Messiah (HWV 56), the English-language oratorio composed by George Frideric Handel in 1741, is structured in three parts. This listing covers Part II in a table and comments on individual movements, reflecting the relation of the musical setting to the text. Part I begins with the prophecy of the Messiah and his birth, shows the annunciation to the shepherds and reflects the Messiah's deeds on earth. Part II covers the Passion in nine movements including the oratorio's longest movement, an air for alto He was despised, then mentions death, resurrection, ascension, and reflects the spreading of the Gospel and its rejection. The part is concluded by a scene called "God's Triumph" that culminates in the Hallelujah chorus. Part III of the oratorio concentrates on Paul's teaching of the resurrection of the dead and Christ's glorification in heaven.

Messiah, the oratorio

The libretto by Charles Jennens is entirely drawn from the Bible, mostly from the King James Bible, whereas several psalms are taken from the Book of Common Prayer. The librettist commented: "... the Subject excells every other Subject. The Subject is Messiah ...". Messiah differs from Handel's other oratorios by telling no story, instead offering reflections on different aspects of the Christian Messiah. Christopher Hogwood comments:

Structure and concept

The oratorio's structure follows the liturgical year; Part I corresponding with Advent, Christmas and the life of Jesus, Part II with Lent, Easter, Ascension and Pentecost, Part III with the end of the church year, dealing with the end of time, the Resurrection of the dead and Christ's glorification in heaven. The sources are drawn mostly from the Old Testament. Even the birth and death of Jesus are told in the words of the prophet Isaiah, the most prominent source of the libretto. The only true scene of the oratorio is taken from the Gospel of Luke, the annunciation to the shepherds. The imagery of shepherd and lamb features prominently, in the aria "He shall feed His flock like a shepherd", the only extended piece to talk about the Messiah on earth, in the opening of Part II, "Behold the Lamb of God", in the chorus "All we like sheep", and in the closing chorus of the work, "Worthy is the Lamb". Occasionally verses from different biblical sources are combined in one movement, but more often a coherent text section is set in different consecutive movements, such as the first "scene", the annunciation of Christian salvation, as a sequence of three movements, recitative, aria and chorus.

Music

When Handel composed Messiah in London, he was already a successful and experienced composer of Italian operas. He had started in 1713 to also compose sacred music on English texts, such as the Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate. He set many oratorios on English libretti. In Messiah he used practically the same musical means as for those works, namely a structure based on chorus and solo singing. Only a few movements are a duet or a combination of solo and chorus. The solos are typically a combination of recitative and aria. The arias are called Air or Song, some of them have da capo form, but rarely in a strict sense, repeating a first section after a sometimes contrasting middle section. Handel finds various ways to use the format freely, in order to convey the text. The movements marked "Recitative" (Rec.) are "secco", only accompanied by the basso continuo. Recitatives marked "Accompagnato" (Acc.) are accompanied by additional string instruments. Handel uses four voice parts in both solo and chorus, soprano (S), alto (A), tenor (T) and bass (B). Only once is the chorus divided in an upper chorus and a lower chorus, it is SATB otherwise. The orchestra scoring is simple: oboes, strings and basso continuo of harpsichord, violoncello, violone and bassoon. Two trumpets and timpani highlight selected movements, such as the closing movements of Part II, Hallelujah. Handel uses a cantus firmus on long repeated notes especially to illustrate God's speech and majesty, such as "King of Kings" in the Hallelujah chorus.

General notes

The following table is organized by movement numbers. There are two major systems of numbering the movements of Messiah: the historic Novello edition of 1959 (which is based on earlier editions and contains 53 movements), and the Bärenreiter edition of 1965 in the Hallische Händel-Ausgabe. Not counting some short recitatives as separate movements, there are therefore 47 movements. In the table below, the Novello number (Nov) is given first and is the index for the notes to individual movements in the "movements" section, then the Bärenreiter number (Bär).

To emphasise the movements in which the oboes and the rarely used trumpets play, the Scoring column lists instruments beyond the regular strings and basso continuo (harpsichord, violoncello, violone) that play throughout. Details on the development of keys, different tempo markings and times within a movement are given in notes on the individual movements. Typically a "scene" of recitative(s) and aria(s) is concluded with a choral movement.

Part II summary

+ Movements of Messiah Part II Nov Bär Title / First line Form Tempo marking Scoring Time Key 22 19 Behold the Lamb of God Chorus Largo 2 oboes G minor 23 20 He was despised Air, alto Largo E-flat major 24 21 Surely, He hath borne our griefs Chorus Largo e staccato 2 oboes A-flat major 25 22 And with His stripes we are healed Chorus Alla breve, moderato 2 oboes F minor 26 23 All we like sheep Chorus Allegro moderato 2 oboes F major 27 24 All they that see Him, laugh Accompagnato, tenor Larghetto B-flat minor 28 25 He trusted in God Chorus Allegro 2 oboes C minor 29 26 Thy rebuke hath broken His heart Accompagnato, Tenor Largo various 30 27 Behold, and see Arioso, Tenor Largo e piano E minor 31 28 He was cut off out Accompagnato, tenor or soprano B minor 32 29 But Thou didst not leave his soul Air, tenor or soprano Andante larghetto A major 33 30 Lift up your heads Chorus SSATB A tempo ordinario 2 oboes F major 34 Unto which of the angels Recitative, tenor D minor 35 31 Let all the angels of God Chorus Allegro 2 oboes D major 36 32 Thou art gone up on high Air, alto, soprano, or bass Allegro larghetto D minor (alto and bass) / G minor (soprano) 37 33 The Lord gave the word Chorus Andante allegro 2 oboes B-flat major 38 34 How beautiful are the feet Duet, alto or soprano & alto Chorus or Air, soprano or alto Andante 2 oboes D minor (duet and chorus) / G minor (soprano) / C minor (alto) 39 35 Their sound is gone out Arioso, tenor or chorus Andante larghetto F major (tenor) / E-flat major (chorus) 40 36 Why do the nations so furiously rage Air, bass Allegro C major 41 37 Let us break their bonds asunder Chorus Allegro e staccato 2 oboes C major 42 He that dwelleth in heaven Recitative, Tenor A major 43 38 Thou shalt break them Air, tenor Andante A minor 44 39 Hallelujah Chorus Allegro 2 oboes, 2 trumpets, timpani D major

Part II movements

Scene 1

Scene 1 is the longest scene of the oratorio and reflects the Passion, in Jennens' words "Christ's Passion; the scourging and the agony on the cross", in nine individual movements, including the longest one, the Air for alto "He was despised". Part II is the only part opened by a chorus, and continues to be dominated by choral singing. Block observes that the emphasis on the Passion differs from modern western popular Christianity, which prefers to stress the nativity of the Messiah.

22

Behold the Lamb of God

The opening chorus "Behold the Lamb of God" begins like a French overture in G minor, a key of "tragic presentiment", according to Christopher Hogwood. The continuo drops an octave, then the violins rise an octave, to express "Behold". After only three instrumental measures the voices proclaim the Testimony of John the Baptist, , which recalls Isaiah 53. The alto begins, followed after half a measure each by the soprano, the bass, and finally the tenor. After the initial rise, the melody falls in dotted rhythms, but rises on "that taketh away the sin of the world". The melody shows similarity to the beginning of "He shall feed his flock", but "sharpened" from major to minor, from triplets to dotted rhythm, and by the octave leap in the beginning.

23

He was despised

The text in this movement comes from Isaiah's fourth song about the Man of Sorrows: "He was despised, rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (), indicating that "the Messiah will play a substitutionary sacrificial role on behalf of his people". Handel gives the pitiful description to the alto solo in the longest movement of the oratorio in terms of duration. It is a da capo aria, showing two contrasting moods, set in E-flat major in the first section, C minor in the middle section. The vocal line begins with an ascending fourth on "he was" and adds another one on "despi-sed", ending as a sigh. The signal of a fourth has been observed by musicologist Rudolf Steglich as a unifying motif of the oratorio. Handel breaks the beginning of the text up to a stammering "He was despised, – despised and rejected, – rejected of men, ... – despi-sed – rejected", the words interspersed with rests as long as the words, as if exhausted. Soft sighing motifs of the violins, an echo of the singing, drop into these rests. Hogwood interprets the unaccompanied passages as emphasizing "Christ's abandonment". The middle section is also full of dramatic rests, but now the voice is set on a ceaseless agitated pattern of fast dotted notes in the instruments, illustrating the hits of the smiters in text from the third song (), where the words appear in the first person: "He gave his back – to the smiters – ... and His cheeks – to them – that plucked off the hair. – He hid – not his face – from shame – and spitting."

24

Surely, He hath borne our griefs

The dotted rhythm returns in instruments and voices in the chorus "Surely, He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows", the continuation of Isaiah's text, set in F minor. The chorus continues with the remainder of Isaiah 53:5 and ends on the words "the chastisement of our peace was upon him".

25

And with His stripes we are healed

In the same key the chorus continues with a fugue "And with His stripes we are healed". The theme begins with a sequence of five long notes, which Mozart quoted in the Kyrie-fugue of his Requiem. The characteristic ascending fourth opens the countersubject. The word "healed" is later stressed by both long melismas and long notes.

26

All we like sheep

Still continuing Isaiah's text, "All we like sheep, have gone astray" is set as a fast chorus in F-major on a walking bass with irregular patterns and leaps. The voices utter twice together "All we like sheep", then two voice parts move simultaneously in different directions on "have gone astray", with the last syllable extended to eleven notes. The next bit of the text "we have turned" is illustrated by fast coloraturas, lacking direction. In a dramatic sudden adagio, full of chromatic tension, the movement ends on "and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all". Myers comments about the chorus, which seems out of place at first sight: "In Handel's famous chorus sin glories in its shame with almost alcoholic exhilaration. His lost sheep meander hopelessly through a wealth of intricate semi quavers, stumbling over decorous roulades and falling into mazes of counterpoint that prove inextricable. A less dramatic composer than Handel would scarcely have rendered his solemn English text with such defiance, for the discrepancy between the self-accusing words and his vivacious music is patent to any listener emancipated from the lethargy of custom." The movement is based on the final section of the duet for two sopranos "Nò, di voi non vo' fidarmi" (translation: No, I don’t want to trust you) (HWV 189, July 1741).

27

All they that see Him, laugh Him to scorn