Which aspect of Handel's career is considered ironic given his output and reputation?

• A. He is remembered for his sacred work, Messiah, though most of his output was secular opera.
• B. He is remembered for Water Music while composing mainly sacred works.
• C. He wrote primarily instrumental concertos.
• D. He never traveled to England.

Answer: (A)

The irony being tested is that Handel’s lasting fame comes from a sacred work, Messiah, even though the bulk of his career was spent crafting secular opera and dramatic music. He built his reputation in London with a large output of opera seria, then shifted toward oratorios—public, English-language works that could be staged without the same opera licensing constraints. Messiah became the work that outlived his operatic career and defined his name in popular memory, which is the opposite of what his most prolific period would suggest.

Water Music is famous and connected to Handel’s England phase, but it doesn’t capture the overall arc of his career the way Messiah does. He did compose substantial instrumental and sacred works beyond opera, not mainly instrumental concertos, and he did travel to England, where he ultimately settled.