Preparations Are Made For Handel's Anniversary Concert At Westminster Abbey

LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 08: Conservator Cat Clarke (unseen) cleans a representation of the musical score of Handel's Messiah on the statue of composer in Poets Corner, Westminster Abbey on April 8, 2009 in London. Handel, who died 250 years ago this Tuesday the 14th April, 1759, will be remembered in a special concert at the Abbey where he is buried. Handel's fame was so great at the time of his death that his funeral at the Abbey attracted a crowd of 3000 mourners. He wrote his celebrated Coronation Anthems for the crowning of George II in 1727. Zadok the Priest, the most famous of the anthems, has been sung at every coronation since. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)