Two hundred and eighty-four years is plenty of time for something to go out of style or be swept under the rug of history.
But don’t tell that to George Frideric Handel, who composed a bit of musical magic back in 1741 that refuses to fade away. His smash hit Messiah is among the world’s most consistently performed works, almost always before the holidays, and it shows no sign of wear. This beloved work returns in two performances Dec. 5-6 by The Florida Orchestra, Master Chorale of Tampa Bay and vocal soloists under the baton of Music Director Michael Francis.
For all its frequent staging, musicians and audiences never seem to tire of the chorus-driven story and emotional solos that make Messiah the most popular of oratorios, a sort of opera without sets, costumes and action. The music’s vocal beauty, dramatic construction and resolution as a story form an arc that resonates as an imperishable model of art.
“For me, it’s the great and complex story of the most influential book of all time,’’ Francis says. “It’s important to keep coming back to great works of art because we look at them at different angles as we change, as we get older. For that reason, it’s become a deep part of our tradition. It’s also a sensationally beautiful piece of music.’’
A unique aspect of Messiah is that it continues to be the oldest work to have remained constant in the active repertoire since its first performance — in other words, an annual fixture. Not even Vivaldi (The Four Seasons) or Bach (Brandenburg Concertos) can argue with such a claim because their works sat dormant for years after their deaths.
“Messiah has never had to be rediscovered or revived,’’ notes the late musicologist and historian Richard Taruskin, author of the Oxford History of Western Music. “The continuous performing tradition of European art music can be said to begin with Messiah, and Handel is therefore the earliest of all ‘perpetually-in-repertory’ composers.’’
The key to its success is accessibility: Handel cast the story in English rather than German or Italian, which appealed to the middle class in Ireland and England, where the work first appeared. Prior to Messiah, he had focused on dramatically restricted Italian-style operas, and the public — a big source of income — was growing weary. Italian productions also required expensive sets, costumes and imported singers, and Handel was going broke. He knew it was time for a change.
Contrary to its English text, Messiah is a hodgepodge of musical styles. The score includes Italian (aria), French (overture), English (anthem) and German (chorale) influences. Handel was, after all, a man of the world. To further appeal to the masses, Handel dressed the oratorio in theatrical clothing: While deeply religious, its message remains universal and was never intended for church service. He wrote it as a “communal” piece for the concert stage, emphasizing drama through incandescent orchestral and choral writing.
Handel’s librettist Charles Jennens was adept at drawing dramaturgical elements from the Old and New Testaments, designing the work in three sweeping sections according to the Christian calendar: Prophecy and Fulfillment (Christmas), Suffering and Redemption (Lent) and Resurrection (Easter).
So, armed with an inspiring libretto, a global knowledge of music — and a desire to stay out of debtor’s prison — Handel went to work. He locked himself in a room and began writing in creative bursts with little food or sleep, finishing the score in a remarkable 24 days.
The oratorio opens with an exceptional instrumental prelude in E-minor, written in the style of a French overture. This introduces Part I, itself a prologue to the action and the Old Testament prophecies of the coming of the Messiah. Highlights include the tenor recitative Comfort ye, my people; the tenor aria Every valley shall be exalted; and two magnificent choruses, And He shall purify and For unto us a child is born.
Part II focuses on the suffering of Christ and is perhaps the most operatic section of the three. Highlights are the tender Behold the Lamb of God, and the stentorian bass aria Why do the nations so furiously rage together? Any anguish in this section suddenly evaporates in the first seconds of the Hallelujah! chorus that brings this chapter to a triumphant close.
After completing what would be the oratorio’s most famous moment, Handel wrote that he “saw heaven before me and the great God himself.” Evidence of this inspiration can be seen on the facsimile of the original score: Notes become increasingly large and spaced apart, as if written in a fury.
Many audiences still stand during this chorus, a tradition that supposedly began in 1743, when King George II rose from his seat, enthralled by the beauty of Handel’s music. Not wanting to offend the king, so the story goes, the audience also stood, and people have been doing so ever since.
The text of Part III comes mostly from the New Testament, opening in complete contrast to the preceding coda with the tender soprano air, I know that my redeemer liveth. The chorus that follows, Since by man came death, is intriguing. On the pages of the original score are large ink smudges that scholars believe could have been made by the tears Handel shed while composing these very notes.
The oratorio ends with the chorus Worthy is the lamb, followed by a polyphonic Amen, beginning with a fugue in the basses that travels up to the sopranos. Using only one word repeated against a fusillade of trumpets, Handel delivers a powerful closing statement about faith.
Describing the last moments of Messiah, the composer declared “the ear is filled with such a glow of harmony, as leaves the mind in a kind of heavenly ecstasy.’’
Kurt Loft is a journalist and music critic who has covered classical music for various publications and arts groups for 45 years. A member of the Music Critics Association of North America, he lives in St. Petersburg.
Handel’s Messiah
Fri, Dec 5, 8 pm, Straz Center
Sat, Dec 6, 8 pm, Mahaffey Theater
Tickets: FloridaOrchestra.org
