Structure of Handel's Messiah

Messiah (HWV 56), the English-language oratorio composed by George Frideric Handel in 1741, is structured in three parts, listed here in tables for their musical setting and biblical sources.

Messiah
Oratorio by George Frideric Handel
Title page of Handel's autograph score
Year1741 (1741)
PeriodBaroque
TextCharles Jennens, from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer
Movements53 in three parts
ScoringSATB soloists and choir; instruments

Oratorio

The libretto by Charles Jennens is drawn from the Bible: mostly from the Old Testament of the King James Bible, but with several psalms taken from the Book of Common Prayer.[1] Regarding the text, Jennens commented: "...the Subject excells every other Subject. The Subject is Messiah ...".[2]

Messiah differs from Handel's other oratorios in that it does not contain an encompassing narrative, instead offering contemplation on different aspects of the Christian Messiah:

Messiah is not typical Handel oratorio; there are no named characters, as are usually found in Handel’s setting of the Old Testament stories, possibly to avoid charges of blasphemy. It is a meditation rather than a drama of personalities, lyrical in method; the narration of the story is carried on by implication, and there is no dialogue.

Structure and concept

The oratorio's structure follows the liturgical year: Part I corresponding with Advent, Christmas, and the life of Jesus; Part II with Lent, Easter, the Ascension, and Pentecost; and Part III with the end of the church year—dealing with the end of time. The birth and death of Jesus are told in the words of the prophet Isaiah, the most prominent source for the libretto. The only true "scene" of the oratorio is the annunciation to the shepherds which is taken from the Gospel of Luke.[3][4] The imagery of shepherd and lamb features prominently in many movements, for example: in the aria "He shall feed His flock like a shepherd" (the only extended piece to talk about the Messiah on earth), in the opening of Part II ("Behold the Lamb of God"), in the chorus "All we like sheep", and in the closing chorus of the work ("Worthy is the Lamb").

Scenes

The librettist arranged his compilation in "scenes", each concentrating on a topic.[5]

Part I
"The prophecy and realisation of God's plan to redeem mankind by the coming of the Messiah"
Scene 1: "Isaiah's prophecy of salvation" (movements 2–4)
Scene 2: "The prophecy of the coming of Messiah and the question, despite (1), of what this may portend for the World" (movements 5–7)
Scene 3: "The prophecy of the Virgin Birth" (movements 8–12)
Scene 4: "The appearance of the Angels to the Shepherds" (movements 13–17)
Scene 5: "Christ's redemptive miracles on earth" (movements 18–21)
Part II
"The accomplishment of redemption by the sacrifice of Christ, mankind's rejection of God's offer, and mankind's utter defeat when trying to oppose the power of the Almighty"
Scene 1: "The redemptive sacrifice, the scourging and the agony on the cross" (movements 22–30)
Scene 2: "His sacrificial death, His passage through Hell and Resurrection" (movements 31–32)
Scene 3: "His ascension" (movement 33)
Scene 4: "God discloses his identity in Heaven" (movements 34–35)
Scene 5: "Whitsun, the gift of tongues, the beginning of evangelism" (movements 36–39)
Scene 6: "The world and its rulers reject the Gospel" (movements 40–41)
Scene 7: "God's triumph" (movements 42–44)
Part III
"A Hymn of Thanksgiving for the final overthrow of Death"
Scene 1: "The promise of bodily resurrection and redemption from Adam's fall" (movements 45–46)
Scene 2: "The Day of Judgment and general Resurrection" (movements 47–48)
Scene 3: "The victory over death and sin" (movements 49–52)
Scene 4: "The glorification of the Messianic victim" (movement 53)

Music

By the time Handel composed Messiah in London he was already a successful and experienced composer of Italian operas, and had created sacred works based on English texts, such as the 1713 Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate, and numerous oratorios on English libretti. For Messiah, Handel used the same musical technique as for those works, namely a structure based on chorus and solo singing.

The orchestra scoring is simple. Although Handel had good string players at his disposal for the Dublin premiere,[6] he may have been uncertain about the woodwind players who might be available. The orchestra consists of oboes, strings and basso continuo of harpsichord, violoncello, violone and bassoon. Two trumpets and timpani highlight selected movements, in Part I the song of the angels, Glory to God in the highest, and with timpani the closing movements of both Part II, Hallelujah, and of Part III, Worthy is the Lamb.

Only two movements in Messiah are purely instrumental: the overture (written as "Sinfony" in Handel's autograph) and the Pifa (a pastorale introducing the shepherds in Bethlehem); and only a few movements are a duet or a combination of solo and chorus. The solos are typically a combination of recitative and aria. The arias are called Airs or Songs, and some of them are in da capo form, but rarely in a strict sense (repeating the first section after a sometimes contrasting middle section). Handel found various ways to use the format freely to convey the meaning of the text. Occasionally verses from different biblical sources are combined into one movement, however more often a coherent text section is set in consecutive movements, for example the first "scene" of the work, the annunciation of Salvation, is set as a sequence of three movements: recitative, aria and chorus. The center of Part III is a sequence of six movements based on a passage from Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians on the resurrection of the dead, a passage that Brahms also chose for Ein deutsches Requiem.

The movements marked "Recitative" (Rec.) are "secco", accompanied by only the continuo, whereas the recitatives marked "Accompagnato" (Acc.) are accompanied by additional string instruments. Handel used four voice parts, soprano (S), alto (A), tenor (T) and bass (B) in the solo and choral movements. Only once is the chorus divided in an upper chorus and a lower chorus, it is SATB otherwise. Handel uses both polyphon and homophon settings to illustrate the text. Even polyphon movements typically end on a dramatic long musical rest, followed by a broad homophon conclusion. Handel often stresses a word by extended coloraturas, especially in several movements which are a parody of music composed earlier on Italian texts. He uses a cantus firmus on long repeated notes especially to illustrate God's speech and majesty, for example "for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it" in movement 4.[7]

General notes

The following tables are organized by movement numbers. There are two major systems of numbering the movements of Messiah: the historic Novello edition of 1959 (which is based on earlier editions and contains 53 movements), and the Bärenreiter edition of 1965 in the Hallische Händel-Ausgabe. Not counting some short recitatives as separate movements, it has 47 movements. The Novello number (Nov) is given first, then the Bärenreiter number (Bär).

Part I

Nov/Bär Title Form Bible source Notes
1Sinfony
Scene 1
2Comfort ye, comfort ye my people saith your godAcc. TIsaiah 40:1–3Isaiah, a new Exodus
3Ev’ry valley shall be exaltedAir TIsaiah 40:4
4And the glory, the glory of the Lord shall be revealedChorusIsaiah 40:5
Scene 2
5Thus saith the Lord, the Lord of Hosts
The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple
Acc. BHaggai 2:6–7
Malachi 3:1
Haggai, splendor of the temple
Malachi, the coming messenger
6But who may abide the day of His coming
for he is like a refiner's fire
Air AMalachi 3:2
7And He shall purify the sons of LevichorusMalachi 3:3
Scene 3
8Behold, a virgin shall conceiveRec. AIsaiah 7:14
Matthew 1:23
Isaiah, virgin birth, quoted by Matthew
9 / 8O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion
Arise, shine
Air A ChorusIsaiah 40:9
Isaiah 60:1
10 / 9For behold, darkness shall cover the earthAcc. BIsaiah 60:2–3
11 / 10The people that walked in darknessAir BIsaiah 9:2
12 / 11For unto us a Child is bornChorusIsaiah 9:6
Scene 4
13 / 12PifaPastorale
14There were shepherds abiding in the fieldRec. SLuke 2:8Gospel of Luke, Annunciation to the shepherds
15 / 13And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon themAcc. SLuke 2:9
And the angel said unto themRec. SLuke 2:9–10
16 / 14And suddenly there was with the angelAcc. SLuke 2:13
17 / 15Glory to God in the highestChorusLuke 2:14
Scene 5
18 / 16Rejoice greatly, O daughter of ZionAir SZechariah 9:9–10Zechariah, God's providential dealings
19Then shall the eyes of the blind be open'dRec. AIsaiah 35:5–6Isaiah, oracle of salvation for Israel
20 / 17He shall feed His flock like a shepherd
Come unto Him, all ye that labour
Duet A SIsaiah 40:11
Matthew 11:28–29
Isaiah, the Shepherd
Matthew, praise of the Father
21 / 18His yoke is easy, His burthen is lightChorusMatthew 11:30

Part II

No N / B Title Form Bible source Notes
Scene 1
22 / 19Behold the Lamb of GodChorusJohn 1:29Testimony of John the Baptist
23 / 20He was despised and rejected by men of sorrows
He gave his back to his smiters
Air AIsaiah 53:3
Isaiah 50:6
Songs of the suffering servant 4, 3
24 / 21Surely, He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrowsChorusIsaiah 53:4–5Man of Sorrows, 4 continued
25 / 22And with His stripes we are healedChorusIsaiah 53:5
26 / 23All we like sheep, have gone astrayChorusIsaiah 53:6
27 / 24All they that see Him, laugh Him to scornAcc. TPsalms 22:7Psalm 22
28 / 25He trusted in GodChorusPsalms 22:8
29 / 26Thy rebuke hath broken His heartAcc. TPsalms 69:20Psalm 69
30 / 27Behold, and see if there be any sorrowArioso TLamentations 1:12Book of Lamentations
Scene 2
31 / 28He was cut off out of the land of the livingAcc. TIsaiah 53:8Man of Sorrows
32 / 29But Thou didst not leave his soul in hellAir TPsalms 16:10Psalm 16
Scene 3
33 / 30Lift up your heads O ye gatesChorusPsalms 24:7–10Psalm 24
Scene 4
34Unto which of the angels said he at any timeRec. THebrews 1:5Epistle to the Hebrews
35 / 31Let all the angels of God worship HimChorusHebrews 1:6
Scene 5
36 / 32Thou art gone up on highAir B (or A)Psalms 68:18Psalm 68
37 / 33The Lord gave the wordChorusPsalms 68:11
38 / 34How beautiful are the feet of themDuet AI AII ChorusIsaiah 52:7
Romans 10:15
39 / 35Their sound is gone out into all landsArioso TRomans 10:18
Psalms 19:4
Psalm 19, The glory of God
Epistle to the Romans
Scene 6
40 / 36Why do the nations so furiously rage togetherAir BPsalms 2:1–2Psalm 2
41 / 37Let us break their bonds asunderChorusPsalms 2:3
42He that dwelleth in heavenRec. TPsalms 2:4
Scene 7
43 / 38Thou shalt break them with a rod of ironAir TPsalms 2:9
44 / 39HallelujahChorusRevelation 19:6,16
Revelation 11:15
Book of Revelation

Part III

No N–B Title Form Bible source Notes
Scene 1
45 / 40I know that my Redeemer livethAir SJob 19:25–26Book of Job, Messianic anticipation
46 / 41Since by man came deathChorus1 Corinthians 15:21–22Paul on the Resurrection of the dead
Scene 2
47 / 42Behold, I tell you a mysteryAcc. B1 Corinthians 15:51–52Resurrection of the body
48 / 43The trumpet shall sound
and the dead shall be rais'd
Air B1 Corinthians 15:52–53
Scene 3
49Then shall be brought to passRec. A1 Corinthians 15:54Victory over death
50 / 44O death, where is thy sting?Duet A T1 Corinthians 15:55–56
51 / 45But thanks be to GodChorus1 Corinthians 15:57
52 / 46If God be for us, who can be against usAir SRomans 8:31,33–34Paul's Assurance of salvation
Scene 4
53 / 47Worthy is the Lamb that was slainChorusRevelation 5:12–13The creatures in heaven give praise
AmenChorus

Alternative movements

Handel revised the work several times for specific performances. The alternative movements are part of the Bärenreiter edition, the Novello numbers are given in parentheses.

No. Title Form
6a.But who may abideAir B
But who may abideRec. A
(15) 13a.But lo, the angel of the LordArioso S
(18) 16a.Rejoice greatly, O daughter of ZionAir S
(19)Then shall the eyes of the blindRec. S
(20) 17a.He shall feed His flock Air S
(36) 32a.Thou art gone up on highAir B
(36) 32b.Thou art gone up on highAir S
(38) 34a.How beautiful are the feetAir S
(38) 34b.How beautiful are the feetAir A
(39) 35a.Their sound is gone outChorus
(43)Thou shalt break themRec. T

References

  1. Block, Daniel I. (2001). "Handel's Messiah: Biblical and Theological Perspectives" (PDF). Didaskalia. 12 (2). Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  2. Heighes, Simon (1997). "George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) / Messiah] Simon Heighes, for The Sixteen recording, Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder". hyperion-records.co.uk. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  3. Gascoigne, David (24 November 2007). "Text of pre-concert talk on Handel's Messiah". The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  4. Luckett, Richard (1992). Handel's Messiah: A Celebration. London: Victor Gollancz. ISBN 978-0-575-05286-4.
  5. Vickers, David (2012). "Messiah (HWV 56) "A Sacred Oratorio"". gfhandel.org. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  6. "Handel in Ireland". Hyperion.
  7. Burrows, Donald (1991). Handel: Messiah. Cambridge (UK): Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-37620-4.

Sources

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