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Notes for the Orchestra of St. John's concert at Dorchester Abbey on 17th December 2011
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Saturday 17 December 2011 at 7.30 PM
Dorchester Abbey, Dorchester-on-Thames
Programme Notes
George Frideric Handel: Messiah (HWV 56)
Messiah is one of the most popular works in the Western choral
literature. The libretto by Charles Jennens is drawn entirely from the
King James and Bibles, and interprets the Christian doctrine of the
Messiah. Messiah (often but incorrectly called The Messiah) is one of
Handel's most famous works composed in London during the
summer of 1741 and premiered in Dublin, Ireland on 13 April 1742, it
was repeatedly revised by Handel, reaching its most familiar version
in the performance to benefit the Foundling Hospital in 1754. In 1789
Mozart orchestrated a German version of the work; his added
woodwind parts, and the edition by Ebenezer Prout, were commonly
heard until the mid-20th century and the rise of historically informed
performance.
Messiah presents an interpretation of the Christian view of the
Messiah, or "the anointed one" as Jesus the Christ. Divided into three
parts, the libretto covers the Messianic prophecy, his birth, miracles,
crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and finally the End Times with
the Christ's final victory over death and sin.
Although the work was conceived for secular theatre and first
performed during Lent, it has become common practice since
Handel's death to perform Messiah during Advent, the preparatory
period of the Christmas season, rather than in Lent or at Easter.
Messiah is often performed in churches as well as in concert halls.
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 work is divided into three parts which address specific events in
the life of Christ. Part One is primarily concerned with the Advent
and Christmas stories. Part Two chronicles Christ's passion,
resurrection, ascension, and the proclamation to the world of the
Christian message. Part Three is based primarily upon the events
chronicled in the Book of Revelation. Although Messiah deals with
Christ's life as told in the New Testament, a majority of the oratorio
texts was selected from the Old Testament, such as the prophetic
books of Isaiah, Haggai, Malachi.
In the summer of 1741 Handel, depressed and in debt, began setting
Charles Jennens' Biblical libretto to music at a breakneck speed.[3] In
just 24 days, Messiah was complete (August 22–September 14). Like
many of Handel's compositions, it borrows liberally from earlier
works, both his own and those of others] Tradition has it that Handel
wrote the piece while staying as a guest at Jennens' country house
(Gopsall Hall) in Leicestershire, England, although no evidence exists
to confirm this.] It is thought that the work was completed inside a
garden temple, the ruins of which have been preserved and can be
visited.
It was premiered during the following season, in the spring of 1742,
as part of a series of charity concerts in Neal's Music Hall 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 canceled 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 often altered the music
to suit the needs of the singers and orchestra he had available to him
for each performance. Consequently, no single version can be
regarded as the "authentic" one. Many more variations and
rearrangements were added in subsequent centuries—a notable
arrangement was one by Mozart,] K. 572, translated into German. In
the Mozart version a French horn replaces the trumpet on 'The
Trumpet shall sound', even though Luther's bible translation uses the
word Posaune, German for trombone.
Messiah is scored for SATB soloists, SATB chorus, two oboes, bassoon,
two trumpets, timpani, strings, and basso continuo. The Mozart
arrangement expands the orchestra to two flutes, two oboes, two
clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, three trombones,
timpani, and strings. Due to performance constraints, the organ part
was eliminated. The parts for the four soloists were also expanded
into several purely choral movements, such as For Unto Us a Child is
Born and His Yoke is Easy. In 1959, Sir Thomas Beecham conducted a
larger arrangement by Sir Eugene Goossens for the Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra which expands the instrumentation to three
flutes (one doubling on piccolo), four oboes, two clarinets, two
bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, two trumpets, three
trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, and strings; today this
version is rarely heard live.
The libretto was compiled by Charles Jennens and consists of verses
mostly from the King James Bible, the selections from the book of
Psalms being from the Great Bible, the version contained in the Book
of Common Prayer. Jennens conceived of the work as an oratorio in
three parts, which he described as "Part One: The prophesy and
realization of God's plan to redeem mankind by the coming of the
Messiah. Part Two: The accomplishment of redemption by the
sacrifice of Jesus, mankind's rejection of God's offer, and mankind's
utter defeat when trying to oppose the power of the Almighty. Part
Three: A Hymn of Thanksgiving for the final overthrow of
Death"These "acts" may in turn be thought of as comprising several
scenes:[8]
Part I: The Annunciation
Scene 1: The prophecy of Salvation
Scene 2: The prophecy of the coming of the Messiah
Scene 3: Portents to the world at large
Scene 4: Prophecy of the Virgin Birth
Scene 5: The appearance of the Angel to the shepherds
Scene 6: Christ's miracles
Part II: The Passion
Scene 1: The sacrifice, the scourging and agony on the cross
Scene 2: His death, His passing through Hell, and His Resurrection
Scene 3: His Ascension
Scene 4: God discloses His identity in Heaven
Scene 5: The beginning of evangelism
Scene 6: The world and its rulers reject the Gospel
Scene 7: God's triumph
Part III: The Aftermath
Scene 1: The promise of redemption from Adam's fall
Scene 2: Judgment Day
Scene 3: The victory over death and sin
Scene 4: The glorification of Christ
Much of the libretto comes from the Old Testament. The first section
draws heavily from the book of Isaiah, commonly believed by
Christians to prophesy of 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, "Come unto Him" " from Matthew, and
"Behold the Lamb of God" from John. The rest of part two is
composed of psalms and prophecies from Isaiah and quotations from
Hebrews and Romans. The third section includes one quotation from
Job ("I know that my Redeemer liveth"), the rest primarily from First
Corinthians.
Further details of all our forthcoming events can be found at:
ww.osj.org.uk
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