11/30/99

Handel's Messiah

Historians say that King George II of England was so deeply stirred when he heard the first Hallelujah chorus ring through the concert hall, he rose to his feet and remained standing until the last note of the exultant music died away. To this day, Messiah audiences throughout the world do the same. When a nobleman praised Handel as to how entertaining the Messiah was, Handel replied, "My Lord, I should be sorry if I only entertained them; I wished to make them better."

George Frideric Handel was born in Halle, Germany on February 23, 1685, within a month of Johann Sebastian Bach. Handel's father was a barber-surgeon who hated music and wanted his son to become a successful lawyer. But his aunt Anna gave the young Handel a spinet harpsichord that they hid in the attic, wrapping each string with thin strips of cloth, so that Handel could play undetected. At age 11, Handel entered a musical contest at the Berlin court of the Elector with the famous composer Buononcini, and won.

In 1712 Handel moved to England, a beehive of musical activity with Italian opera ruling the day. Over the next thirty years he wrote about 40 operas and 26 oratorios. English audiences were tough to please. If opera attendees felt bored in Handel's day, they would start loud conversations and walk around freely. Sometimes they played cards and ate snacks right during the opera!

Handel's London years were up and down.unbelievably down at times. His situation turned especially bleak in 1741. As a consequence of a stroke, Handel suffered partial paralysis on his left side. Struggling to earn a living in London, he knew days when he could not afford to buy meals. One night, feeling depressed and defeated, he wandered the lonely streets until dawn, when he returned to his shabby room. There on a table was a thick envelope from Charles Jennens, the man who wrote his librettos. Examining the pages, he found them covered with scriptures from the Old and New Testaments. Wearily he tossed the pages aside and crawled into bed. But he could not sleep. The words he had read returned to him:

Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light -- For unto us a Child is born. Glory to God in the highest. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Too stirred to sleep, he got up and went to the keyboard. The music flowed from his soul -- rich, majestic, triumphant. Night and day for three weeks he wrote feverishly. He forgot sleep, food and rest. He refused to see anyone. At last, on the day the work was finished, one friend managed to gain entrance. Handel was at the keyboard, sheets of music strewn around him, tears streaming down his face. "I do believe I have seen all of Heaven before me and the great God Himself," he exclaimed.

The first audience to hear the Messiah -- in Dublin in 1742 - gave it the greatest ovation in the city's history. This is how the Dublin Newspaper reported the event: "The best Judges allowed it to be the most finished work of Musick. Words are wanting to express the exquisite Delight it afforded to the admiring crowded Audience. The Sublime, the Grand, and the Tender, adapted to the most elevated, majestic and moving Words, conspired to transport and charm the ravished Heart and Ear."

Across the span of 250 years, the Messiah still holds its extraordinary grip on musician and audience member alike. It reaches us with its directness of expression and its infinite capacity for self-renewal. We become aware that it bestows on us the special gift of aesthetic and spiritual grace. The libretto treats the whole of human experience.hope and fulfillment, suffering and death, resurrection and redemption.

In 1759 the almost blind Handel conducted a series of ten concerts. After performing the last, the Messiah, he bid good-bye to his friends and died the next day, on Holy Saturday, April 14, 1759. A close friend, James Smyth said, "Handel died as he lived, as a good Christian, with a true sense of his duty to God and man, and in perfect charity with all the world."

Connecticut Performances of the Messiah

Saturday, Dec. 18, 1999 at 7:30 p.m.
Chorale Connecticut with professional vocal soloists and orchestra.
Lyric Soprano: Martha Bennett Oneppo
Mezzo Soprano: Laura Mashburn
Tenor: Wayne Rivera
Baritone: Carlos Tirado
Conducted by Dorothy Barnhart
First Congregational Church, 62 Colony Street, Meriden
Tickets: $15 (Children 12 or under admitted free with a canned good for the needy)
Call: 203-238-7784

Sunday, Dec. 5, 1999 at 3:00 p.m.
The Hartford Symphony Orchestra and The Hartford Chorale
Conducted by Henley Denmead
The Bushnell in Hartford
Ticket Prices $15 - $49. Most sections have sold out for the past 6 years.
Bushnell Box Office: 860-987-5900

Saturday, Dec. 4, 1999 at 7:30 p.m.
Waterbury Chorale with original instruments and vocal soloists
St. John's Church On-the-Green, Waterbury

Sunday, Dec. 5, 1999 at 3:00 p.m.
Congregational Church On-the-Green, Litchfield
Tickets: Advance sales: $18 adults ($20 at the door); $12 children (12 or under)
For tickets, call Jean Schmidt at 203-755-2561 or Carol Palmer at 203-264-7120

There will be two performances of the Messiah with the combined choirs of The First Church of Christ in Saybrook (Congregational) and St. Andrews Episcopal Church of Madison. The dates and places are as follows:

St. Andrews Episcopal Church, 232 Durham Rd., Madison, at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 11;

The First Church of Christ in Saybrook (Congregational), 366 Main St., Old Saybrook, during worship service at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 12. Admission is free.

Both performances will be accompanied by some orchestral instruments.

For a highly acclaimed recording of the Messiah, consider: http://www.messiahcd.com/

Please send questions or comments to bbruno@snet.net.