PROGRAM NOTES
MESSIAH
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
BY JANET E . BEDELL
George Frideric Handel
Born in Halle , Saxony ( now Germany ), February 23 , 1685 Died in London , England , April 4 , 1759
MESSIAH [ 1741 ]
In the early 1740s , G . F . Handel found himself in considerable professional and financial trouble . After emigrating from Germany to England as a young man , he had enjoyed a celebrated career as the country ’ s leading composer of operas , mostly in Italian and enhanced by spectacular costumes and scenic effects . But by the end of the 1730s , Handel ’ s serious grand operas were falling out of fashion . The success of John Gay ’ s much simpler , English-language The Beggar ’ s Opera fueled a new enthusiasm for popular-style comic operas . Unable to fill London ’ s opera houses any more , Handel retreated from the field and turned his genius to sacred dramas or oratorios .
He was not a novice in this genre . Even while busy writing operas , Handel had composed a number of oratorios , notably Israel in Egypt and Saul . Typically , his oratorios were not so very different from his operas : they told a dramatic story — in this case drawn from the Bible or other sacred literature — and their soloists often played actual characters . They were performed in theatres and concert halls , not churches . But Israel in Egypt took a new musical approach in that the chorus now became the central character . And Messiah , while giving the soloists more to do , still emphasized the chorus for its climactic moments .
Charles Jennens , a wealthy landowner and literary figure who was also a longtime friend of the composer ’ s , selected Messiah ’ s texts from both the Old and New Testaments . To them , Handel , devoutly religious as well as worldly , responded with a burst of almost miraculous creative energy . Beginning his work on August 22 , 1741 , he completed the two-and-a-half-hour oratorio in just over three weeks ! Besides inspiration from God , he also had a little practical assistance in this huge task . Like most Baroque composers , he did not hesitate to borrow music from his earlier works . Three of the choruses in Part I — “ He shall purify ,” “ His yoke is easy ,” and even the famous “ For unto us a child is
Schuyler Jackson , Bassoon
born ”— are based on music he ’ d originally composed as Italian vocal duets .
Messiah was introduced to the world in Dublin , Ireland on April 13 , 1743 , during Holy Week ( the tradition of performing it during the Christmas season in the U . S . is fairly recent ). At the invitation of the Duke of Devonshire , the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , Handel had been presenting concerts of his works there and winning the kind of warm popular response that had eluded him in London . On that Tuesday , Neal ’ s Musick Hall was packed beyond its capacity ; audience members had been specifically requested to leave their swords and hoop shirts at home in order to fit more people into the hall . The response of that first Irish audience was overwhelming .
Messiah ’ s heroic journey is divided into three parts . Part I revolves around the Old Testament prophecies ( emphasizing the Book of Isaiah ) of the Messiah ’ s coming and culminates with his birth , as told in the Gospel of Luke . Indeed , more of Messiah ’ s text is drawn from the Old Testament than the New . Thus , the emphasis falls on the broader meaning of Christ ’ s redemption of the human race rather than on the details of Jesus ’ s life .
Part II meditates on human sinfulness , the Messiah ’ s rejection and suffering , and his sacrifice to redeem humankind ; it concludes with that famous song of praise and triumph , the “ Hallelujah ” Chorus . Finally moving into the New Testament , Part III tells of the Messiah ’ s vanquishing of death and the promise of everlasting joy for the believer .
All the choruses , including the “ Hallelujah ,” demonstrate Handel ’ s exhilarating technique of mixing powerful homophonic
Maximilian Franz or chordal utterances (“ Mighty ! Counselor !”) with a more intricate polyphonic style in which each vocal part pursues its own elaborately embellished line (“ For unto us a child is born ”). The origins of the audience standing for the “ Hallelujah Chorus ” are rather misty . Scholars believe the Prince of Wales may have started it when he attended a performance in London in 1749 . Certainly by 1780 , everyone in the audience was following King George III ’ s lead in rising for Handel ’ s mighty hymn of praise .
Perhaps even exceeding “ Hallelujah ” in majesty and joy is the magnificent chorus “ Worthy is the Lamb ” that closes Part III , the shortest of the three sections , but also the one most densely packed with the oratorio ’ s greatest sequences ( the soprano ’ s serenely beautiful statement of faith “ I Know that my Redeemer Liveth ;” the bass ’ s hair-raising proclamation of the Last Judgment , “ The Trumpet Shall Sound ,” with its gloriously realized trumpet accompaniment ). “ Worthy is the Lamb ” itself is capped with an “ Amen ” chorus on an epic scale worthy of the masterpiece it closes , as it unfurls in grand sweeps some of the most inspired choral counterpoint this Baroque master ever created .
Instrumentation Two oboes , bassoon , contrabassoon , two trumpets , timpani , harpsichord , organ , and strings .
Musical Terms Oratorios : A large-scale musical composition on a sacred subject for solo voices , chorus , and orchestra . Homophony : A musical texture in which a primary melody is supported harmonically by one or more lines with the same rhythm . Polyphonic : Unlike homophony , similar lines move with rhythmic and melodic independence to form an even texture . Counterpoint : Two or more musical lines that are harmonically interdependent . Baroque : A style of Western classical music from approximately 1600 to 1750 . Characteristics include : a single melodic idea , continuous rhythmic drive , and a balance of homophonic and polyphonic textures .
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