NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Messiah (Handel)

Messiah (HWV 56) is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel based on a libretto by Charles Jennens. Composed in the summer of 1741 and premiered in Dublin on the 13 April 1742, Messiah is Handel's most famous creation and is among the most popular works in Western choral literature. The very well known chorus, Hallelujah, is part of Handel's Messiah. The HÃ¤ndel-Werke-Verzeichnis (abbreviation HWV) is the Catalogue of Handels Works. ... An oratorio is a large musical composition for orchestra, vocal soloists and chorus. ... â€œHandelâ€ redirects here. ... Charles Jennens (1700-1773) assembled the text for Handels oratorios Messiah and Saul, and is thought to have done the same for Handels Israel in Egypt. ... is the 103rd day of the year (104th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events January 24 - Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor. ... Look up Hallelujah in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Overview

The name of the oratorio is taken from Judaism and Christianity's concept of the Messiah ("the anointed one"). In Christianity, the Messiah is Jesus. Handel himself was a devout Christian, and the work is a presentation of Jesus's life and its significance according to Christian doctrine. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Topics in Christianity Movements Â· Denominations Â· Other religions Ecumenism Â· Preaching Â· Prayer Music Â· Liturgy Â· Calendar Symbols Â· Art Â· Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul Â· Church Fathers Constantine Â· Athanasius Â· Augustine Anselm Â· Aquinas Â· Palamas Â· Luther Calvin Â· Wesley Arius Â· Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury Â· Catholic Pope Coptic Pope Â· Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box: Christianity is... In Judaism, the Messiah (Hebrew: , Standard Tiberian ; Aramaic: , ; Arabic: , ; the Anointed One) at first meant any person who was anointed with oil on rising to a certain position among the ancient Israelites, at first that of High priest, later that of King and also that of a prophet. ... This article is about Jesus of Nazareth. ...

Although the work was conceived and first performed for Easter,^{[citation needed]} it has become traditional since Handel's death to perform the Messiah oratorio during Advent, the preparatory period of the Christmas season, rather than at Easter. 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. This article is about the Christian festival. ... Advent (from the Latin Adventus, implicitly coupled with Redemptoris, the coming of the Saviour) is a holy season of the Christian church, the period of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Christ, also known as the season of Christmas. ... For other uses, see Christmas (disambiguation). ...

The soprano aria "I know that my Redeemer liveth" is frequently heard at Christian funerals. It is believed that parts of this aria have been the basis of the composition of the Westminster Quarters.^[1] Above Handel's grave in Westminster Abbey is a monument (1762) where the musician's statue holds the musical score of the same aria.^[2] This article is about the voice-type. ... An aria (Italian for air; plural: arie or arias in common usage) in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. ... For other uses, see Funeral (disambiguation). ... The Westminster Quarters is the most common name for a melody used by a set of clock bells to strike the hour. ...

Although Handel called his oratorio simply Messiah (without "The"), the work is also widely but incorrectly referred to as The Messiah.

Composition and premiere

In the summer of 1741 Handel, at the peak of his musical prowess but depressed and in debt, began setting Charles Jennens' Biblical libretto to music at his usual breakneck speed. In just 24 days, Messiah was complete. 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.^[3] It is thought that the work was completed inside a garden temple, the ruins of which have been preserved and can be visited.^[4] // Events April 10 - Austrian army attack troops of Frederick the Great at Mollwitz August 10 - Raja of Travancore defeats Dutch East India Company naval expedition at Battle of Colachel December 19 - Vitus Bering dies in his expedition east of Siberia December 25 - Anders Celsius develops his own thermometer scale Celsius... Charles Jennens (1700-1773) assembled the text for Handels oratorios Messiah and Saul, and is thought to have done the same for Handels Israel in Egypt. ... Gopsall (or Gopsall Park) is an area of Crown Estate land in North West Leicestershire, England. ... Leicestershire ( IPA: (RP), IPA: (locally)), abbreviation Leics. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...

It was premiered during the following season, in the spring of 1742, as part of a series of charity concert 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 cancelled 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. // Events January 24 - Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor. ... For other uses, see Dublin (disambiguation). ... Temple Bar (Barra an Teampaill in Irish) is an area on the south bank of the River Liffey in central Dublin, Ireland. ... A Dean, in the Church of England and elsewhere in the Anglican Communion, is the senior clergyman in charge of a cathedral. ... St. ... Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (November 30, 1667 â€“ October 19, 1745) was an Irish cleric, satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for Whigs then for Tories), and poet, famous for works like Gullivers Travels, A Modest Proposal, A Journal to Stella, The Drapiers Letters, The Battle of the Books, and... is the 103rd day of the year (104th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Harpsichord in the Flemish style A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. ... Matthew Dubourg (1707â€“1767), was an irish violinist and composer. ... For the Anne Rice novel, see Violin (novel). ... A conductor conducting at a ceremony A conductors score and batons Conducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... // Events January 23 - The Principality of Liechtenstein is created within the Holy Roman Empire April 25 - Daniel Defoe publishes Robinson Crusoe June 10 - Battle of Glen Shiel Prussia conducts Europes first systematic census Miners in Falun, Sweden find an apparently petrified body of Fet-Mats Israelsson in an unused...

Handel conducted Messiah many times and, as was his custom, often altered the music to suit the needs of the singers and orchestra he had available to him for each performance. In consequence, 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 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, translated into German. â€œMozartâ€ redirects here. ...

Messiah is scored for SATB soloists, SATB chorus, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings, and basso continuo. The Mozart arrangement expands the orchestra to 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, strings, and organ. In 1959, Sir Thomas Beecham conducted a special arrangement for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra which expands the instrumentation to 3 flutes (one doubling on piccolo), 4 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 bassoons, 1 contrabassoon, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, harp, and strings. This article is about choirs, musical ensembles containing singers. ... Thomas Beecham (April 29, 1879 - March 8, 1961) was a British conductor. ...

Structure

The libretto was compiled by Charles Jennens and consists of fragments of verses from the King James Bible. Jennens conceived of the work as an oratorio in three parts (or acts), each comprising several scenes:^[5] Charles Jennens (1700-1773) assembled the text for Handels oratorios Messiah and Saul, and is thought to have done the same for Handels Israel in Egypt. ...

Much of the libretto comes from the Old Testament. The first section draws heavily from the book of Isaiah, which prophesies 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, two enigmatic quotations from Matthew, and one from John: "Behold the Lamb of God". The rest of the second section is composed of prophecies from Isaiah and quotations from the evangelists. The third section includes one quotation from Job ("I know that my Redeemer liveth"), the rest primarily from First Corinthians. For other uses, see Salvation (disambiguation). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... This article is about the supernatural being. ... A miracle, derived from the old Latin word miraculum meaning something wonderful, is a striking interposition of divine intervention by God in the universe by which the ordinary course and operation of Nature is overruled, suspended, or modified. ... The Passion is the theological term used for the suffering, both physical and mental, of Jesus in the hours prior to and including his trial and execution by crucifixion. ... This article is about the theological or philosophical afterlife. ... The resurrection of Jesus is an event in the New Testament in which God raised him from the dead[1] after his death by crucifixion. ... Also refers to the process of gaining Enlightenment and several meditation techniques. ... This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... For other uses, see Heaven (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Adam (disambiguation). ... This article or section should be merged with End times and Last judgment The Last Judgement - Tympanum sculpture at the Abbey Church of Ste-Foy, Conques-en-Rouergue, France In Christian eschatology, the Last Judgement is the ethical-judicial trial, judgement, and punishment/reward of individual humans (assignment to heaven... Antonio Ghislanzoni, nineteenth century Italian librettist. ... 11th century manuscript of the Hebrew Bible with Targum Hebrew Bible is a term that refers to the common portions of the Jewish canon and the Christian canons. ... This article is about the Book of Isaiah. ... Gospel, from the Old English good tidings is a calque of Greek () used in the New Testament (see Etymology below). ... The Gospel of Luke (literally, according to Luke; Greek, ÎšÎ±Ï„Î¬ Î›Î¿Ï…ÎºÎ±Î½, Kata Loukan) is a synoptic Gospel, and the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels of the New Testament. ... The Gospel of Matthew (literally, according to Matthew; Greek, ÎšÎ±Ï„Î¬ ÎœÎ±Î¸Î¸Î±Î¯Î¿Î½ or ÎšÎ±Ï„Î¬ ÎœÎ±Ï„Î¸Î±Î¯Î¿Î½, Kata Maththaion or Kata Matthaion) is a synoptic gospel in the New Testament, one of four canonical gospels. ... For other uses, see Gospel of John (disambiguation). ... The Book of Job (××™×•×‘) is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible. ... The First Epistle to the Corinthians is a book of the Bible in the New Testament. ...

Interesting, too, is the interpolation of choruses from the New Testament's Revelation. The well-known "Hallelujah" chorus at the end of Part II and the finale chorus "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain" ("Amen") are both taken from Revelation. This article is about the Christian scriptures. ... Visions of John of Patmos, as depicted in the TrÃ¨s Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. ... This article is about the Hebrew word. ...

Performances of Messiah are most common during the Christmas season, but it should be noted that Part I, scenes i-v (movement numbers 1-18) are associated with "the Birth" and thus Christmas-themed. Part I, scene vi (numbers 19-20) and Part II, number 22 can be considered cross-over movements which pertain to either Christmas or Easter, and the rest of the work is associated with Easter. Looking at it this way, the "Hallelujah" chorus, often associated with the Christmas season, is in fact a part of the Easter section. Regardless, many choral societies perform the entire work at either time of year, much to the enjoyment of audiences.

Text-painting

Handel is famous for employing text painting -- the musical technique of having the melody mimic its lyrics -- in many of his works. Perhaps the most famous and oft-quoted example of the technique is in Every valley shall be exalted, the tenor aria early in Part I of Messiah. On the lyric "...and every mountain and hill made low; the crooked straight and the rough places plain", Handel composes it thus: Word painting (also known as tone painting or text painting) is the musical technique of having the music mimic the literal meaning of a song. ... Look up melody in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up lyrics in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article is about Tenor vocalists in music. ... An aria (Italian for air; plural: arie or arias in common usage) in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. ...

The notes climb to the high F on the first syllable of mountain to drop an octave on the second syllable. The four notes on the word hill form a small hill, and the word low descends to the lowest note of the phrase. On crooked, the melody twice alternates between C♯ and B to rest on the B through the word straight. The word plain is written, for the most part, on the high E for three measures, with some minor deviation. He applies the same strategy throughout the repetition of the final phrase: the crookeds being crooked and plain descending down on three lengthy planes. He uses this technique frequently throughout the rest of the aria, specifically on the word exalted, which contains several sixteenth note (semiquaver) melismas and two leaps to a high E:^[6] Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2115x565, 229 KB) Summary Description: Measures 24-41 of the Tenor line of Every valley shall be exalted Handels Messiah Source: self-made on Sibelius 3. ... For other uses, see Octave (disambiguation). ... [[ Figure 1. ... In music, melisma (commonly known as vocal runs or simply runs) is the technique of changing the note (pitch) of a syllable of text while it is being sung. ...

As was common in English-language poetry at the time, the suffix -ed of the past tense and past participle of weak verbs was often pronounced as a separate syllable as in this passage from And the glory of the Lord: Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2115x376, 142 KB) Summary Description: Measures 24-41 of the Tenor line of Every valley shall be exalted Handels Messiah (smaller rastel) Source: self-made on Sibelius 3. ...

The word revealed would thus be pronounced in three syllables: [rɪˈviːlɛd]. In many published editions, an e that is silent in speech but is to be sung as a separate syllable is marked with a grave accent, thus: revealèd. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2117x190, 49 KB) Summary Description: Measures 23-25, bass line, And the glory of the Lord, Handels Messiah Source: self-made Sibelius 3. ...

It should, however, be noted that though Messiah is often pointed at as being rife with examples of text painting, Handel was particularly fond of plagiarising himself and some of the arias and choruses in Messiah are taken directly from material he originally penned in other works (for example the Arcadian Duets). Thus the argument for text painting loses much of its validity because the music was originally composed with different texts set over it, and in many cases in languages other than English.^{[citation needed]}

Hallelujah

The most famous movement is the "Hallelujah" chorus, which concludes the second of the three parts. The text is drawn from three passages in the New Testament book of Revelation: This article is about the Christian scriptures. ... Visions of John of Patmos, as depicted in the TrÃ¨s Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. ...

In many parts of the world, it is the accepted practice for the audience to stand for this section of the performance. Tradition has it that King George II rose to his feet at this point. ^[7] As the first notes of the triumphant Hallelujah Chorus rang out, the king rose. Royal protocol has always demanded that whenever the monarch stands, so does everyone in the monarch's presence. Thus, the entire audience stood too, initiating a tradition that has lasted more than two centuries. It is lost to history the exact reason why the King stood at that point, but the most popular explanations include: George II (George Augustus; 10 November 1683 â€“ 25 October 1760) was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-LÃ¼neburg (Hanover) and Archtreasurer and Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death. ...

There is a story told (perhaps apocryphally) that Handel's assistant walked in to Handel's room after shouting to him for several minutes with no response. The assistant reportedly found Handel in tears, and when asked what was wrong, Handel held up the score to this movement and said, "I have seen the face of God".^{[citation needed]}

Because this piece is so often heard separate from the rest of Messiah, it has become popularly known as "The Hallelujah Chorus", which, like "The Messiah", is technically incorrect usage. "(the) Hallelujah chorus" or "'Hallelujah' chorus from Messiah" is more proper usage.

Contents

Overview

Composition and premiere

Structure

Text-painting

Hallelujah

See also

References

External links

Contents

Overview GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Composition and premiere

Structure

Text-painting

Hallelujah

See also

References

External links

Overview