Artist

Admin

Conductor

Andrew Grams

Singer

Soprano

Sonya Headlam

Mezzo-soprano

Leah Wool

Tenor

Kenneth Tarver

Bass

Damien Geter

North Carolina Symphony

Messiah -  (Messiah HWV 56)

Producer

Raleigh

United States

Duke Energy Center

Messiah Händel

Private

Public

Messiah HWV 56

Approved

In the autumn of life, Handel channeled his strengths in operatic composition toward the sacred
oratorio, infusing Biblical texts with a power previously reserved for the theater. Messiah, composed
in a hasty twenty-four days (August 22-September 14, 1741), displays Handel’s artistic maturity with
a stylistic range that encompasses the courtly French overture, operatic arias and recitatives,
learned fugues, and vocal duets to hearty chorales and anthems. In time, Messiah became the
undisputed staple of the oratorio genre, and its treatment of English-language sacred texts
challenged the domineering grip of Italian operas on the British stage. As such, Handel afforded
England a sacred tradition that would endure as a source of national pride for centuries to come.
The expressive musical range in Messiah is matched by the expansive theological breadth of its text.
Librettist Charles Jennens (1700-1773) had furnished lyrics for Handel’s earlier oratorios Saul (1739)
and Israel in Egypt (1739), and now assembled a collection of varied Scriptural verses concerning
Jesus Christ. A well-read patron of the arts, Jennens was not satisfied merely to offer a gospel
account of Christ’s birth; instead, his anthology of texts expounded the significance of Jesus Christ
as the Messiah, largely foretold by Old Testament prophets. In Part 1, passages from the Psalms,
Isaiah, Zechariah, Haggai, and Malachi gloss the narratives from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.
Part 2 focuses on Christ’s sacrificial death, resurrection, and ascension before describing the world’s
rejection of the gospel message. Part 3 ushers audiences to the horizon of eternity, anticipating the
elect from every nation gathering in Christ’s victory over death and communion with God.
Handel premiered Messiah at a charity concert in Dublin during Passion Week (on April 13, 1742),
drawing several hundred in attendance. Audiences, critics, and clergymen immediately received
the work with high praise, causing Handel to give a second performance six weeks later. In contrast,
London critics initially perceived the theatrical approach as ill-suited for holy texts; however,
subsequent performances earned Messiah its permanent stature in England’s musical heritage.

English

Messiah HWV 56 by Händel, Od (2022/2022), Dirigent Andrew Grams, Duke Energy Center, Raleigh, United States

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