What? You don't recognise the title "Messiah?" Well, does this famous chorus sound at least a little familiar to you?
Handel, although usually a secular composer, was so inspired to write this piece that he completed it in 24 days! It was written to be performed during Lent, as operas couldn't be performed during Lent, and this particular oratorio tells a story that is very important to the Christian faith. In fact, the latter part is exactly why this oratorio was first met with criticism: people didn't like that a secular composer wrote an oratorio about the most important sacred story- an oratorio which was going to be performed in secular venues such as concert halls! However, it met wider acceptance when it was performed to raise funds for an orphanage. People then said that the Messiah "fed the hungry, clothed the poor and mended the sick."
The Messiah used (I really should be writing in the present tense as it can still be performed today, but meh) a standard SATB choir with soloists. Some solos could be sung by different voices if need be. Instrument-wise, the Messiah used the standard string instruments (violin I and II, violas, cellos, double basses), an organ, and trumpets and timpani to be used in important moments such as in the Hallelujah Chorus.
The Messiah can be divided into three main sections. Part 1 is the Prophecy, or Christmas section. Part 2 is the Crucifixion, or Easter section, at the end of which is the Hallelujah Chorus. The final section is about the redemption of the world through faith.
The main parts of an oratorio include the overture, recitatives, arias and choruses. Here I am going to give an example of each in The Messiah.
The overture used in The Messiah is a French overture. French overtures have two sections. The first is slower, homophonic and uses dotted rhythms. FYI, in the Baroque period, they liked to lengthen the dotted part and shorten the non-dotted part of the dotted rhythms. The second section is faster, lighter and uses some polyphony. It's fugal and uses sequential imitation between higher and lower parts while lower parts occasionally have long held notes, or pedal points. (That's not to say that they only have pedal points, however- they have a fair few faster notes too. In fact, the pedal points are somewhat of a rarity.)
Recitatives basically allow the soloist to move the story along. The singing style is simple because it's intended to get meaning across. There are two types of recitatives: secco, which uses minimal accompaniment, and accompagnato, which uses much more accompaniment. The Angel Recitatives are examples of both kinds of recitatives. The recitative accompagnato "And lo, the angel of the lord came upon them" uses a rippling string figure reminiscent of angels' wings.
Arias allow the soloist to reflect on the emotions related to the story told in the recitatives, and as such, the singing style uses a lot more emotions. An example of an aria in Handel's Messiah is Rejoice Greatly. This aria uses Da Capo Aria form (ABA) and ritornello (short recurring instrumental passages). In this aria, the B section is in a minor key to reflect the seriouslness of the words ("He is the righteous Saviour, and He shall speak peace unto the heathen"). There is a lot of exchange between the singer and the violins. The singer has a lot of melismas, some of which are extremely long.
Choruses allow the whole choir to comment on the action, just like choruses in Greek Theatre which allowed groups of actors to comment on the action in the play. The most well-known chorus in Handel's Messiah is the Hallelujah Chorus. It's traditional to stand up when this chorus is played, the reason being is that during one performance the King decided to stand up, so everyone stood up with him. It is unknown as to why the King stood up, but from then on it became tradition for everyone to stand up during this very powerful piece of music.
The Hallelujah chorus uses a mixture of homophonic and polyphonic textures. Homophony is used to emphasise words. Instrument usage is also varied depending on the part of the text- for example, "For the Lord God Omnipotent" is lightly scored when compared to "Hallelujah" which has fuller instrumentation. During the polyphonic parts, imitative polyphony in rising sequences is used. The whole chorus ends in a plagal cadence- the traditional "Amen" cadence.
That's the main points for The Messiah. If you have anything more to add, feel free to comment!
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