Messiah (Handel)

Template:Handel oratoriosMessiah (HWV 56), is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel based on a libretto by Charles Jennens. Composed in the summer of 1741 and premiered in Dublin in April of 1742, Messiah is Handel's most famous creation and is among the most popular works in the Western choral literature.

Overview

The name of the oratorio is taken from Judaism and Christianity's concept of the Messiah ("the anointed one"). In Christianity, the Messiah is Jesus. Handel himself was a devout Christian, and the work is a presentation of Jesus's life and its significance according to Christian doctrine.

Messiah is Handel's most famous work (approached only by his Water Music) and remains immensely popular among concert-goers in the English-speaking world.

Although Handel called his oratorio simply "Messiah" (without "The"), the work is also widely but incorrectly referred to as The Messiah. This folk-title is so common that, to many ears, the correct version actually sounds wrong.

Although the work was conceived and first performed for Easter, it has become traditional since Handel's death to perform the Messiah oratorio during Advent, the preparatory period of the Christmas season, rather than at Easter. Christmas concerts often feature only the first section of Messiah plus the "Hallelujah" chorus, although some ensembles feature the entire work as a Christmas concert. The work is also heard at Eastertide, and selections containing resurrection themes are often included in Easter services. The soprano aria "I know that my Redeemer liveth" is frequently heard at Christian funerals. It is believed that parts of this aria have been the basis of the composition of the Westminster Quarters. Above Handel's grave in Westminster Abbey is a monument (1762) where the musician's statue holds the musical score of the same aria.

Composition and premiere

In the summer of 1741 Handel, at the peak of his musical powers but depressed and in debt, began setting Charles Jennens' Biblical libretto to music at his usual breakneck speed. In just 24 days, Messiah was complete. Like many of Handel's compositions, it borrows liberally from earlier works, both his own and those of others. Handel wrote the piece while staying as a guest at Jennens' country house (Gopsall Hall) in Leicestershire, England. It is thought that the work was completed inside a garden temple, the ruins of which have been preserved and can be visited.^[1]

It was premiered during the following season, in the spring of 1742, as part of a series of charity concert on Fishamble Street near Dublin's Temple Bar district. Right up to the day of the premiere, Messiah was troubled by production difficulties and last-minute rearrangements of the score, and the Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Jonathan Swift placed some pressure on the premiere and had it cancelled entirely for a period. He demanded that it be retitled A Sacred Oratorio and that revenue from the concert be promised to local hospitals for the mentally ill. The premiere happened on 13 April at the Music Hall in Dublin, and Handel led the performance from the harpsichord with Matthew Dubourg conducting the orchestra. Dubourg was an Irish violinist, conductor and composer. He had worked with Handel as early as 1719 in London.

Handel conducted Messiah many times and, as was his custom, often altered the music to suit the needs of the singers and orchestra he had available to him for each performance. In consequence, no single version can be regarded as the "authentic" one. and many more variations and rearrangements were added in subsequent centuries—a notable arrangement was one by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, translated into German.

Messiah is scored for SATB soloists, SATB chorus, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings, and basso continuo. The Mozart arrangement expands the orchestra to 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, strings, and organ.

Structure

The libretto was compiled by Charles Jennens and consists of fragments of verses from the King James Bible. Jennens concieved of the work as an oratorio in three parts (or acts), each comprised of several scenes:

Part I -- The Birth

i -- The prophecy of Salvation

ii -- The prophecy of the coming of the Messiah

iii -- Portends to the world at large

iv -- Prophecy of the Virgin Birth

v -- The appearance of the Angel to the shepherds

vi -- Christ's miracles

Part II -- The Passion

i -- The sacrifice, the scourging and agony on the cross

ii -- His death, His passing through Hell, and His resurrection

iii -- His Ascension

iv -- God discloses His identity in Heaven

v -- The beginning of evangelism

vi -- The world and its rulers reject the Gospel

vii -- God's triumph

Part III -- The Aftermath

i -- The promise of redemption from Adam's fall

ii -- Judgment Day

iii -- The victory over death and sin

iv -- The glorification of Christ

Much of the libretto comes from the Old Testament. The first section draws heavily from the book of Isaiah, which prophesies the coming of the Messiah. There are few quotations from the Gospels; these are at the end of the first and the beginning of the second sections. They comprise the Angel going to the shepherds in Luke, two enigmatic quotations from Matthew, and one from John: "Behold the Lamb of God". The rest of the second section is composed of prophecies from Isaiah and quotations from the evangelists. The third section includes one quotation from Job ("I know that my Redeemer liveth"), the rest primarily from First Corinthians.

Interesting, too, is the interpolation of choruses from the New Testament's Revelation. The well-known "Hallelujah" chorus at the end of Part II and the finale chorus "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain" ("Amen") are both taken from Revelation.

Performances of Messiah are most common during the Christmas season, but it should be noted that Part I, scenes i-v (movement numbers 1-18) are associated with "the Birth" and thus Christmas-themed. Part I, scene vi (numbers 19-20) and Part II, number 22 can be considered cross-over movements which pertain to either Christmas or Easter, and the rest of the work is associated with Easter. Looking at it this way, the "Hallelujah" chorus, often associated with the Christmas season, is in fact a part of the Easter section. Regardless, many choral societies perform the entire work at either time of year, much to the enjoyment of audiences.

Language

Handel is famous for employing tone painting -- the musical technique of having the melody mimic its lyrics -- in many of his works. Perhaps the most famous and oft-quoted example of the technique is in Every valley shall be exalted, the tenor aria early in Part I of Messiah. On the lyric "...and every mountain and hill made low; the crooked straight and the rough places plain", Handel composes it thus:

The notes rise to the high F on the first syllable of mountain to drop an octave on the second syllable. The four notes on the word hill form a small hill, and the word low descends to the lowest note of the phrase. On crooked, the melody twice alternates between C♯ and B to rest on the B through the word straight. The word plain is written, for the most part, on the high E for three measures, with some minor deviation. He applies the same strategy throughout the repetition of the final phrase: the crookeds being crooked and plain descending down on three lengthy planes. He uses this technique frequently throughout the rest of the aria, specifically on the word exalted, which contains several sixteenth note (semiquaver) melismas and two leaps to a high E:

As was common in English-language poetry at the time, the suffix -ed of the past tense and past participle of weak verbs was often pronounced as a separate syllable as in this passage from And the glory of the Lord:

The word revealed would thus be pronounced in three syllables: [rɪˈviːlɛd]. In many published editions, an e that is silent in speech but is to be sung as a separate syllable is marked with a grave accent, thus: revealèd.

It should however be noted that though Messiah is often pointed at as being rife with examples of text painting, Handel was particularly fond of plagiarising himself and some of the arias and choruses in Messiah are taken directly from material he originally penned in other works (for example the Arcadian Duets). Thus the argument for text painting loses much of its validity because the music was originally composed with different texts set over it, and in many cases in languages other than English.

Hallelujah chorus

The most famous movement is the "Hallelujah" chorus, which concludes the second of the three parts. The text is drawn from three passages in the New Testament book of Revelation:

And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. (Revelation 19:6)

And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 11:15)

And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. (Revelation 19:16)

In many parts of the world, it is the accepted practice for the audience to stand for this section of the performance. Tradition has it that on first hearing the chorus, King George II was so moved that he rose to his feet. As is true today, when the King stands, so do all subjects also rise; thus engendering the tradition.

Because this piece is so often heard separate from the rest of Messiah, it has become popularly known as "The Hallelujah Chorus", which, like "The Messiah", is technically incorrect usage. "(the) Hallelujah chorus" or "'Hallelujah' chorus from Messiah" is better usage.

Movement Listing and Media

For the entire libretto annotated with a free recording of the work by the MIT Concert Choir, see Messiah on Wikisource.

Related Articles

• Scratch Messiah

References

1. ^ Heritage leaflet produced by Hinckley and Bosworth Council (available on their website) states that Handel closeted himself inside the Temple for 3 weeks in August/September 1741 to write his masterpiece “The Messiah”, when staying as a guest of Charles Jennens. The estate was then held by Charles’ grandfather, Humphrey Jennens, a rich iron founder.

External Links

• Handel's Messiah Through the Centuries
• Free scores of this work in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
• Leaflet detailing the place in Leicestershire where Handel composed the Messiah
• Handel House Museum website
• Erhardt, T.J. (2006) 'A Most Excellent Subject'. Händels Messiah im Licht von Charles Jennens' theologischer Bibliothek. Universiteit van Utrecht.
• Program notes by Boston Cecilia.
• Full text of Jennens' libretto hosted by Stanford University.
• Full text of Jennens' libretto at Wikisource.
• 'But who may abide is a particularly noteworthy example of the aforementioned variation in voicings. While the original, simpler version of this piece was, indeed, written for a bass, Handel produced the aria in its present form specifically for Italian castrato singer Gaetano Guadagni, and afterwards assigned it to female altos or even sopranos. The currently common practice of using a bass for that aria is thus without precedent in Handel's own performances, and of later origin. [2] In the 1999 film by William Klein, the aria was sung by Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená.