Orlando Philharmonic 2010-11 “Super Series” – Handel’s Messiah Program Notes:

Notes provided by:  David R. Glerum, Music Director – WMFE-FM/NPR, Orlando, FL. (1990-2009); Music Director – WXXI-FM/NPR, Rochester, N.Y. (1980-1990)

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) — Messiah, An Oratorio:

“I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God himself.” — The words of George Frideric Handel, uttered as he was composing what is universally considered to be the greatest oratorio ever written, Messiah. There is no overstating its impact. Huge in scale, sublime in concept, unfaltering in its eloquence, Messiah is a work of musical majesty and spiritual nobility that has never been surpassed.

Messiah was composed over a period of less than a month – from August 22nd and September 14^th, 1741 – and received its premiere in Dublin on April 13^th, 1742. While Handel based his other oratorios on the Old Testament and themes from Jewish history, the Messiah text was largely drawn from the New Testament. It was compiled by Handel’s friend and part-time poet, Charles Jennens, and relates in compressed form the story of the life of Christ.

The late Handel scholar Jens Peter Larsen gave this succinct description of Messiah:

“Messiah is not, as is often popularly supposed, a number of scenes from the Life of Jesus linked together to form a certain dramatic whole, but a representation of the fulfillment of Redemption through the Redeemer, Messiah. Messiah is divided into three Parts, the contents of which can be summarized as follows: 1.) The prophecy and realization of God’s Plan to redeem mankind by the coming of the Messiah; 2.) The accomplishment of redemption by the sacrifice of Jesus, mankind’s rejection of God’s offer and mankind’s utter defeat when trying to oppose the power of the Almighty; and 3.) A Hymn of Thanksgiving for the final overthrow of Death.”

Having been composed in the incredibly short period of twenty-four days, during the writing of Messiah Handel was obviously never more inspired. While known during his lifetime as a “worldly” man, e.g., who can forget Berlioz’s characterization of Handel as “a tub of pork and beer”? And never seen as a religious man in the same sense as Bach – by all accounts Handel was for over three weeks a man spiritually on fire. The stories go that over and over servants found him in tears and in a trance-like state as if under an uninterrupted spell. He did not leave his house, allowed no visitors to disturb him, left virtually all food brought to him untouched except for an occasional piece of bread, and shunned sleep so that it would not interrupt his furious creativity. Handel believed that he served as the vehicle through which God Himself wrote Messiah.  The inspiration behind what has to be considered Handel’s greatest masterpiece is truly remarkable.

Even those of different faiths cannot help but be moved by the composer’s utter sincerity. Perhaps Handel put it best when he remarked to a Lord Kinnoul after a performance of Messiah: “My Lord, I should be sorry if I only entertained them; I wished to make them better.” Paul McCreesh amplifies with these words: “Like any conductor, I can only hope that this Messiah will reflect something of my passion and respect for this awesome work. Many will no longer approach Messiah as a testament to the endurance of the Christian message, but believer and non-believer alike can recognize in Messiah one of the great triumphs of human endeavor. For that reason, this masterpiece is eminently capable of speaking confidently across the centuries from the Foundling Hospital in the 1750’s (its first performance) into the new millennium [and beyond].”

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart prepared the version of Messiah with which many of you are most accustomed. After London audiences eventually made Messiah a tradition from 1750 on, Mozart probably heard the work as a young child from as early as eight years old. His father, Leopold, took him to the English capital in 1764 to showcase his son’s amazing precocity. A quarter of a century later, Mozart arranged Messiah for a premiere in Vienna in 1789. The purpose of the reworking was to update the music of “old-fashioned composers” (by late 18^th-century standards) to the contemporary taste of Mozart’s day. Just about all alterations involved orchestration changes to include the full instrumental complement of the Classical symphony orchestra; and harmonies were sometimes enriched and new instrumental lines included so that solo movements – arias – would balance better with what is essentially a chorus-dominated oratorio.

However, in recent decades, advances in musical scholarship and the implementation of the early music movement have led many to go for “authentic” performances of Messiah.  But finding a single definitive version of Messiah is virtually impossible. There are a bewildering number of ostensibly original versions and who is to say which is the most authentic? Suffice it say that the performance and version we will enjoy this evening is closer to what Handel’s initial audiences would have experienced (and this is to take nothing away from Mozart’s achievement). For this performance, the Orlando Philharmonic has chosen the Bärenreiter edition of Handel’s Messiah, intended to be authentic to Handel’s original manuscripts.

It is also interesting to note that, since Messiah is usually sung around December, it is usually thought of as a seasonal Christmas piece. The First part of Messiah does declare the advent of the Messiah. Here the focus is on the meaning of Advent and Christmas, presenting the comfort and promise of God’s plan for redemption, and centering on the story of the birth of Christ. However, the Second and Third parts of the oratorio deal with the drama of Christ’s sacrifice and thus become the focus of the work. In this sense then, “Messiah” is as much appropriate for Easter as for Christmas. In fact, Handel always performed this oratorio in the spring, during the Easter season – not at Christmas.

The theme of the Second part of Messiah is the victory of Christ over sin and the perpetuation of His kingdom on earth. The culmination of Part II is the exhilarating and rejoicing “Hallelujah Chorus,” without question the most celebrated and popular chorus ever written. On composing it, Handel said: “Whether I was in my body or out of my body as I wrote it I know not. God knows.” On hearing it, Haydn declared, “He is the master of us all.” Regarding the custom of standing during the “Hallelujah Chorus,” Messiah scholar Donald Burrows questions whether King George II, who presumably led the audience to rise, ever attended a Messiah performance!

Part Three of Messiah turns to mankind itself and concerns the promise of redemption, resurrection, and eternal life. The oratorio’s conclusion is a glorious choral triptych:  “Worthy is the Lamb”; “Blessing and honour, glory and pow’r”; and finally an impressive “Amen,” an exultant, ringing affirmation of faith treated as a fugue of magnificent length and contrapuntal virtuosity.

From its complete musical mastery to its journey taking us from compassion and pathos to serenity, spirituality, and ecstatic joy, Handel’s Messiah is unequaled. As a critic wrote after its first performance to a packed house in Dublin in 1742: “Words are wanting to express the exquisite delight it afforded to the admiring crowded audience. The sublime, the grand, and the tender, adapted to the most elevated majestic and moving words, conspired to transport and charm the ravished heart and ear.”

George Frideric Handel  (1685-1759): Messiah, HMV 56

PART I:  The Advent of the Messiah

1.               Symphony: Overture

2.               Accompagnato (Tenor): Comfort ye my people

3.               Air (Tenor): Ev’ry valley shall be exalted

4.               Chorus: And the glory of the Lord

5.               Accompagnato (Bass): Thus saith the Lord, the Lord of Hosts

6.               Air (Countertenor): But who may abide the day of His coming?

7.               Chorus: And He shall purify

8.               Recitative (Countertenor): Behold, a virgin shall conceive

Air and Chorus (Countertenor): O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion

11.             Chorus: For unto us a Child is born

12.             Pifa (Pastorale Symphony)

Recitative (Soprano): There were shepherds abiding in the field

13.             Accompagnato (Soprano): And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them

Recitative (Soprano): And the angel said unto them

14.             Accompagnato (Soprano): And suddenly there was with the angel

15.             Chorus: Glory to God in the highest

16.             Air (Soprano): Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion

Recitative (Countertenor): Then shall the eyes of the blind be open’d

17.             Duet (Countertenor & Soprano): He shall feed his flock like a shepherd

Intermission

PART II:  The Passion of Christ

23.             Chorus: All we like sheep, have gone astray

1. Air (Bass): Why do the nations
2. Recitative (Tenor): He that dwelleth in Heaven
3. Air (Tenor): Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron
4. Chorus: Hallelujah

PART III:  His Resurrection

40.             Air (Soprano): I know that my Redeemer liveth

41.             Chorus: Since by man came death

42.             Accompagnato (Bass): Behold, I tell you a mystery

43.             Air (Bass): The trumpet shall sound

44.             Duet (Countertenor and Tenor): O death, where is thy sting?

45.             Chorus: But thanks be to God

47.             Chorus: Worthy is the Lamb that was slain