November 2023 edition

MUSIC MATTERS
The first Messiah performance I had the honour to conduct at St. Paul’s at the end of 2012 was sung by my old choir Syrinx. Sadly, I was unable to make it the following year, as I was away in December on a 40th anniversary “old lags” tour with the Hilliard Ensemble. Fortunately though, our St. Paul’s Messiah picked up sticks in 2014 with the more recently formed group Ristretto, since when we have done seven years running (a year off for Covid), making a total of 10 annual Messiah performances, including this year’s. It feels as though a tradition is now firmly established – surely something of which our two generous sponsors over the years have every reason to be proud, and we to be thankful. Historically speaking, Messiah was the only work over a period of 250 years or so by which Handel was known, apart from perhaps the Water Music, his Coronation Anthem Zadok the priest, and beloved arias from his operas, such as Ombra mai fu (aka Handel’s Largo) or Lascia ch’io pianga from Rinaldo. This of course represents considerable negligence on the part of music scholars, conductors, opera foundations, and the like, though I am happy to report his operas have in recent years become part of the staple diet of opera houses and festivals worldwide, as well as his many oratorios. Naturally we think of oratorios as sacred works, but in Handel’s case this ain’t necessarily so. In fact when he moved to London in 1712 he was thoroughly imbued in the Italian opera tradition, having spent his youthful composing years in Florence and then Rome before moving to England. Sadly he was forced to stop writing operas during his London years, partly for health reasons, and partly on account of culture wars with Italians living in London who virtually forced him out of the market. Happily for posterity he shot off to Dublin, where Messiah was premiered in 1742. Immediately it became a huge success, and was subsequently performed in London, where his reputation was successfully restored. Thereafter he turned exclusively to writing oratorios, many of which use secular texts – the defining factor being that they were in English, not Italian. I mention this as there is a very little, if any, distinction between Handel’s compositional style in either category. In fact he pillaged music from his previous operas in order to complete Messiah in time – the whole thing taking him just 24 days to finish. When you think about it, pulling stuff out of previously performed works is perfectly sensible, when you consider there were no such things as recordings in his day. Once a piece had been performed a few times for a particular purpose it was unlikely to be heard ever again, so why not pillage and adapt?
As a result, many of the Messiah choruses are based on Handel’s Italian opera duets, which is why they are so virtuosic and tricky to sing – quite possibly the reason that Messiah performances recorded after the war were interminably sluggish, until those pioneering recordings of the middle 1960’s by Colin Davis and Charles Mackerras, ultimately leading to the iconic Christoher Hogwood AAM recording of 1980 which changed the world forever. Incidentally the tenor soloist on that last recording is the young Paul Elliott, friend and colleague from the Hilliard Ensemble, who has occasionally joined us in the choir at St. Paul’s, both for Sunday morning Communion, and as a member of the Messiah chorus. If you are interested, the Hogwood Messiah is easily watchable on YouTube, as well as other items featuring Paul as soloist. Legend hath it that the composer Haydn attended a performance of Messiah in London, weeping on several occasions, so moved was he by its deep sincerity and sublime music. Not only that, but Beethoven was heard to declare one day apropos Handel “He is the greatest of us all.” Two fairly potent references. Want to give it a try on 9 December?