survived a sword thrust that was stopped by a coat button, went bankrupt running opera companies, suffered a stroke that paralyzed his right arm, and then composed Messiah in twenty-four days of feverish work. The most dramatic life in classical music produced the most performed choral work in history.

This episode traces Handel from his German childhood through the Italian opera years in London, the financial crashes that nearly destroyed him, and the oratorio pivot that gave the world the Hallelujah Chorus.

• The sword duel with Johann Mattheson and the coat button that saved Handel’s life
• The London opera ventures, the rival companies, and the bankruptcies that followed
• The stroke, the miraculous recovery, and the pivot from opera to oratorio
• Messiah composed in twenty-four days and the Hallelujah Chorus that became the most famous music in Christendom