Handel's Messiah
"I think I did see all Heaven before me and the great God Himself."
"Handel was so moved when composing the "Hallelujah Chorus" that he penned these words in his journal. And for the past 250 years this incredible piece of music has inspired audiences, filling their hearts with joy, comfort, passion and peace.
Ironically, Messiah followed one of the lowest periods of his brilliant career. After presenting two rather unremarkable operas to indifferent London audiences, feeling dejected, empty and alone, Handel prepared to return to his native Germany. But then he received a new libretto drawn from the tests of the English Bible. It explored the birth, life and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was full of passion and prophecy, tender moments followed by soul-stirring passages. It was the story of Jesus as the suffering servant. And it was called Messiah.
He immediately threw himself into the work. Day and night, he worked feverishly, often ignoring the meals brought to him by servants. He could be heard weeping as he worked, moved to tears over the saga of the Savior's death and suffering. And after only 24 days and nights of constant labor, Handel, on the verge of exhaustion, had made his Messiah a reality.
Much of the popularity of Messiah lay in its style. Drawing inspiration from the Sacred Word, Handle's masterpiece moved and inspired the audience of his day."
From the CD cover to Handel's Young Messiah
"Messiah lasts about 2 1/2 hours and was composed in just twenty-four days. Handel wrote it before going to Ireland to attend performances of his own works that were being given to dedicate a concert hall. About five months after his arrive in Dublin (in 1742), Handel gave the first performance of Messiah; the occasion was a benefit for people in debtor's prisons. The rehearsals attracted wide attention: one newspaper commented that Messiah was thought 'by the greatest Judges to be the finest Composition of Musick that was ever heard'. Normally, the concert hall held 600 people; but to increase the capacity, women were asked not to wear hoopskirts, and men were asked to leave their swords at home.
"Although the premiere was a success, the first London performance (1743) was poorly received, mainly because of the religious opposition to the use of a Christian text in a theater. It took Messiah almost a decade to find popularity in London. Not until it was performed yearly at a benefit for a London orphanage did it achieve its unique status. A contemporary wrote that Messiah 'fed the hungry, clothed the naked, fostered the orphan.'
'Messiah is in three parts. Part I starts with the prophecy of the Messiah's coming and makes celestial announcements of Christ's birth and the redemption of humanity through his appearance. Part II has been aptly described by one Handel scholar as 'the accomplishment of redemption by the sacrifice of Jesus, mankind's rejection God's offer and mankind's utter defeat when trying to oppose the power of the Almighty.' Part III expresses faith in the certainty of eternal life through Christ as redeemer.
"Unlike most of Handel's oratorios, Messiah is meditative rather than dramatic; it lacks plot action and specific characters. Messiah is Handel's only English oratorio that uses the New Testament as well as the Old. Charles Jennings, a millionaire and amateur literary man, complied the text by taking widely separated passages form the Bible--Isaiah, Psalms, and Job form the Old Testament; Luke, I Corinthians, and the Book of Revelations from the New.
"Over the years, Handle rewrote some movements in Messiah for different performers and performances. In Handel's own time, it was performed with a smaller orchestra and chorus than we are used to. Handel's own chorus included twenty singers, all male, and his small orchestra had only strings and continuo, with trumpets and timpani used in some sections. Today we sometimes hear arranged versions; Mozart made one, and still later versions are often played by orchestras of one hundred and choruses of several hundred.
"Messiah has over fifty movements, and Handel ensures variety by skillfully contrasting and grouping them."
The above is from Music an Appreciation by Roger Kamien, Brief Edition, McGraw Hill Companies, Inc. Pages 106-109.
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