That's what I was thinking. But maybe in the U.K. things are different.
I think it was written that way because “The Messiah” (which is probably one of the ten classical pieces almost anyone in western civ can actually name and/or recognize, along with the Fifth Symphony, and that one by that other guy, and...) would be considered sectarian turmoil by the ever-intolerant bags of phlegm on the left.
My thoughts too.