Messiah

                In columns, I have discussed briefly the musical origins of Handel’s masterwork oratorio, “MESSIAH” and its historical context. To review, oratorios are large multi-movement works setting a dramatic text. They differ from operas and musical dramas because there is no staging and costumes. Rather, the story is told by soloists and chorus.

            This week, let’s look at Messiah’s libretto or text. The usually unsung hero of Messiah lore is an obscure English gentleman, author, and playwright, Charles Jennens (1700-1773). The text of Messiah is drawn directly from the Old and New Testaments, but it was the genius of Charles Jennens that enabled him to select these particular scripture texts, combining them in such a way that the message of Redemption is absolutely clear and dramatically spellbinding. It was exceedingly appropriate therefore that, at Jennens’ funeral in January of 1774, the following words of tribute were offered: “As long as love and taste and genuine harmony prevail, so long should his memory meet with a due regard for that judicious arrangement of words we find in the sacred performance of Messiah… a performance in which… all the irregular passions and disquietudes of the human breast are hushed and softened in Peace .. and the soul wrapped up in the praise and contemplation of God.” 

               The Hebrew word for Messiah, “Meshiach” or “the anointed one”, was first applied to King David. David evoked strong feelings in his followers. Some never forgave him his failings, but for many, many others he was remembered as the only ideal king, the anointed one against whom all later ones would be compared and tested. Following David, however, were many kings that did not measure up.  There were cruel wars and royal intrigues that stripped the common people of their hope and livelihood.  By the eighth century before Christ, the hunger for a new Messiah was becoming increasing intense, and we see it in the powerful words of the prophets: Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, and the young Jeremiah.    The fact that so many Jews wanted the coming Messiah to be an earthly King or powerful political figure no doubt shaped how the Roman government viewed Jesus and is why he was deemed a threat to stability in the region. 

            It is this hunger for a Messiah/King that provides the backdrop for Jennens’ powerful libretto and Handel’s oratorio masterpiece. Jennens organized the work into three sections:

I.                     The prophesy and realization of God’s plan to redeem mankind by the coming of the Messiah;

II.                   The accomplishment of redemption by the sacrifice of Jesus, his trials and ultimate crucifixion, his resurrection and ascension, and the establishment of His Kingdom on earth;

III.                  A hymn of thanksgiving for the final overthrow of death.

PART ONE

            The oratorio opens with a majestic overture, serious in tone and exactly right for the drama that is to follow. (Click here for video clip) The first five sung movements of Messiah might be subtitled, “God’s Promise”. First we hear the famous tenor recitative:

“Comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished.   The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness: Prepare you the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God”

and the aria which follows: “Every valley shall be exalted…” (Click here for Video Clip)

Yes,’ God is saying, to paraphrase the Isaiah text, ‘You have been through a lot, but I have not forgotten you. You have my promise on that!’   And what a promise it is. The chorus takes up Isaiah’s prophesy jubilantly, “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” (Click here for Video Clip)

            But lest we forget why we need this Messiah, the prophets Haggai and Malachi are quick to point out humanity’s ongoing separation from God. Oh, He is a powerful God! The bass soloist sings from the book of Haggai,   “And I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land… The Lord, whom ye seek shall suddenly come to His temple. Behold, He shall come, saith the lord of Hosts!” But it won’t be easy, God warns in Malachi. “But who may abide the day of His coming, for He is like a refiner’s fire”.  The chorus continues, "And He shall purify the sons of Levi, that they may bring unto the Lord an offering of righteousness,"

            Yes indeed, God says, I will provide you with a mighty King, mightier even than David. “But God”, we cry, “how can any of us measure up?” The answer is that God has a different kind of King in mind. This is not the time for discouragement, God tells us; be joyful! Mathew’s Gospel sets the stage for this by quoting Isaiah 7:14. The mezzo soprano sings the words of comfort: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and call shall His name Emmanuel, God with Us. “  We continue, now rejoicing with the prophet Isaiah, first with soloist and then with full chorus: “O Thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up to the high mountain!” (Click here for video clip)

           And now we move, I think, to one of the most profound and often overlooked moments in Part One: the transition from darkness to light. The bass soloist intones mournfully Isaiah 60:2-3, “For behold darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people,” but – do you hear it – there’s a shifting in harmony to major as the light of the Son emerges… “but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee, and the gentiles shall come to Thy light.”   (Click here for video clip)

            Now, finally, the message of hope and promise is established, and we move to the familiar nativity scene.   Handel sets the stage with a “pastoral symphony”.  The tune  is reminiscent of those in the popular “shepherd’s plays”  of Italian theater. The lilting melody takes us to far-off hills and sheep grazing. (Click here for video clip)   The soprano soloist tells the story as it appears in Luke 2, “There were shepherds abiding in the field… and the angel of the Lord said unto them, “Fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings…for unto you is born this day a Savior which is Christ the Lord”. And then we hear the angels in chorus, “Glory to God, and on earth peace, good will to all people!” (Click here for video clip)   The rejoicing continues with two of Handel’s most memorable arias, “Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of Zion” for soprano, words from the Old Testament book of Zechariah  (Click here for video clip), and the heart warming, “He Shall Feed His Flock”, from soprano and mezzo soprano, which juxtaposes the words of Isaiah with those of Matthew, “Come unto Him, all you the labor…all that are heavy-laden, and He shall give you rest.”(Click here for video clip)  

PART TWO

            The Passion: John the Baptist, we are told in John 1:29, stood at the waters edge, saw Jesus approaching, and declared: “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” It’s appropriate that both Part One and Part Two begin with words attributed to John the Baptist. He whom we know as “the voice calling from the wilderness” now identifies in the flesh who God’s chosen One is to be, and the trials He will face. (Click here for video clip)  The great open chorus, “Behold the Lamb of God”, is followed by the touching mezzo soprano aria, “He Was Despised”. Again, it is Isaiah who prophesies Jesus’ betrayal and passion, “He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” At which point chorus picks up Isaiah’s words, “Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities…”  (Click here for video clip) , and "All we like sheep have gone astray". The angry crowd responding to Pilate and the jeering spectators at the crucifixion are clearly the inspiration for the brutal chorus, “He Trusted In God, Let Him Deliver Him!” (Click here for video clip)

            The Redemption message, as we’ve already seen, is not unique to the New Testament. In fact, for eyes that could see and ears that could hear, God’s plan was being clarified with each succeeding chapter of scripture.   The love of God for his children does not end with the crucifixion. To fulfill the prophesy of old, Jesus indeed had to suffer the very human pain of crucifixion, death, and commitment to the grave, but all does not end there. Jennens makes the transition from tragedy to hope with words from Psalm 16:10, “But Thou didst not leave His soul in hell, nor didst Thou suffer Thy holy One to see corruption” (set by Handel as a lyric air for tenor). The chorus responds with another great Handelian chorus, words from Psalm 24, “Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in! Who is the King of Glory?”, the psalmist asks. “The Lord of Hosts!” (Click here for video clip)

            The Lordship of Jesus, Messiah and King, is recognized, and with that recognition comes the need  to spread the Good News abroad.  The soprano soloist intones the words from Romans 10:5, "How Beautiful Are the Feet of Them", followed by the chorus, "Their sound is gone out into all lands, and their words unto the ends of the world" (Romans 10:18).

            Of course, not all eyes will see nor all ears hear this momentous good news.   “Why do the nations rage so furiously together?”, the bass soloist questions, intoning words from Psalm 2. “The kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers take counsel against the Lord and His Annointed.”  Jesus, however, is triumphant, and Part 2 concludes with likely the most famous choral outpouring of all time, the “Hallelujah Chorus”. (Click here for video clip)

Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth,

The kingdom of this world is become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ,

And He shall reign forever and ever!

PART THREE

Humanity is freed from the bonds of death

            From the grandeur of the “Hallelujah Chorus”, we move to the most personal statement of faith in the entire Messiah. The aria for soprano, “I Know That My Redeemer Liveth”, with text from the Book of Job and I Corinthians 15, plumbs the depths of emotion in a new-found faith: “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth… for now is Christ risen from the dead…”  (Click here for video clip)   The powerful text from 1 Corinthians 15 continues as the basis for nearly all of Part 3. The chorus responds, “Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so, in Christ shall all be made alive.”  And then the bass soloist returns with words heralding the Second Coming of Christ and the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth: “Behold, I tell you a mystery: we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed – in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye – at the last trumpet! The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible.” (Click here for video clip)   Finally, mezzo-soprano and tenor join in singing, “O death, where is Thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” 

Hymn of Praise and Thanksgiving

            The chorus responds, again from I Corinthians 15:57, “But thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ.” They then move directly into the final climactic statement of praise and thanksgiving, text from Revelation 5, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain and hath redeemed us to God by His blood, to receive power and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. Blessing and honor, glory, and power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, forever and ever.” (Click here for video clip)