Selections from Messiah………………….…………..…………………George F. Händel (1685 – 1759)

   George Friederich Händel spent much of his career in London as composer of Italian opera, but when the public taste for the genre sharply declined in the 1730s, he redirected his efforts to the oratorio. There are many structural similarities between opera and oratorio: both feature recitative, arias, ensemble numbers, choruses, and instrumental interludes. The oratorio, however, is pointedly not staged, and therefore significantly less expensive to produce, Händel composed 29 oratorios in his career, mostly on biblical themes. The libretto for Messiah (1742), one of his most popular oratorios, was compiled by literary scholar Charles Jennens, who drew from both the Old and New Testaments to form a narrative of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. The oratorio features three apparent sections, the first relating the season of advent as well as the events of the nativity. Unlike many of his oratorios, Händel’s Messiah does not so much tell a story but convey a series of biblical themes.

Messiah is also one of Händel’s only oratorio without a clear dramatic narrative; the soloists in the work provide commentary on the biblical events rather than participate as characters. Messiah was not immediately popular in London but, following a successful benefit performance of the work in 1750, was performed annually until Händel’s death in 1759. Since then, it has remained one of the best-known and widely performed works in Western musical culture. It is an extremely rare example of a major Baroque work with an unbroken performance tradition since the time of its composition. Indeed, most major cities perform the work, or portions of it, at least twice a year. The style of the piece was considered to be “ancient” even in Mozart’s time, though the emotional profundity of the grand choruses and intimate solo passages continues to affect audiences today.

   Barber is often labeled a “Neo-Romantic;” many composers experimented with atonality and non-traditional timbres in the 1920s and again after World War II, but Barber instead remained committed to a mostly tonal language, using conventional formal models and expressive lyricism reminiscent of the mid-nineteenth century. Barber’s style might be considered conservative, but still maintains an assertive, modern sensibility in its use of dissonance. His Op. 14 violin concerto represents this sensibility, conveying a Romantic lyricism, but not necessarily confined to nineteenth-century tonal language.

    The concerto was premiered by the Philadelphia Orchestra in February 1941 by Albert Spalding, with Euguene Ormandy conducting. Critic and composer Virgil Thomson wrote of the premiere: “The only reason Barber gets away with elementary musical methods is that his heart is pure.” Indeed, Barber composed in more tonal style perhaps viewed as passé by his contemporaries, but his beautiful, somehow familiar melodies remain sincere developed with superb construction. The work opens with a warm, soaring, lyrical theme, continues in a gentle dialogue between the soloist and orchestra. The harmonies are lush and reminiscent of the Romantic period, but rhythmic insistency and occasional jarring dissonance of the twentieth century. This is particularly true of the second theme, introduced by the clarinet, which is slightly more disjointed. The movement moves toward a grand Romantic climax toward the end, punctuated by dissonant clashes, but concludes quietly and serenely.