Messiah

The most popular and enduring work in the English choral repertory, Messiah is not at all typical of Handel’s oratorios. Rather than telling a dramatic story—like Samson—with soloists and chorus representing particular characters, the text of Messiah is narrative, presenting Christ’s life and work through a judicious selection of Biblical verses. Although Handel famously completed the first draft in just 24 days in the summer of 1741, he never really stopped working on the score. He constantly updated it to suit the singers available for, and the circumstances of, each new performance, leaving us today with multiple options such as the alto, soprano and bass versions of “Thou Art Gone Up On High”, but no single definitive version of the work to follow. Handel’s theatrical experience can be felt throughout: in the strong overall structure, unexpected dramatic gestures and operatic stereotypes such as the bravura "rage" aria “Why Do the Nations” and the sonorous "pastoral" aria “He Shall Feed His Flock”. Messiah is a strongly choral work, with 20 choruses ranging from the novel duet textures of “For Unto Us a Child Is Born” to the ceremonial excitement of the “Hallelujah” chorus generated by long sustained notes (“King of Kings”) contrasting with ecstatic repetitions in the other voices (“For ever and ever”). For Handel, the work was above all a money maker for largely charitable purposes. Today, Messiah remains a flagship for worthy causes.