Amazing pieces of classical music - 16

And, of course, there's Handel's Messiah (HWV 56), an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 of which the text was compiled from the King James Bible and the Coverdale Psalter. This marvel of a work was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742 and received its London premiere 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.

That Kenneth Clark's tv-series Civilization was especially fond of the female voice in their soundtrack had thus yet again been demonstrated by the addition of this particular performance of one excerpt from Handel's Messiah. It's the work performed with the London Symphony Orchestra under the direction by Leopold Stokowski in 1966, and the most successful of the excerpts was indeed "I Know That My Redeemer Liveth", featuring a superb vocal performance by soprano Sheila Armstrong, who smoothly interpreted the melody line. She was a singer from Ashington, Northumberland, who had won the prestigious Kathleen Ferrier Award in London the previous year

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Thinkerbell · 41-45, F

I long ago heard the story that Haendel composed the entire oratorio in less than a month during August-September of 1741. Added to the story was that he had a pressing performance deadline, but I see from your post that the first performance wasn't until about six months later.

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val70 · 51-55

@Thinkerbell Don't forget that after the music was put on paper he had to get the staging, costumes and sets sorted out too. Oh yes, and hang the occasional singer out of the window :)

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Thinkerbell · 41-45, F

@val70

Staging, costumes and sets...? 🤔

No performance of the Messiah I ever witnessed or performed in ever had much in the way of staging, costumes or sets. Just a choir and orchestra dressed in black, four soloists and a conductor.

val70 · 51-55

@Thinkerbell Before Handel could perform Messiah in Dublin, he had to set up a series of six subscription concerts and then arrange for permission from St. Patrick's and Christ Church cathedrals to use their choirs and singers, overcoming initial reluctance from figures like Dean Jonathan Swift. These concerts benefited three Dublin charities, with the Messiah performance acting as the main event in April 1742 to raise funds to free debtors from prison. Luckily, Messiah was originally conceived as a work for Easter, and its world premiere was thus given during Lent. He gained also time enough to buy himself some new clothes. For the performance of the Messiah Handel instructed the ladies to come without hooped skirts, and gentlemen without their swords. The capacity of the audience grew from 600 to 700 as a result

Thinkerbell · 41-45, F

@val70

And poor Handel had to do all that by himself with no help?

But I find it much more astonishing that he
wrote the whole oratorio in only 24 days.
He had to compose and score more than
two of the 53 movements every day! 😲

val70 · 51-55

@Thinkerbell Perhaps that particular item of information was a marketing ploy? Although Handel's Messiah does incorporate and reuse music from earlier works, a common practice in Handel's time that is now often considered plagiarism. Four major choruses in Messiah were adapted from earlier compositions, including the duet No, di voi non vo' fidarmi, which became the chorus "For Unto Us a Child Is Born". Handel also frequently revised the work over his lifetime, creating multiple versions for different performances. Handel composed Messiah in a very short period (around 24 days), and reusing existing music allowed him to work at such a rapid pace

Thinkerbell · 41-45, F

@val70

Yes, I had heard about that. And, starting at 3:40, Handel also used that same duet for "All We, Like Sheep".

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val70 · 51-55

@Thinkerbell I hear and read that The Long Beach Camerata Singers highlighted this borrowing as an example of Handel's technique and history. Graham Abbott mentioned this one...

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a lot of Water Music too in there :)

Thinkerbell · 41-45, F

@val70

Yes, and the second movement begins with "Lift up Your Heads".

Amazing that Handel had so many previously-composed melodies that fit the Messiah libretto (which he didn't write) so well.