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George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Messiah
Composed: 1741
Premiered: 1742, Dublin
Duration: 2 hours 39 minutes

Over the two-and-a-half centuries since its composition, Messiah must have been performed more often in the English-speaking world than any other piece of music, and with the advent of unrehearsed sing-along “performances”, its popular appeal continues to grow year by year. Despite these regular reinventions of the original music, its essential nobility and brilliance continue to enthrall listeners.

Handel composed Messiah in 1741, at a time when his fortunes in the world of Italian opera were declining. He began, therefore, to produce non-staged “sacred entertainments.” The libretto of Messiah was put together by Charles Jennens, who selected words from the King James Bible to, as he put it, illustrate “the Mystery of Godliness.” Unlike in other oratorios, there is almost no direct narration of events. The story is carried by the allusive biblical texts, the selections from the old and new testaments illuminating each other. Handel’s treatment also differed from most of his previous oratorios by its inclusion of very extensive choruses in addition to the more usual arias.

In its early years, Messiah aroused some controversy. Not everyone was comfortable with the notion of hearing sacred words sung as entertainment in the playhouse. But from the middle 1750s onward, performances became regular events in England, usually in the week before Easter. By the 1780s, Messiah was being performed in German in Vienna with fascinating new orchestral accompaniments by Mozart and others, in the latest Viennese classical style. The move to try to restore the kind of sounds Handel heard in the mid-18th century began early in the 20th century, as a reaction against the gigantic festival performances which had become the norm. With very large choirs and orchestras in enormous halls, tempos had inevitably become sluggish. It then became fashionable to perform Messiah with small choirs and minimal orchestras playing baroque instruments.

Program note by the late Dr. C.W. Helleiner.

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Messiah
Composed: 1741
Premiered: 1742, Dublin
Duration: 2 hours 39 minutes

Over the two-and-a-half centuries since its composition, Messiah must have been performed more often in the English-speaking world than any other piece of music, and with the advent of unrehearsed sing-along “performances”, its popular appeal continues to grow year by year. Despite these regular reinventions of the original music, its essential nobility and brilliance continue to enthrall listeners.

Handel composed Messiah in 1741, at a time when his fortunes in the world of Italian opera were declining. He began, therefore, to produce non-staged “sacred entertainments.” The libretto of Messiah was put together by Charles Jennens, who selected words from the King James Bible to, as he put it, illustrate “the Mystery of Godliness.” Unlike in other oratorios, there is almost no direct narration of events. The story is carried by the allusive biblical texts, the selections from the old and new testaments illuminating each other. Handel’s treatment also differed from most of his previous oratorios by its inclusion of very extensive choruses in addition to the more usual arias.

In its early years, Messiah aroused some controversy. Not everyone was comfortable with the notion of hearing sacred words sung as entertainment in the playhouse. But from the middle 1750s onward, performances became regular events in England, usually in the week before Easter. By the 1780s, Messiah was being performed in German in Vienna with fascinating new orchestral accompaniments by Mozart and others, in the latest Viennese classical style. The move to try to restore the kind of sounds Handel heard in the mid-18th century began early in the 20th century, as a reaction against the gigantic festival performances which had become the norm. With very large choirs and orchestras in enormous halls, tempos had inevitably become sluggish. It then became fashionable to perform Messiah with small choirs and minimal orchestras playing baroque instruments.

Program note by the late Dr. C.W. Helleiner.