During his studies with Zachow, Handel is known to have copied works by the Viennese organist and composer Johann Caspar Kerll. Handel's sketches for Messiah reveal that the double counterpoint at the opening of the fugue "Let all the angels of God" was derived from a canzona by Kerll (no. 14 of the modern edition). Considering this borrowing along with the self-borrowings from the Italian duets that have already been identified in Messiah may shed light on how Handel was able to compose the work so quickly.

Index Classifications: 1700s

Contributed by: Mark S. Spicer