In the summer of 1741, George Frideric Handel was a guest at Charles Jennens’s country house in Leicestershire and, according to popular legend, set his host’s Biblical libretto to music during this stay. A fan since buying a copy of Rodelinda in 1725, Jennens had begun collaborating professionally with Handel in the 1730s, writing texts for Saul (1738) and L'Allegro, il penseroso ed il moderato (1740). The two had a complicated working relationship; Jennens reportedly placed such pressure on Handel during the composition of Messiah that the composer suffered “a return of his Paralytick Disorder.” Jennens remained one of Handel’s staunchest supporters, however, and in a letter to a friend in July 1741, he unwittingly foreshadowed Messiah's importance:
Handel says he will do nothing next Winter, but I hope I shall persuade him to set another Scripture Collection I have made for him, & perform it for his own Benefit in Passion Week. I hope he will lay out his whole Genius & Skill upon it, that the composition may excell all his former Compositions, as the Subject excells every other Subject. The Subject is Messiah.
Handel was motivated to compose Messiah from the beginning. He finished a rough draft in just over three weeks, starting work on August 22 and completing the first version on September 12. Contemporary reports support the idea that Handel felt divinely inspired. After writing the "Hallelujah" chorus, Handel reportedly cried out, "I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself,” and upon the work's completion, "I think God has visited me." (Ironically, Handel took the chorus from an earlier opera, where the tune served as a hymn to Bacchus.)
The premiere of Messiah took place in Dublin on April 13, 1742, as part of a series of charity concerts. Already a celebrity when he arrived in the city, Handel took with him some of his most famous pieces—L'Allegro, Acis & Galatea, the Ode for St. Cecilia's Day, Esther, and Saul—and led the first performance of Messiah from the harpsichord. While Dublin audiences were enthusiastic, English audiences were more skeptical. When Messiah debuted at Covent Garden on March 23, 1743, as part of Handel’s regular theater season, one London newspaper critic complained that the subject matter wasn’t suitable for theatrical performance “by a Set of People very unfit to perform so solemn a service.” Some even called the work "sacrilegious" and "heretical." In a famous gesture, King George II rose to his feet during the "Hallelujah" chorus and remained standing until its end. Some reported cynically that his foot had fallen asleep, but the King's move turned into an enduring Messiah tradition.
Revivals of Messiah in 1745 and 1749 also failed to captivate London audiences, but in 1750, the work’s reception changed dramatically. The previous year, Handel began a longstanding association with The Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children—also known as the Foundling Hospital—offering to mount concerts to benefit the charity. While the first featured Music for the Royal Fireworks and the Foundling Hospital Anthem, the second—on May 1, 1750—consisted solely of Messiah. The response was overwhelming: 1,387 tickets were sold for a chapel that could comfortably seat only a thousand. Many were turned away, and carriages crowding the street reportedly created quite a traffic jam. The oratorio’s sudden popularity led to a repeat performance on May 15, for which 599 tickets were sold. From that point forward, Messiah was redeemed forever. Handel soon moved the work back to the theater, ending all ensuing theater seasons with at least one performance of Messiah followed by a charity concert for the Foundling Hospital.
There is no definitive “text” for Messiah. Handel made numerous revisions, tailoring the music to fit personnel changes. As a result, conductors often make composite versions almost as would have been done in the eighteenth century. (Ironically, the version most rarely performed today is the 1742 original). For the Foundling Hospital version, for example, Handel rewrote “But who may abide the day of his coming” and “Thou art gone up on high” for the castrato Guadagni, and in 1754 he transposed “But who may abide” for soprano. The forces used varied according to venue as well. The Foundling Hospital performances took place in a relatively intimate chapel and likely used a chorus of six boys, twelve to fourteen men, and an orchestra of about 30 musicians. Handel’s theater performances would have used at least double these numbers—and the Westminster Abbey performances, which began in 1784, took the notion of large-scale forces to the extreme. A 1787 advertisement for a production of Messiah stated, “The Band will consist of Eight Hundred Performers.”
These legendary productions led composers on the continent to try their hand in the revision process. Johann Adam Hiller, one of Bach’s successors in Leipzig, created a version that featured a choir of 259 and an orchestra comprised of 87 strings, 8 flutes, 4 clarinets, 11 oboes, 10 bassoons, 7 trumpets, 4 trombones, timpani, harpsichord, and organ. The famed Viennese patron of the arts, Baron von Swieten, commissioned Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to produce a version in German that incorporated flutes, clarinets, trombones, and horns (the latter were showcased in the aria, “The Trumpets shall sound”). By the 19th century, it had become common practice to allocate soloist roles to opera stars or other high-profile singers rather than chorus members. One of the most legendary performances of Messiah took place in 1857 in Britain during the “Great Handel Festival” at Crystal Palace, with a chorus of 2000 singers and an orchestra of 500. Over the 20th century, however, instrumental forces have been gradually reduced to match what scholars believe to be Handel’s original intent.
Along with its unique performance history, the story of Messiah is also unusual. Unlike most of Handel’s other oratorios, which are essentially dramatic retellings of Biblical stories, Jennens drew the text of Messiah entirely from the Old Testament and the Book of Psalms. His use of the Old Testament has led some scholars to take a broader view of Messiah’s meaning, noting that the Old Testament prophecies originally had nothing to do with Christ and were only later interpreted as predicting his birth. (Interestingly, Jennens identified the oratorio’s topic as the “Mystery of Godliness.) The narrative takes place mainly in the third person, sidestepping objections to character impersonation—the idea of a singing Messiah, for example, would have been considered by many to be undignified—and allowing for both the presentation of the story and philosophical reflection. Jennens also avoids rhymed verse, on which arias generally depend.
Messiah’s structure structure is relatively simple. Parts I and II deal with Christ’s life on earth, crucifixion, and ascension into heaven, while Part III reflects on his redemptive sacrifice. Handel’s inspired and varied approach is evident from the work’s outset. Messiah begins with the intensely lyrical tenor arioso, “Comfort ye, my people,” its languid melody perfectly evoking the words as it builds to the energetic aria, “Every valley shall be exalted.” This creative blend of vocal forms and genres, avoiding strict alternation of recitative and aria, allows Handel to transform scripture into compelling drama. In Part 1, Scene 4—in which a Pifa, or pastoral serenade, sets the stage for the angels as they announce Christ’s birth to the shepherds—Handel alternates standard secco recitative (unaccompanied except for the chords that serve as punctuation) with soaring ariosos, in which the orchestra mimics the fluttering of wings. The chorus, “Glory to God in the highest,” evokes the “multitude of the heavenly host praising God.” One of the best examples of text-setting comes at the very end. In the chorus, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain,” Handel uses various musical tools—shifts in tempo, texture, and mode, to name a few—to bring this monumental work to a truly triumphant conclusion.
—Jennifer More, ©2024
