Friends of Halifax Choral Soc: Programme Notes

Introduction

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

MESSIAH - Introduction

The tradition of performing Messiah in Halifax has a long history. This year Halifax Choral Society will present its 184th regular annual performance. The fact that every such occasion is still performed to capacity audiences is testimony not simply to the wonderful singing of the choir (which is without question!) but also to the greatness of the music itself.

"I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God himself." Georg Frideric Handel
How do we account for Messiah's longevity? When Handel completed it in 1741 he could not have known that it was destined to become the most frequently performed piece of music in the western world. The phenomenal speed with which it was produced (three weeks from start to finish) make it all the more remarkable - even if we take account of the fact that some of the choruses were re-workings of previously composed duets.	But even though he was aware that he had written a very special piece of music - I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself - it seems improbable that even Handel would have predicted over two and a half centuries of undiminished popularity. And why Messiah and not Judas Maccabaeus or Solomon or Samson or any other of his oratorios? After all, are they not all superficially similar?
Perhaps the Bishop of Elphick summed it up after the first performance (in Dublin) when he wrote: "As Mr. Handel in his oratorio's greatly excells all other Composers . . . So . . in The Messiah he seems to have excell'd himself. . . It Seems to be a Species of Musick different from any other, and this is particularly remarkable of it. That tho' the Composition is very Masterly . . . yet the Harmony is So great and open . . . as to please all who have Ears & will hear, learned & unlearn'd."
Another important difference between Messiah and Handel's other oratorios is the libretto. Arguably the best libretto he ever set, it breaks the oratorio tradition by having no overt characterisation whatsoever and very little narrative. It is a compilation by Jennens (though some scholars detect Handel's own hand also) of Old and	New Testament scriptures pertaining to the prophecy and birth of Jesus, his suffering, crucifixion and resurrection and the commissioning of his disciples, the second coming and the resurrection of the dead. It is in effect a series of contemplations on the Christian idea of redemption.

MESSIAH - Part One

And without Controversy, great is the Mystery of Godliness: God was manifested in the Flesh, justified by the Spirit, seen of Angels, preached among Gentiles, believed on in the World, received up in Glory
From the preface to the original libretto,

Charles Jennens

Following oratorio tradition, the libretto of Messiah is in three parts:

The Prophecy and Birth of Jesus;
His Passion, Death and Resurrection;
the spreading of His word;
His second coming, the day of judgment and the final victory over death

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.

right to the heart of the matter . . .

With characteristic gusto, Handel gets right to the heart of the matter. The dotted rhythms and minor mode of the Overture grab our attention, leaving us in no doubt of the gravity of what is to follow and the lively fugal section strikes just the right balance to maintain our interest to the end. His unprepared change to the major mode in Comfort ye my people is surely no coincidence, emphasising as it does the positive nature of the prophet's message.

Frontispiece from Messiah programme 1749

But this is only the first stage of a three part sequence - Recitative/Aria/Chorus - which propels us from the Isaiah's calming prophecy to the excitement of the tenor tour-de-force Every valley shall be exalted and in turn to the climactic choral sonorities of And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.

This winning formula occurs on no fewer than four consecutive occasions at the beginning of Messiah with the cumulative effect of great excitement and anticipation.

The second such sequence - Recit: Thus saith the Lord, Aria: But who may abide the day of his coming?, Chorus: And he shall purify the sons of Levi - represents anticipation of a more sober kind.

It dramatically portrays the power of the Lord who will "shake all nations"(recit.), contemplates the awesome appearance of a God "like a refiner's fire"(aria, with vocal "pyrotechnic effects"), before finally providing reassurance in the chorus, itself an object lesson in contrasting choral textures with the characteristically satisfying "Handelian" cadence.

Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Emmanuel: God with Us.

Next follows Isaiah's prophecy of the birth of Jesus which begins, Recit: Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son. A stroke of genius, this sequence offsets its more sombre antecedents, and evokes a much more buoyant mood in the bouncing 6/8 tempo and semiquaver figurations of the Aria and Chorus: O thou that tellest glad tidings to Zion.

By virtue of contrast it is the perfect preparation for the fourth of these sequences -

Recit: For behold, darkness shall cover the earth Aria: The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light Chorus: For unto us a child is born - which rapidly leads the audience from darkness to the light of revelation and finally to anticipated celebration of the birth. The chorus, typical of Handel, combines vigorous semiquaver passages and transparent choral textures with declamations of Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace - stirring stuff indeed!

Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace

The story of the Nativity is the only bit of direct narrative in Messiah. Once again, it falls effectively into three parts.

Firstly, Handel sets the scene with the gently rocking pifa or Pastoral Symphony for strings, a common Baroque device but nowhere more tellingly used. Next follows the appearance of the angels to the shepherds depicted in four recitatives There were shepherds abiding in the fields, And lo! The angel of the Lord came upon them, And the angel said unto them, And suddenly there was with the angel (though these really form one continuous scena).

They alternate seamlessly between recitativo secco (with continuo only) and recitativo accompagnato (orchestrated) using exciting string figurations to maximise the pictorial effect even to the very end of the chorus Glory to God, where the gradual disappearance of the angels from the scene is portrayed with characteristic good humour.

Take His yoke upon you and learn of Him, for He is meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

The final four movements of the first part invite us in turn to celebrate the birth, contemplate its benefits and seek reassurance from it. Rejoice greatly O daughter of Zion! a dazzling display of soprano coloratura, leads to Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, an unaccompanied recitative, which is

followed by He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, a delightful aria with rocking barcarolle-like movement and His yoke is easy and his burthen is light, altogether more robust encouragement in one of Handel's finest fugal choruses.

MESSIAH - Part Two

Within a few bars of introduction, the chorus Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. immediately establishes the sombre mood of the second part of Messiah. The melodic figure on which its counterpoint is based is both arresting and profoundly affecting.

Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.

despised and rejected of men . .

The alto Da Capo aria which follows - He was despised and rejected - is one of the most deeply moving of all Handel's creations. The first section is rendered all the more poignant on its return by virtue of its contrast with the jagged rhythms which accompany He gave his back to the smiters. These rhythms return even more relentlessly in the chorus Surely He hath borne our griefs giving way only momentarily to more legato phrasing as we contemplate He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, but returning for the closing setting of The chastisement of our peace was upon Him.

He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities.The chastisement of our peace was upon Him.

The fugal chorus And with His stripes we are healed, provides a marked stylistic contrast, but its sequel, All we like sheep have gone astray, is a veritable cornucopia of devices. The wayward sheep are depicted first in declamatory style, next in contrary motion as if wandering away from each other and then chasing each other in playful coloratura figurations, all in a major key! This almost playful preparation renders the adagio closing bars almost heart-stopping as it suddenly changes to the minor with the words And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. The return of the dotted rhythms, this time in a repeated falling figure denote more abuse,	this time verbal, in the recitative, All they that see Him laugh Him to scorn which leads straight into a fugal chorus, whose angular subject perfectly matches the words of derision, He trusted in God that He would deliver Him. The urgent pace of these three choruses is stilled as we pause to reflect on the recitative Thy rebuke hath broken His heart and the aria Behold and see if there be any sorrow. But the next recitative He was cut off out of the land of the living and the aria But thou didst not leave His soul in hell are a pivotal point in the whole oratorio, where its mood changes once more from grief to celebration.

Lift up your heads, O ye gate and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors and the King of Glory shall come in,

The next chorus, Lift up your heads O ye gates is in Handel's celebratory style.
It begins almost tentatively with a series of antiphonal questions and answers between contrasting groups of high and low voices, but explodes into full harmony at the words The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory building to a wonderful climax by the various use of antiphony and imitative writing and is brought to a sumptuous close following a moment's dramatic silence with the words of glory. This chorus and the three items which follow seem to refer, albeit obliquely, to the Ascension, and continue the mood of jubilation throughout the recitative Unto which of the angels, the chorus Let all the angels of God worship him and the aria Thou art gone up on high.

Unison male voices declaim the opening of the next chorus The Lord gave the word,
ushering in a depiction of the aftermath of Pentecost with the words Great was the company of the preachers first in solid diatonic homophony, but then in stretto-like imitation to vivid pictorial effect. A repetition of the same material, opening this time with high voices, simply adds to the excitement. And what impeccable judgment Handel shows in positioning the aria How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace between this and the next chorus; it has the effect of heightening our perceptions of what is already exquisitely beautiful. This is yet another wonderful example of Handel's use of three part structures within the unfolding greater work. In contrast Their sound is gone out into all lands rekindles the excitement of the earlier chorus and brings this section to a thoroughly satisfying close.

The Lord gave the word. Great was the company of the preachers.

The four movements which follow bear more than a passing resemblance to earlier items in Messiah, mirroring their subject matter and musical style.
But here each outburst has its counter. Why do the nations so furiously rage together? is answered by Let us break their bonds asunder (a fugal chorus similar in style and spirit to He trusted in God) while the recitative He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn and the aria Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron have echoes of All they that see him laugh him to scorn and for he is like a refiner's fire. The difference is that this time, the librettist and Handel have given the last word to God!

Adoration of the Trinity - Durer 1471-1528


Hallelujah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
The final word (in Part Two at least) is: Hallelujah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, probably the most famous chorus in all music, the one of which Handel himself said, I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God himself.	It earned a standing ovation from no less a personage than King George II, which accounts for the English custom of audiences standing throughout this fine chorus. It owes its effect not to any startling originality but to the economical use of the simplest of musical materials to their maximum effect.

MESSIAH - Part Three

The directness of I know that my Redeemer liveth must have been a source of wonder to its first audience, especially after the grandeur of the Hallelujah chorus. Yet it matches the words with a melody of such beguiling simplicity that it is guaranteed to move today's audiences every bit as much as those who were present at its Dublin premier in 1742.

The Resurrection - Piero della Francesca

I know that my Redeemer liveth and that He shall stand at the Latter Day upon the earth.
by Man came also the resurrection of the dead . . . As if to underline Messiah's most important message, Handel set two contrasting pairs of choruses, Since by man came death, By man came also the resurrection of the dead and For as in Adam all die, Even so in Christ shall all be made alive the first of each pair quiet, sustained and unaccompanied, the second triumphant ebullient and accompanied. Simplicity, directness and economy are once again used to tremendous stirring effect.
The trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible.

The trumpet shall sound - detail from A CHOIR OF ANGELS - Simon Marmion, died 1489

Handel knew his audiences well; he knew especially how to sustain and revitalise their interest - witness the previous five items. But his inspiration transcended such considerations in Messiah and especially in the third part. The bass recitative Behold, I tell you a mystery and aria The trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible is nothing short of a stroke of genius. The idiomatic writing for both voice and trumpet obbligato is just what is needed, not merely to express the words literally, but to lift the entire experience onto a higher plane, in a way giving us a glimpse of the final climax but one which is so qualitatively different that it adds to our anticipation, rather than detracting from it.

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
Frequently the next four items are omitted in performance for a variety of reasons, but in the writer's view this is to the detriment of the overall shape of the work; this is not to say, however, that thousands of such performance have been anything less than inspirational! But a performance without the aria O death, where is thy sting? and its prior recitative Then shall be brought to pass misses an opportunity to hear one of Handel's loveliest duets. Moreover the Chorus But thanks be to God is really a continuation and development of this duet, so all three are inextricably linked!	The effect is cumulative in much the same way as the earlier recit./aria/chorus combinations. And because its resources are so different (it has none of the trappings of triumphalism), even while building towards the final climax it cannot lessen its breathtaking effect. With all its grandeur, Messiah is still essentially a contemplative work and before we finally celebrate the victory over death embodied in the final choruses Handel would have us reflect humbly on its implications for man, hence the minor mode and simple expression of If God be for us, who can be against us?
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, that hath redeemed us to God by His blood.

What better contrast could there be than Worthy is the lamb that was slain in which Handel exhibits his complete mastery of myriad choral devices to achieve an unparalleled expression of God's greatness? But even this is not enough for Handel until the choir has given its final assent in the Amen chorus, itself a seemingly endless climax of glorious rolling counterpoint. Towards its close it reaches unprecedented heights of ecstasy with a high A for the sopranos, and interrupts its conclusion with a whole bar's dramatic silence before two further affirmative cadences of Amen. Breathtaking!

Christ surrounded by angels - 12th century mosaic