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