PROGRAMME NOTES
HANDEL |
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George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759) Messiah Just as the classical masters Mozart and Haydn
are often paired together, so too are the masters of the high baroque, Bach
and Handel. And yet it is the differences that are at least as illuminating
as are the points of comparison. Both composers were complete masters of the
prevailing Italian and French styles that comprised the basic language of the
Baroque. But whereas Bach effected a personal synthesis of the two styles
with German counterpoint, Handel showed a strong early proclivity towards the
extroverted and dramatic world of Italian opera, and ultimately became the
most important composer of an essentially Italian style, albeit with a French
grandeur. He was born in Halle in Saxony, 85 miles
southwest of Berlin. Although his family was not musical, his talents were so
obvious that his barber-surgeon father begrudgingly allowed him to take
lessons from the director of music at the principal church in the town.
Handel became an accomplished organist, harpsichordist, and studied violin
and oboe. His knowledge of counterpoint and contemporary composition came
from the time-honoured method of copying scores of other composers. At the
age of 18 he went to Hamburg and there composed his first opera, Amira,
performed in 1705. From 1706 to 1710 Handel was in Italy and by the time he
left Italy at the age of 25 to become Music Director at the Court of Hanover,
the basic foundation of his style had been developed. Almost immediately he took leave from his new
position and went to London where his opera Rinaldo caused a
sensation. In 1712 he was granted a second leave on condition that he “return
within a reasonable time”. Two years later he was still London when the
Elector of Hanover was proclaimed King George I of England. Legend has it
that Handel restored himself to the good favour of the new monarch
by composing wind music to be played as a surprise for the King’s boating
party. This was subsequently published under the title Water Music. As
Italian opera began to fall out of favour in the 1730’s, Handel turned to a kind of
composition that could be mounted at less expense – oratorio. All in all, he
produced 26 oratorios, the most famous of course being Messiah, which
was first performed in Dublin in 1742. Handel’s Messiah is not a piece of
liturgical music; it is not deliberately tied to any liturgical feast or
season. Nevertheless, there are obvious associations: most of the early
performances took place during Lent, offering a fitting preparation for
Passion-tide and Easter (and with the theatres otherwise closed during the
season of sobriety, this was a shrewd commercial move!). Nowadays, by
contrast, it has a well-established slot in the Christmas programmes of many
choral societies and broadcasters; “For unto us a child is born” belongs
forever with the turkey and the tinsel. It has been said that the texts used in Messiah
could easily have been culled from the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer,
that there is not much programme to it, and that little thought went into the
process of culling. Certainly the texts are familiar and are to be found in
obvious places. Nevertheless the choice had to be made and there was a vast
amount of material available to Charles Jennens, Handel’s librettist; the
choices are not always the obvious ones. It is only by stepping back a little
that we can appreciate the subtlety with which he chose, and ordered, the
texts delivered to the composer. Imagine an art exhibition called Messiah.
There would be a sequence of pictures, like those found on Christmas and
Easter cards, telling the story of the birth, ministry, death and
resurrection of Jesus in a relatively clear, linear way. Now imagine a set of
titles, placed underneath each picture: the birth of Jesus, the angelic host
and the shepherds, the adoration of the Magi, and so on. These form a clear
sequence, telling us what has already happened and the order in which it
happened. Now imagine a series of quotations from the prophets, placed
alongside each picture, chosen to demonstrate how each of these events was
foretold in the Bible – albeit in some ambiguous or symbolic way. While the
pictures and their titles tell us what happened, the quotations tell us how
these events were foretold. And as with all prophesy, the tone is allusive,
indirect, peering at things seen through a glass darkly. The exhibition works
at several levels: the pictures and their titles provide the narrative
thread, while the quotations provide a commentary on the story, adding layers
of meaning and association not immediately evident from the pictures. Music can attempt something similar: for
example, in Bach’s Passions we are presented both with the narrative thread
from the evangelists, with reflective commentary from soloists, and
responsive chorales from the chorus and congregation. But Handel’s Messiah
attempts something rather different: the picture frames are empty, their
titles removed; Handel’s Messiah has no ‘plot’ as such; all it has is a chain
of prophetic quotations (‘Behold the Lamb of God’, ‘the trumpet shall
sound’), and beautiful, evocative music. (The recitatives and chorus telling
of the appearance of the angelic host to the shepherds is the only picture
provided). |
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As you listen, you have to provide the story
for yourself, to reconstruct the sequence of pictures, imagining the scenes
in the frames, seeing how they build a coherent story. Handel’s music assumes
that you will be successful in doing this. For example, when he sets the
prophecy ‘For unto us a child is born’, Handel creates for us a scene of joy
at the Nativity of Jesus – and we are not nonplussed by this. Similarly, when
he draws on texts foretelling the abuse suffered by the Messiah (‘All they
that see him laugh him to scorn’ and ‘He trusted in God’), he dramatizes them
in a way that recalls the exchanges between evangelist and crowd in
liturgical settings of the gospel passions. The music works because the
‘right’ pictures have been imagined. Given its Advent style, it is not surprising
that the oratorio, while focusing on the Messiah himself, has plenty to say
about those who foretold his coming (the prophets) and those who came after
him and spoke in his name (the preachers). Apart from the obvious reasons for
this, Handel and Jennens are also having a go at some of their
contemporaries: the rationalists (or deists) challenged Christian orthodoxy
by wondering out loud whether sensible people needed to believe on prophecy,
visions, miracles, and the power of prayer. In this light, the oratorio’s
emphasis on the trustworthiness of biblical prophecy attains a more
pugnacious character than we might otherwise have anticipated. The high regard for prophecy strikes us with
the very first words we hear, ‘Comfort ye, my people’. The text comes from
the beginning of the section of Isaiah sometimes referred to as the Book of
Consolation. The people of God are in exile in Babylon; they are to be sent a
message of comfort and consolation, and a promise of salvation. The first
spotlight is pointed at the messenger, rather than the message. The movement
concludes with the new prophet’s maiden speech (Isaiah 40: 3): ‘The voice of
him that crieth in the wilderness’. For us, these word refer to John the
Baptist, the voice crying in the wilderness (Matthew 3: 3). Here, Isaiah’s
words have been recast, both by the gospel writers, and then by the
translators, to make them fit with the coming of John the Baptist. So what is
happening here? Handel is not simply setting words from Isaiah; he is setting
them as they appear in the New Testament, filtered through Christian
experience. Listeners who share this experience will immediately make the
association, and place a portrait of John the Baptist in the empty frame
alongside this movement. This overt consideration of the role of
preachers and prophets contrasts strongly with the presentation of the
Messiah himself: though centre-stage, he is silent and almost anonymous. The
actual name of the Messiah appears only once in the whole oratorio, towards
the end (‘But thanks be to God Who giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ’) and the words of Jesus in the gospels are never quoted
directly. Where they are used, they are rewritten and put into the mouth of
another. Programme
notes compiled by Graham Anstey |
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MESSIAH |
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PART ONE 1
Sinfonia (Overture) 2 Recitative
Comfort ye my people 3
Air Ev'ry valley shall be exalted 4 Chorus
And the glory of the Lord1 5 Recitative
Thus saith the Lord9 6 Air
But who may abide the
day of his coming? 7 Chorus
And he shall purify 8 Recitative
Behold, a virgin shall conceive 9 Air
and Chorus O thou that
tellest good tidings to Zion 10 Recitative
For behold, darkness shall cover
the earth 11 Air
The people that walked
in darkness 12 Chorus
For unto us a child is born 13 Pifa
('Pastoral Symphony') 14
(a) Recitative There were shepherds abiding in the field (b)
Recitative And lo, the angel of the
Lord came upon them 15 Recitative
And the angel said unto them 16 Recitative
And suddenly there was with the
angel 17 Chorus
Glory to God 18 Air
Rejoice greatly, O
daughter of Zion 19 Recitative
Then shall the eyes of the blind 20 Air
He shall feed his
flock 21 Chorus
His yoke is easy, and his
burthen is light |
›››››INTERVALššššš PART TWO 22 Chorus
Behold the Lamb of God 23 Air
He was despised 24 Chorus
Surely he hath borne our
griefs 25 Chorus
And with his stripes we are
healed 26 Chorus All we like sheep have gone astray 27 Recitative
All they that see him laugh him to
scorn 28 Chorus
He trusted in God 29 Recitative
Thy rebuke hath broken his heart 30 Air
Behold,
and see if there be any sorrow 31 Recitative
He was cut off out of the land of
the living 32 Air
But thou
didst not leave his soul in hell 33 Chorus
Lift up your heads, O ye gates 37 Chorus
The Lord gave the word 38 Air
How
beautiful are the feet 39 Chorus
Their sound is gone out 40 Air Why do the nations so
furiously rage together? 41 Chorus
Let us break their bonds
asunder 42 Recitative
He that dwelleth in heaven 43 Air
Thou
shalt break them 44 Chorus
Hallelujah |
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PART THREE 45
Air I
know that my redeemer liveth 46
Chorus Since by man came death 47
Recitative Behold, I tell you a mystery 48
Air The
trumpet shall sound 49
Recitative Then shall be bought to pass 50
Duet 0
death, where is thy sting? 51 Chorus But
thanks be to God 52
Air If
God be for us 53
Chorus Worthy is the lamb that was slain |
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