Messiah George Frideric Handel
(1685 – 1757)
George Frideric Handel’s Messiah is probably the best known and most beloved sacred work for voices and orchestra. So popular is it that it has probably undergone more modifications and revisions than any other major classical work. Much of what the general public knows of Messiah is based on performances during the Christmas season (Advent) and by large choral/instrumental forces using a rather Romanticized version by the 19th century musician Ebenezer Prout. Less well known is a re-orchestration by no less than Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
However, Handel’s original work (even in the several modifications by the composer during his lifetime) is quite different, both in its performing forces, performance practices and intended time of performance in the church year. Handel actually composed the oratorio to be performed during Lent, the time of the church year that lies between Ash Wednesday and Easter Monday; a penitential time in which believers contemplate the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday. How it came into being is based on the requirement in Catholic and many Protestant countries that theatrical and operatic performances not take place during Lent.
Handel had composed a number of oratorios before, both on sacred and secular subjects. His first sacred work (The Resurrection) was written in 1708 (before coming to England) and the last, Jephtha, in 1751. However, Messiah came at a particularly poignant time in his life. In 1741, his health was poor and his success as a composer of Italian opera was severely curtailed by a growing taste for more accessible “English” opera. In this condition, he began to work on a musical setting of the life of Christ using a text compiled from Scripture (Old and New Testament) by Charles Jennans. Seized by a particular fervor, Handel worked as his usual breakneck pace and completed the entire oratorio in just twenty-four days.
The premiere performance was on April 13, 1742, in Dublin’s Music Hall. The event was not without some difficulties. These included last minute changes by Handel, as well as attempts by the Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Jonathan Swift, to have the title changed and the proceeds donated to charity. At any rate, the premiere was a huge success, with unanimous acclaim by both the public and press. Judged by the audience to be one of the greatest musical creations, its popularity may well have been enhanced by the large number of choruses – more than in any other of Handel’s oratorios.
Messiah is divided into three parts. The first narrates The Birth of Christ; the second describes The Passion and the third The Victory. In every number, Handel’s ability to use music to illustrate and intensify the words of the text is striking. Drawing on the technique of text painting, he writes melodic and rhythmic figures that mirror the meaning of the words. Text painting had been practiced since the Renaissance and was especially valued in vocal music. There are many examples. In the tenor aria Every valley shall be exalted…, where the words proclaim “…and every mountain and hill made low…”, the melody rises and falls very quickly, dramatically making a musical picture of a mountain or hill. In the chorus All we like sheep…” the vocal lines twist and turn in seeming confusion, like wandering sheep. And in the alto aria He was despised…”, the middle section He gave His back to the smiters…” is accompanied by an insistent dotted rhythm that was understood by listeners to denote flogging or whipping. And many others abound.
The practice of standing during the Hallelujah chorus is attributed to King George II during the London premiere. Protocol demanded that when the monarch stood, so did all others. The exact reason for his rising is lost; perhaps he rose to signify his subjugation to Christ the King of Kings; perhaps he was moved by the performance; perhaps he was tired of sitting. We shall never know, but the tradition is enshrined today, over 250 years later. Also told is the story that after a performance, Handel was found in his room, in tears. Asked what was wrong he responded by holding up the score to the Hallelujah chorus and saying “I have seen the face of God.”
Messiah is a powerful statement of faith and after many hearings, still does not leave listeners unmoved. It is our hope that our listeners will also be moved.