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      December 1, 2007 (3 pm Final Rehearsal & 8 pm Concert) - Sherwood Hall, Salinas
      December 2 (3 pm) & December 3, 2007(8 pm) - Sunset Theater, Carmel
                  Christoph Campestrini, guest conductor
                  Sharla Nafziger, soprano
                  Barbara Rearick, mezzo-soprano
                  William Watson, tenor
                  Michael Dean, bass

         Messiah
        Georg Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

PROGRAM NOTES

Concert II: December 1, 2, 3, 2007

The success of George Frideric Handel's grand oratorio, Messiah, from its premiere in Dublin on April 13, 1742 to this very day defies belief. Yet, belief is what made, and continues to make, Messiah such a phenomenon, especially to first-time listeners. Handel's music is perfectly matched to the emotions contained in the sacred texts and achieves this with the simplest of means. It can be appreciated at many levels by novices and scholars. Originally intended for the Easter season, the majority of performances of this masterpiece now take place during Advent.

Handel was born in Halle in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany on Friday, February 23, 1685 to an unmusical family. Music then was still a family trade. Handel's father was a barber-surgeon who had served as a valet for the courts of Saxony and Brandenburg. The elder Handel had hoped young George would become a lawyer. As a boy, Handel displayed considerable talent as a harpsichordist and organist at the local church. His training, after the few early lessons with the local organist, was self directed. His parents realized his musical gift, but had no inkling of his ambition and natural instinct as an impresario.

Handel entered the University of Halle to study law in 1702. After only one year, his father died suddenly and Handel was free to pursue music. Handel departed for Hamburg, then the operatic center of Germany in 1702. Handel composed his first opera, Almira, there. It achieved great success in 1703. After making a name for himself in Hamburg, Handel left for Italy in 1706 to expand his understanding of Italian musical conventions. He traveled through musical circles, showed off his considerable keyboard skills, met Corelli and both Alexandro and Domenico Scarlatti, and many of the superstar castrati whose phenomenal abilities were in vogue at Italian opera houses. These superb showmen were always looking for new material and Handel provided them with an ample supply.

In 1710, Handel returned to Germany and found work at the court of George, Elector of Hanover. That same year, he traveled to London for a brief visit and was smitten by big city life. He held the position in Hanover for two years, but grew weary of the placid life at court. In 1712, he begged for and got a leave of absence with the understanding that he could return when he was ready to do so. He was never ready.

Handel left for London, then the most populous city in the world. He used his royal connections through Queen Anne to secure financial patronage, and quickly used his facility at the keyboard and his compositional skills to make an impact on London. His showmanship was legendary. He made a fortune with his string of Italian operas.

Through a twist of fate, his former boss, the Elector of Hanover became King George I upon the death of Queen Anne. Handel was nervous about his patronage, but apparently King George realized Handel's popularity in his new realm and doubled the amount paid to London's greatest composer of the time. After twenty years of producing Baroque operas, London's musical tastes changed and Handel's output in this genre was found to be passé. He had been appointed director of the Royal Academy of Music but was relieved from this position after a series of costly productions. He started another opera company which also ran into hard times and eventually both these companies met their demise. His fortunes dwindled and loans remained unpaid.

Handel never stopped working. Throughout his opera period, Handel also composed orchestral suites and his first oratorio, Esther. He prepared several anthems for the coronation of King George II in 1727, including Zadok the Priest which is still performed whenever a new British monarch is installed. In addition to Messiah, Handel produced a string of sacred oratorios including Samson, Solomon, Israel in Eygpt, Judas Maccabeus, and finally Jeptha. He was, at this time, the most well-known composer in Europe.

In 1737, when Handel was 52 years old, he suffered a debilitating stroke which left his right hand paralyzed and ended his performance career. Throughout his later years, he suffered from cataracts which seriously impaired his vision. In 1751, he underwent a procedure which intentionally pushed his right lens further into his eyeball. The procedure had little therapeutic effect and was conducted without any anaesthetic! He spent his final years in near blindness.

Annual performances of Messiah took place regularly throughout the remainder of Handel's life which assured him a comfortable income. After attending one such performance, he returned home to 25 Brook Street, the house where he had lived in London for 36 years and fell ill. He died a week later on Saturday, April 14, 1759.

His estate was valued at £20,000, a considerable sum for the time. It went to a niece in Germany, as well as other relatives, servants, friends, and charities. Handel had never married and kept his personal life his own business, which was another remarkable achievement considering the gossipy circles he inhabited for most of his life.

Handel, who became a naturalized British citizen, is buried in Westminster Abbey. The statue of him above his grave is holding a book on which is written "I know that my Redeemer liveth" the soprano aria from Messiah which begins the third section.

Handel had had a modest success in 1733 with, Esther, a revision of an oratorio first composed in 1714 and in 1737 Saul. His collaborator for this latter project, Charles Jennens (1700-1773) held a position at Baloil College, Oxford. This man's scholarship was considerable. Unfortunately, he also held a very strong belief that the Hanoverian royalty headed by King George I were not the legitimate heirs to the British Throne. For the libretto of Messiah, Jennens had selected texts from the King James version of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. These texts followed his own design and not any liturgical order. Legend states that Handel composed Messiah in 24 days during the summer of 1741. Scholarship now indicates that large parts of the music were lifted from previous compositions, but much is original.

Differing from all of Handel's former and later oratorios which featured principal characters telling their stories, Messiah is a narration of scripture. The religious establishment in London would have adamantly opposed the use of sacred texts in concert halls. So Handel moved the premiere to Dublin. He met opposition there, too. Jonathon Swift (the author of Gulliver's Travels) was then Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral. Swift had the premiere canceled for a period of time, but then a compromise was found. Messiah would be re-titled A Sacred Oratorio and proceeds would be given to a charity. Handel's ability to profit personally from his undertakings had be commonly understood. For him to do so through the use of sacred text seemed unprincipled to some, blasphemous to many. In leading up to the premiere, Handel very cleverly provided Irish opinion makers with sneak previews of rehearsals and allowed them to spread the word that something of historical interest would take place in their town. Handel performed the premiere conducting from the harpsichord. Irish violinist, composer, and conductor Matthew Dubourg led the orchestra. Throughout his lifetime, Handel conducted Messiah numerous times, often rewriting or adjusting its music to fit the talent at hand. Much scholarship has been written regarding each of these subsequent presentations. Most conductors feel free to select among the versions that which is most appropriate to their taste and forces. Messiah was intended to be sung in the language of the place it was being presented.

King George II attended a performance of Messiah and stood during the Hallelujah Chorus. When the sovereign stands, all stand. The reason why he stood has never been correctly identified. However, it started the tradition that the audience should stand up while the Hallelujah Chorus is sung. This tradition continues to this day.

Handel's Messiah, in the period after his death suffered from romanticized interpretations. It was originally scored and presented for two oboes, two bassoons, two trumpets, continuo, strings, soprano, alto, tenor, bass, and a chorus of perhaps 20 men and boys. Mozart completely re-orchestrated the work adding flutes, clarinets, and trombones. By the time Berlioz heard the work in the mid-19th century, it had been distorted to a ridiculous point, causing the great French composer to label it "a barrel of roast pork and beer."

The text of the oratorio Messiah is divided into three distinct sections and numerous subsections. The fact that the Messiah isn't merely the story of Christ is one reason why the work has maintained such a continuously broad and enthusiastic audience during the 265 years since its premiere. It celebrates Christ's life, it explores his affect on his followers, it teaches the meaning of his words, and it sings of the glory of the Lord. The following outline appears on the Wikipedia page devoted to Messiah.

i -- The prophecy of Salvation

ii -- The prophecy of the coming of the Messiah

iii -- Portends to the world at large

iv -- Prophecy of the Virgin Birth

v -- The appearance of the Angel to the shepherds

vi -- Christ's miracles

i -- The sacrifice, the scourging and agony on the cross

ii -- His death, His passing through Hell, and His resurrection

iii -- His Ascension

iv -- God discloses His identity in Heaven

v -- The beginning of evangelism

vi -- The world and its rulers reject the Gospel

vii -- God's triumph

Part III -- The Aftermath

i -- The promise of redemption from Adam's fall

ii -- Judgment Day

iii -- The victory over death and sin

iv -- The glorification of Christ

The majority of the verses are from Isaiah, Psalms, Luke, John and revelations.

Like most of his operas, Messiah begins with a "Sinfonia" which serves as a musical prelude to the drama which follows. Throughout the work, Handel varies the use of the soprano, alto, tenor, bass, chorus, and orchestra. Often employing unaccompanied solos for each singer and principal musician, soloist with chorus, combinations of soloists alone, chorus alone, presenting such musical forms as recitatives, arias, chorales, fugues and others—all to enhance the dramatic impact of the words.

Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, and many others praised Handel's ability to maximize musical effect from the simplest of means. He is also celebrated for his uncanny ability to compose textual paintings. For instance, listen carefully throughout the great tenor aria "Every valley shall be exalted" which opens the oratorio. When the tenor sings the word "exalted," he sings music which exalts by running up and down scales with abundant embellishments. When he then sings "the crook d straight," the notes on the word "crooked" go down, up, down and the note on the word "straight" is continuously held. He repeats this technique with the word "valley" (notes go from high, down to low, back up to high—like a valley) and "rough places plain"—another used of a sustained note.

Upon the completion of Messiah, Handel is reported to have said, "I did think I did see all Heaven before me and the great God himself."

Joseph Truskot