The first performance of Handel's Messiah in Dublin in 1742 is now legendary. Gentlemen were asked to leave their swords at home and ladies to come without hoops in their skirts in order to fit more people into the audience. Why then, did this now famous and much-loved oratorio receive a somewhat cool reception in London less than a year later?
Placing Handel's best-known work in the context of its times, this vivid account charts the composer's working relationship with his librettist, the gifted but demanding Charles Jennens, and looks at Handel's varied and evolving company of singers together with his royal patronage. Through examination of the composition manuscript and Handel's own conducting score, held in the Bodleian, it explores the complex issues around the performance of sacred texts in a non-sacred context, particularly Handel's collaboration with the men and boys of the Chapel Royal. The later reception and performance history of what is one of the most successful pieces of choral music of all time is also reviewed, including the festival performance attended by Haydn, the massed-choir tradition of the Victorian period and today's 'come-and-sing' events.
By:
Andrew Gant
Imprint: Bodleian Library
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 210mm,
Width: 170mm,
ISBN: 9781851245062
ISBN 10: 1851245065
Pages: 144
Publication Date: 31 July 2020
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction 7 1. Handel’s world: Germany, Italy, London, Dublin 13 2. The sacred oratorio: form and context 25 3. Charles Jennens, librettist 37 4. The composition of Messiah and Handel’s ‘borrowings’ 51 5. ‘For this may all your sins be forgiven’: the Dublin premiere 67 6. Handel’s performers and performances 83 7. ‘We shall be changed’: versions and variants 95 8. ‘For ever and ever’: the later performance history of Messiah 105 Conclusion 119 Appendix 1: Scene Structure 121 Appendix 2: Libretto 123 Notes 133 Further Reading 139 Selected Discography 140 Picture Credits 142 Index 143
Andrew Gant is an author, composer, former Organist of Her Majesty's Chapels Royal, and Stipendiary Lecturer in Music at St Peter's College, Oxford.
