George Frideric Händel’s Messiah oratorio is said to be “the most famous piece of sacred music in the English language.” The world premiere of that masterpiece was 280 years ago, on April 13, 1742, at a concert hall in Dublin, Ireland.
A Bit about Händel
The man whom Beethoven claimed was “the
greatest composer that ever lived” was born in Halle, a major city in what is
now Germany, on February 23, 1685. (I remember his birthday every year because
my dear granddaughter Naomi was born on Feb. 23.)
Despite his father’s objection, Händel
became a musician and even though he was fairly successful in what is now
Germany and Italy, in the 1710s he settled permanently in Great Britain,
becoming a naturalized citizen there in 1727.
In October that year, he provided four anthems
for the coronation of George II. The year before King George’s death, Händel
died on April 14, 1759, and was buried in Westminster Cathedral.
A Bit about “Hallelujah
Chorus”
By far, the best-known part of Messiah,
Händel’s superlative oratorio, is the “Hallelujah Chorus.” It comes at the end
of Part Two, the 44th of the 53 movements. The lyrics of Messiah are
all directly from the King James Bible, and the words of the Chorus come from
Revelation 19:6, 11:15, and 19:16
During the London performance of Messiah
in 1743, King George is said to have stood up during the “Hallelujah Chorus.” And
when the king stands, everyone in his presence must stand! And so, for more
than 275 years now, the audience rises to their feet when the “Hallelujah
Chorus” is sung.
In her book Facing Apocalypse (2021),
theologian Catherine Keller tells of hearing the entire Messiah performed
live in Carnegie Hall—and that takes time. The complete oratorio is about two
hours and 20 min. long, but with applause and two brief intermissions, it is
closer to two hours and 45 min.
Keller said she was caught off guard when the
“secular, cosmopolitan, diverse” audience, including some Jewish friends she
was with, “sprang to its feet for the whole of the Hallelujah Chorus” (p. 134).
Comfort and Hope in Messiah
Although performances of Händel’s Messiah
are common in December (before Christmas), they are also numerous on the days
before Easter. There are many scheduled across the country for tomorrow, Palm
Sunday.
For example, First Presbyterian Church in
Wichita Falls, Texas, will perform Messiah on Sunday afternoon—and it
will be their 75th year in a row to do that.
While Messiah is
primarily about Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection, it begins with words of
prophecy from the Old Testament.
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.
These words from Isaiah 40:1-2 are, indeed,
words expressing comfort and hope, words that were greatly encouraging when
they were first written—or sung at the first public performance of Messiah
in 1742. And how we need words of comfort and encouragement in this present
day!
Part Three of Messiah
(movements 45~53) is about resurrection—and thus the basis for public
performances at Eastertime. The very next movement after the Hallelujah Chorus
begins with words from Job 19:25-26 and I Corinthians 15:20:
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 first fruits of them that sleep.
During these troublesome days in which we now
live, may the events we celebrate at Easter (whether we fully comprehend them
or not), aided by the words and music of Händel’s marvelous Messiah, help
each of us embrace the comfort and hope we so badly need.
_____
** Here is the link to a YouTube recording of Part Three of Messiah (with the lyrics shown instead of the singers.) And this link shows the score with the words as they are being sung.
Local Thinking Friend David Nelson sent the following informative comments:
ReplyDelete"Thanks for sharing about this magnificent piece of art. The longest continuous annual performance of 'Messiah' in the US takes place in Lindsborg, Kansas, at Bethany College. There a few that started earlier but only The Messiah Festival in Lindsborg has been uninterrupted. My parents, Ann and I and both our children have been fortunate to participate in this wonderful experience. On the final rehearsal before the guest soloists arrive, students at Bethany sing the solos. Our daughter Lucia sang one her senior year."
Thanks for your comments, David. I had not known about that long tradition at Bethany College. Here is more I learned about that from their website:
Delete"The Bethany Oratorio Society was founded in December 1881, when 40 parishioners were welcomed to the parsonage of Pastor Swensson and his wife Alma to learn the words and music of Messiah. Almost all of them were immigrants from Sweden who still lived in a pioneer world of sod houses. Alma Swensson, an accomplished musician, worked with the singers throughout the winter and spring in helping them learn the music as well as the English words. The first performance by the Bethany Oratorio Society was on March 28, 1882, in Bethany Lutheran Church. Every Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday since, the College and the people of Lindsborg have come together to perform Handel’s great oratorio. The annual tradition continues today as the oldest continuous annual performance of the Messiah in the United States." (https://www.messiahfestival.org/festival/)
Thank you for this encouraging blog post, Leroy. I have often listened to Handel's "Messiah" during Advent and Lent. Your readers might be interested in reading my brief review of David Winter's book here, on my blog, they are welcome to leave a comment as well:
ReplyDeletehttps://dimlamp.blogspot.com/2020/06/brief-book-review-forty-days-with.html
Thanks, Garth, for sharing this about your review of a book about "Messiah" that I did not know about--but may get next year to read during Lent.
DeleteDelightful ironies and connections underlay Haendel's English citizenship: he had come from Protestant Halle which was under Prussian control. His King George II was the second German king (from Hesse) of the Kingdom of Great Britain and like his father did not consider England fully home. That premiere performance of The Messiah in Ireland, in one of the Protestant "islands" in colonized Ireland was for Haendel an urgent performance to get himself and others out of debt (thankfully successful). Its advent and subsequent performances gelled well with the Protestant identity of England, yet I think it was a faith statement for the ages, whether Haendel fully recognized this or not.
ReplyDeleteLeroy, you rightly emphasize the biblical basis of the oratorio's text. It is deeply Christian but firmly attests to the fundamental connection of Christian tradition with the Israelitic-Judaic salvation history--the whole scripture. For me, Haendel affirmed a "whole gospel" that, as those secular and Jewish Londoners who stood for Hallelujah Chorus might agree, extends back to the beginning of the world, of humankind, and the story of the beginnings of God's striving with mankind to see things as God sees them and to imagine their realization in God's Kingdom purposes.
Thanks for your helpful comments, Jerry. It is always a pleasure to have comments from a competent historian, as you are.
DeleteHalle was a center for Pietism under August Hermann Francke, as you know well (although others may not), so I assume Händel was influenced/inspired by Pietism, but I don't know if that was the case. I wonder if you have something you could share about that.
Here are comments from Thinking Friend Michael Olmsted in Springfield, Mo.:
ReplyDelete"In these days dominated by the ugliness of Russia's evil violence against Ukraine (and humanity in general) and the pervasive Alzheimer's that is attacking my dear wife you have given me a reminder of hope in 'Messiah.' Thank you."
Yes, we all need the words of comfort and hope from "Messiah" because of the great sadness caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the terrible suffering there, and those who are suffering/grieving personally as you are because of your dear wife Nan's illness especially need comfort and hope. I pray you will continue to find renewed comfort and hope during these days culminating in the celebration of Easter next Sunday.
DeleteThinking Friend Glenn Hinson in Kentucky shares these brief comments:
ReplyDelete"Amen! Leroy, I remember the wonderful oratorios performed in the chapel at Southern Seminary with the seminary's great choir and soloists. You are so right: we need this uplifting message now more than ever."
Yes, being from a small-town Missouri church with no organ and a very mediocre choir, attending Chapel at Southern Seminary was a great joy for me. I much enjoyed the choir and the talented soloists, but I especially remember the impressive pipe organ music.
DeleteHow quaint, to remember a time when Christians were creating great music instead of great controversies. Now Christians are famous for backing atrocities such as the anti-abortion law that landed a Texas woman in jail for murder by "self-induced abortion" as described by HuffPost here: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/texas-murder-charge-self-induced-abortion_n_62510a34e4b06c2ea31d9ec3
ReplyDeleteI'm traveling, so unable to respond to your blog early. How poignant Craig's post! Indeed, Handel's Messiah was remarkable in my life, for several reasons I won't go into at this time. Thanks, Leroy.
ReplyDeleteOn Saturday afternoon, Thinking Friend Eric Dollard in Chicago, who had seen David Nelson's comments above, sent the following comments:
ReplyDelete"Bethany College in Lindsborg, KS, presents 'Messiah' at Easter. On Good Friday, Bach's 'Passion According to St. Matthew' is performed, a performance I have seen a few times, although not recently. Professional soloists are brought into Lindsborg from New York, or elsewhere, but the choir is composed of local citizens.
"Handel supposedly composed the Messiah in three weeks. That's amazing! But geniuses can do such things."
Thanks for your comments, Eric, and for adding the information about "Messiah" being composed in such a short time. I read that Händel composed it in 24 days, but still, given the length and complexity of the musical score, that was an unbelievably short time for such a composition.
ReplyDeleteDavid Nelson, a graduate of Bethany College, wrote about the long tradition of performing "Messiah" there, and I wish I had known that and used that example in my blog post instead of the church in Texas.