Program Notes

George Frederick Handel (1685-1759)

Messiah (1741)

By 1740, George Frederick Handel retained only a small portion of the acclaim and respect he once held. The Italian opera, on which the lion's share of that acclaim rested, had fallen out of favor. The composer persisted, but his efforts were met with little enthusiasm. Finally, when money, not to mention Handel's health, started to disappear, he was persuaded to try his hand at a form which would retain all of the musical advantages of opera, and which would cost considerably less to stage: oratorio. The form was ideal. He could still write the arias and choruses that were so much a part of what he did, but since the drama took place without sets, costumes and elaborate staging, the work could be tailored to fit the needs of any city, any venue, any circumstances.

But in London, audiences were fickle, and by 1741, Handel was almost ready to throw in the towel and start somewhere else, when Charles Jennens, librettist for several of Handel's oratorios, sent him a text for a work called Messiah . Jennens wrote, “I hope (Handel) will lay out his whoile genius and skill upon it, as the subject excells every other subject.” The libretto was a tightly structured sequence of quotations from the Bible about the significance of Christ, constructed in three parts. The text aroused Handel's interest and he began work on the oratorio on August 22 nd , and finished it a scant 22 days later on September 14 th . This seems a remarkably short time in which to compose such a piece, but this kind of speed was not unusual for the workhorse Handel. Often the composer's thoughts came much more quickly than his hand could keep up with and at times it became a race to get the notes on paper while still fresh in his mind. The first part tells of the coming of the Messiah, mostly told through Old Testament prophecy. The second part deals with the passion of Christ and the redemption that was made possible through it. The third is an affirmation of faith building in intensity piece by piece to a majestic close.

Handel had been waiting for an invitation from the Lord Lieutenant of Dublin to visit that city for performances of his music to raise money on behalf of local charities. What isn't clear is whether the invitation came before or after the completion of Messiah , but what is clear is that the new work was perfectly suited for the circumstances. Singers and musicians were hired when Handel arrived in Ireland. The premier took place on April 13, 1842, to an appreciative audience of 700 at the New Musick-Hall in Fishamble Street.

Despite its success in Ireland, subsequent performances of the work were met with indifference. Even though Handel himself was involved in numerous performances of the work from 1742 until his death in 1759, the kind of worldwide popularity that we now associate with the work was never really there. Even librettist Jennens was less than enthusiastic when he said, “ Messiah has disappointed me, though he said he would make it the best of all his compositions. Tis still in his power by retouching the weak parts to make it fit for publick performance; and I have said a great deal to him on the subject; but he is so lazy and obstinate, that I much doubt the effect.”

Jennens' criticism seems harsh and unfair, but considered from a purely technical standpoint, Messiah is far from Handel's greatest work, or even his greatest oratorio. Its tunes and instrumentation contain a kind of simplicity that this highly skilled composer of vocal music rarely employed, and the choral and solo parts are mostly free of excess gloss and theatricality. But what Jennens and the rest of Handel's contemporaries failed to grasp, was that it is just this simplicity that has made the work so popular, and that allowed the sheer beauty, power and majesty of the music to be felt so keenly and heard so clearly by subsequent generations.

Modern performances of Messiah are given during the Christmas season, in keeping with its subject matter. But In Handel's time the work was performed most often during lent, a season during which many European cities banned the performance of opera. It was also never performed in a church or cathedral. Such a work, despite its religious subject, was deemed worthy only of the theatre or concert hall.

Handel altered the score of his most famous work numerous times in his remaining years to accommodate the availability of musicians and singers in any given place and time. He rearranged numbers and gave different parts to different voices, cut solos or choruses, and even added to it. As a result, many different versions of the work exist, and it is very difficult to nail down a “definitive” performance. Though the original manuscript that Handel took with him to Ireland still exists, it is hard to know whether the composer preferred his first version, or if he would have chosen a later revision. Most likely the composer would have taken an approach that is favored in presentations today: a score made up of portions from various performances that Handel is known to have taken part in.

One thing is certain, the rather small numbers of instruments and singers that Handel indicated for this work were deemed insufficient by future generations. As the oratorio moved through the universal ideals of the classical era and the excesses of the romantic era, their numbers were increased from dozens to hundreds. More recently, performers of the work have preferred the smaller forces that Handel himself favored, though sizes may vary.

Messiah is probably the most famous piece of classical music in the world. Its bold, uplifting spirit is a delight to the soul, a refreshing, fulfilling experience, especially if we get to sing along. Whether we've heard it once or a hundred times, it never loses that innocent simplicity which is so remarkably apt, and which has made it so unanimously, universally loved.