MESSIAH
(1742) Georg Friedrich Händel
Words by Charles Jennens
PART I
1. Sinfonia
2. Accompagnato (Tenor)
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned.
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness; prepare ye the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
(ISAIAH 40: 1-3)
3. Air (Tenor)
Ev’ry valley shall be exalted, and ev’ry mountain and hill made low; the crooked straight and the rough places plain.
(ISAIAH 40: 4)
4. Chorus
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
(ISAIAH 40: 5)
7. Chorus / Recitative
And He shall purify the sons of Levi, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.
(MALACHI 3: 3)
(Mezzo-soprano)
Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Emmanuel, God with us.
(ISAIAH 7: 14; MATTHEW 1: 23)
8. Air and Chorus (Mezzo-soprano)
O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain. O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, behold your god!
(ISAIAH 40: 9)
Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
(ISAIAH 60: 1)
(Chorus)
O thou that tellest. . . etc.
9. Accompagnato (Bass)
For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee.
And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
(ISAIAH 60: 2-3)
10. Air (Bass)
The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; and they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
(ISAIAH 9: 2)
11. Chorus / Recitative
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
(ISAIAH 9: 6)
(Soprano)
There were shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night.
(LUKE 2: 8)
13. Accompagnato / Recitative (Soprano)
And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid.
(LUKE 2: 9)
And the angel said unto them: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”
(LUKE 2: 10-11)
14. Accompagnato (Soprano)
And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying:
(LUKE 2: 13)
15. Chorus
“Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, good will towards men.”
(LUKE 2: 14)
16.Air (Soprano)
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy King cometh unto thee; He is the righteous Saviour, and He shall speak peace unto the heathen. Rejoice greatly. . . da capo
(ZECHARAIAH 9: 9-10)
18.Chorus
His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.
(MATTHEW 11: 30)
PART II
12.Pifa (Pastoral Symphony)
20.Air (Mezzo-soprano)
He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
(ISAIAH 53: 3)
He gave His back to the smiters, and His cheeks to them that plucked off His hair: He hid not His face from shame and spitting.
He was despised. . . da capo
(ISAIAH 50: 6)
21-3. Chorus
Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows! He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him.
(ISAIAH 53: 4-5)
And with His stripes we are healed.
(ISAIAH 53: 5)
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way. And the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
(ISAIAH 53: 6)
26.Accompagnato (Tenor)
Thy rebuke hath broken His heart: He is full of heaviness. He looked for some to have pity on Him,but there was no man, neither found He any to comfort him.
(PSALM 69: 20)
27.Arioso (Tenor)
Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto His sorrow.
(LAMENTATIONS 1: 12)
28. Accompagnato (Tenor)
He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgressions of Thy people was He stricken.
(ISAIAH 53: 8)
29. Air (Tenor)
But Thou didst not leave His soul in hell; nor didst Thou suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption.
(PSALM 16: 10)
Unto which of the angels said He at any time: “Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee?”
(HEBREWS 1: 5)
31. Chorus
Let all the angels of God worship Him.
(HEBREWS 1: 6)
40. Air (Soprano)
I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.And though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.
(JOB 19: 25-26)
For now is Christ risen from the dead, the first fruits of them that sleep.
(Chorus)
Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
(I CORINTHIANS 15: 21-22)
42. Recitative (Bass)
Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
(I CORINTHIANS 15: 51-52)
43. Air (Bass)
The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality.The trumpet. . . da capo
(I CORINTHIANS 15: 52-53)
39. Chorus
Hallelujah: for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.
(REVELATION 19: 6)
The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever.
(REVELATION 11: 15)
King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.
(REVELATION 19: 16)
Hallelujah!