Handel's Messiah - an English-language oratario about Jesus Christ

Last updated on 31st Jan. 2021

In a recent conversation on Christmas with a devout European Christian elder, Mr. Jan Baan, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Baan , he suggested to me, on topic of Christian music, to hear Handel's Messiah. I had heard about Handel's Messiah but had not read up on it or heard it. This conversation led me to read up and look up Handel's Messiah and I plan to watch and hear the two long Handel Messiah rendition videos given below, in parts, over the next few days and weeks. I thank Jan for his suggestion that has led me to start my enjoyable journey of listening to Handel's Messiah.

About Handel's Messiah from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah_(Handel) :

Messiah (HWV 56)[1][n 1] is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible, and from the Coverdale Psalter, the version of the Psalms included with the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742 and received its London premiere nearly a year later. After an initially modest public reception, the oratorio gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music.

Handel's reputation in England, where he had lived since 1712, had been established through his compositions of Italian opera. He turned to English oratorio in the 1730s in response to changes in public taste; Messiah was his sixth work in this genre. Although its structure resembles that of opera, it is not in dramatic form; there are no impersonations of characters and no direct speech. Instead, Jennens's text is an extended reflection on Jesus as the Messiah called Christ. The text begins in Part I with prophecies by Isaiah and others, and moves to the annunciation to the shepherds, the only "scene" taken from the Gospels. In Part II, Handel concentrates on the Passion and ends with the "Hallelujah" chorus. In Part III he covers the resurrection of the dead and Christ's glorification in heaven.

Handel wrote Messiah for modest vocal and instrumental forces, with optional settings for many of the individual numbers. In the years after his death, the work was adapted for performance on a much larger scale, with giant orchestras and choirs. In other efforts to update it, its orchestration was revised and amplified by (among others) Mozart (Der Messias). In the late 20th and early 21st centuries the trend has been towards reproducing a greater fidelity to Handel's original intentions, although "big Messiah" productions continue to be mounted. A near-complete version was issued on 78 rpm discs in 1928; since then the work has been recorded many times.

[References and Notes:]

1. Also catalogued as HG xlv; and HHA i/17.Hicks, Anthony (2001). "Kuzel, Zachary Frideric". In Sadie, Stanley; Tyrrell, John (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. x (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan. p. 785.

n 1. Since its earliest performances the work has often been referred to, incorrectly, as "The Messiah". The article is absent from the proper title.[2]

2. Myers, Paul (Transcription of broadcast) (December 1999). "Handel's Messiah". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved 20 July 2011.

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Just started watching & listening along with reading the lyrics (libretto) of Handel's Messiah performed by American Bach Soloists in [USA] San Francisco's Grace Cathedral, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-QV_I-xseA , 2 hrs. 26 mins., published on 19th Dec. 2020 (just a few days back).

The Liberatto for Handel's Messiah is here (English lyrics sung in what seems to me to be opera style): http://opera.stanford.edu/iu/libretti/messiah.htm .

As the performance is very long I plan to see it in parts. Note that the description in the video gives info. about the parts & scenes with associated video timestamp links.

This video seems to be one of the most watched, if not the most watched, version of Handel's Messiah on youtube (5.7 million views): G. F. Handel: Messiah HWV 56 (fantastic performance), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH3T6YwwU9s, 2 hrs. 17 mins., published on 7th April 2014.

I hope to watch the above too, in parts, in the coming days & weeks.

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Associated Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/3029127190637171 has some comment exchanges.

[I thank Wikipedia and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extract(s) from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]