History of A Sacred Oratorio: How was popular Christmas music considered scandalous and profane?

Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. pre-1808

The genteel reception accorded the original debut performance stood in marked contrast to the savage hostility which greeted the work less than a year later in the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, London. The English aristocracy and churchmen began an unrelenting campaign against the work and its creator. They labeled it “a…