Handel’s Messiah

After George Frideric Handel first traveled to London in 1710, he rarely left the city, spending the rest of his life and career there. One notable exception was a long trip to Dublin in 1741–42, where he was engaged to present a series of concerts in a new hall. These performances were so successful that he was persuaded to present a second series the year after. The Dublin Journal soon announced the first performance of “Mr. Handel’s new Grand Oratorio call’d the Messiah,” which he had composed in London in 1741 in a matter of days. Experienced in the art of handling popular acclaim, Handel calculated correctly in holding his masterpiece back until it was guaranteed thunderous applause that would ring around the world nearly three centuries later.

It was not necessary for Handel to call his new work a “sacred” oratorio, since most oratorios were already settings of episodes from the Bible, unlike the mythological or “secular” historical plots used in Italian opera. From the opera genre, though, Handel did adopt several musical elements. For one, there is the aria (Anglicized as “air”) — a number for solo voice that pauses the story to reflect on a specific situation or dilemma. The aria’s A–B–A “da capo” form was useful for creating musical and dramatic interest, with a contrasting B section before a return to the A section. There are four such numbers in Messiah, including the affecting “He was despised” in Part II. Others dispense with the “B” section altogether, as in “The people that walked in darkness” in Part I. In both operas and oratorios, the action of the story is told through recitatives, with speech-like delivery over occasional chords (some accompanied simply with harpsichord, others with the orchestra). Since there is little narrative action in Messiah, the recitatives are often short.

Most operas of the time lacked a chorus, but the biblical stories Handel chose for oratorios allowed the chorus to vividly represent humanity or individual groups of people. However, while his texts lament the captivity of the Israelites and promote unity, Handel partially funded performances of his oratorios through significant financial investments in the South Sea Company and Royal African Company, two major players in the transatlantic transport of enslaved people. While this part of the story can’t be overlooked, Handel’s Messiah has taken on a life of its own over the centuries. Its libretto has been translated into Zulu, Spanish, Arabic, Inuktitut, and other languages, reclaiming a vision of shared humanity that transcends the contradictions of its time.

With text drawn from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer, Messiah’s words are prose, rather than florid poetry. As such, the action throughout is picturesque rather than dramatic. In selecting the text, Handel and his librettist, Charles Jennens, preferred to stand back from the story with passages of prophecy or contemplation. This is more pronounced as the work proceeds: Part I tells portions of the Christmas story; Part II reflects on (rather than narrates) the passion of Christ, his resurrection, and ascension, culminating in the great (and much-loved) shouts of “Hallelujah!”; Part III concentrates on the promise of heaven, the day of judgment, and Christ’s ultimate triumph over sin and death

The solo voices do not represent characters in the story. Rather, Handel’s choice of four soloists seems to reflect the four-part make-up of his chorus. The chorus itself plays a weightier role in the second half of the work, for example, in the three choruses that run together in Part II: “Surely he hath borne our griefs,” “And with his stripes,” and “All we like sheep.” Meanwhile, the orchestra is given two movements by itself. The “Sinfony” (or Sinfonia) that opens the work is a French-style overture in two parts that leads immediately into the opening recitative (“Comfort ye”). Later in Part I, there is a “Pifa,” often known as the “Pastoral Symphony,” a movement setting the scene for the shepherds watching their flocks in the field. Such movements were usually scored for recorders or flutes, but Handel wrote for strings alone, over long-held bass notes, allowing for other instruments to be added if the occasion arose.

Since its 1742 premiere, Messiah has never dropped out of sight and hearing, and by the time Handel died in 1759, he had presided over 36 performances of the oratorio, a far greater number than he could have expected when he composed it. The work survives not only as a favorite work for amateur choruses; it has won the affection of listeners worldwide to a degree scarcely rivaled by any other piece of music.

— adapted from a note by Hugh Macdonald

Hugh Macdonald is Avis H. Blewett Professor Emeritus of Music at Washington University in St. Louis. He has written books on Beethoven, Berlioz, Bizet, and Scriabin, as well as Music in 1853: The Biography of a Year.

THE SUNG TEXTS

Messiah

By George Frideric Handel

Texts compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and Book of Common Prayer

Part I

SINFONY (Overture)

ACCOMPAGNATO & AIR — 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. 

Every valley shall be exalted,
and every mountain and hill made low,
the crooked straight
and the rough places plain. 

— Isaiah 40:1–4

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

ACCOMPAGNATO — Baritone

Thus saith the Lord of Hosts
Yet once a little while
and I will shake the heavens and the earth,
the sea and the dry land;
and I will shake all nations;
and the desire of all nations shall come.

The Lord, whom ye seek,
shall suddenly come to His temple,
even the messenger of the covenant,
whom ye delight in;
behold, He shall come,
saith the Lord of Hosts. 

— Haggai 2:6–7; Malachi 3:1

AIR — Countertenor

But who may abide the day of His coming?
And who shall stand when He appeareth?
For He is like a refiner’s fire. 

— Malachi 3:2

CHORUS

And He shall purify the sons of Levi,
that they may offer unto the Lord
an offering in righteousness.

 — Malachi 3:3

RECITATIVE — Countertenor

Behold, a Virgin shall conceive,
and bear a Son,
and shall call His name Emmanuel,
God with us.

— Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23

AIR & CHORUS — Countertenor & Chorus

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!

Arise, shine, for thy light is come
and the glory of the Lord
is risen upon thee. 

— Isaiah 40:9, 60:1

ACCOMPAGNATO & AIR — Baritone

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.

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 60:2–3, 9:2

CHORUS

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, Counselor,
the Mighty God,
the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace.

— Isaiah 9:6

PIFA (Pastoral Symphony)

RECITATIVE, ACCOMPAGNATO & CHORUS — Soprano & Chorus

There were shepherds abiding in the field,
keeping watch over their flocks by night.

But lo! The Angel of the Lord came upon them,
and the glory of the Lord shone round about them,
and they were sore afraid.

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. 

And suddenly there was with
the Angel a multitude of the heavenly host,
praising God, and saying:

Glory to God in the highest,
and peace on earth,
goodwill toward men. 

— Luke 2:8–11, 13–14

AIR — Soprano

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, thy King cometh unto thee!
He is the righteous Savior,
and He shall speak peace unto the heathen. 

— Zechariah 9:9–10

RECITATIVE — Countertenor

Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart,
and the tongue of the dumb shall sing.

— Isaiah 35:5–6

AIR — Countertenor & Soprano

He shall feed His flock like a shepherd;
and He shall gather the lambs with His arm,
and carry them in His bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young. 

Come unto Him, all ye that labor,
that are heavy laden,
and He will give you rest.
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.

— Isaiah 40:11; Matthew 11:28–29

CHORUS

His yoke is easy
and His burthen is light. 

— Matthew 11:30

PART II

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

— John 1:29

AIR — Countertenor

He was despised and rejected of men;
a man of sorrows,
and acquainted with grief. 

He gave His back to the smiters,
and His cheeks to them
that plucked off the hair:
He hid not His face
from shame and spitting. 

— Isaiah 53:3, 50:6 

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. 

And with His stripes we are healed.

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 53:4–6

ACCOMPAGNATO & CHORUS — Tenor & Chorus

All they that see Him laugh Him to scorn;
they shoot out their lips
and shake their heads saying: 

He trusted in God that He would deliver Him;
let Him deliver Him, if He delight in Him. 

— Psalm 22:7–8

ACCOMPAGNATO, ARIOSO & AIR — 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. 

Behold, and see if there be any
sorrow like unto His sorrow. 

But Thou didst not leave
His soul in hell;
nor didst Thou suffer
Thy Holy One to see corruption. 

— Psalm 69:20; Lamentations 1:12; Psalm 16:10

CHORUS

Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors,
and the King of Glory shall come in.
Who is this King of Glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
the Lord mighty in battle.
The Lord of Hosts,
He is the King of Glory. 

— Psalm 24:7–10

AIR — Soprano

How beautiful are the feet of them
that preach the gospel of peace,
and bring glad tidings of good things. 

— Isaiah 52:7; Romans 10:15

AIR — Baritone

Why do the nations so furiously rage together,
and why do the people imagine a vain thing?
The kings of the earth rise up,
and the rulers take counsel together
against the Lord,
and against His Anointed. 

— Psalm 2:1–2

CHORUS

Let us break their bonds asunder,
and cast away their yokes from us. 

— Psalm 2:3

RECITATIVE & AIR — Tenor

He that dwelleth in Heaven
shall laugh them to scorn;
the Lord shall have them in derision. 

Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron;
Thou shalt dash them in pieces
like a potter’s vessel. 

— Psalm 2:4, 2:9

CHORUS

Hallelujah:
for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.
The kingdom of this world
is become the kingdom of our Lord,
and of His Christ;
and He shall reign for ever and ever.
King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.
Hallelujah! 

— Revelation 19:6, 11:15, 19:16

PART III

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. 

For now is Christ risen from the dead,
the firstfruits of them that sleep.

— Job 19:25–26; 1 Corinthians 15:20

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. 

— 1 Corinthians 15:21–22

ACCOMPAGNATO & AIR — Baritone

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. 

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. 

— 1 Corinthians 15:51–53

CHORUS

Worthy is the Lamb that was slain,
and hath redeemed us to God by His blood,
to receive power, and riches,
and wisdom, and strength,
and honor, and glory, and blessing. 

Blessing and honor, glory and power,
be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne,
and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. 

Amen.

— Revelation 5:12–13