Handel’s Messiah
I attended a collaboration of the Kansas City Symphony and the Independence Messiah Choir. Together they performed George Frideric Handel’s Messiah. The performance was an oratorio, which is a musical piece that is typically lengthy, tells a story, is based on Biblical or religious events, and is performed through voice and orchestra. I was a perceptive listener during the performance, as I was not just only basking in the delightful sound, while having associations for the music, but I was also constantly seeking understanding, and working through reasonings and answers about it, while creating a deeper appreciation for it. Messiah was played in three parts: The Advent of Messiah, The Passion of the Christ, and Resurrection.
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The same instruments continue into the next theme, but the women’s voices are replaced by the men’s of the choir. This creates unity, as the lines are reiterated. The two groups keep things interesting by switching back and forth a couple of times, while building tension and increasing tempo and while getting much louder and livlier. They reach a peak and a release when they begin overlapping and then singing together. They don’t stay together long, and the women sing again, while the men wait for their pause and then mimic the last melodic lines. The woodwind instruments and larger string instruments have been playing throughout most of this time, creating a comfortable familiar harmony. Not until this point do the violins join in making things sound large and loud. The full choir sings together again, as the violins stop, making things intense. They finish loud, rapid, and strong until the end. What seemed to start as a simple structure with the choirs taking turns, and the same grouping of instruments playing for most of the time, became much more complex as the groups overlapped, some of the time with reiterations, sometimes with new ideas, altering length themes, etc. It shared the same religious purposes as the last section, as they are from the same
On November 16th, 2013, I attended a concert choir, fall choral concert. This event took place on the Wheaton College Campus, in the Edman Chapel at 7:30 pm. The chapel was well-lit, with long pews for the audience to be seated. The concert began with the audience looking up into a balcony, where the ensemble stood in neat rows. They watched the conductor, who stood on a stage in front of the audience, waiting for their cue.
...e when they join in since it is the first time in the whole symphony to hear something like that. The chorus ascends against single notes played by the harp. Upper woodwinds come back as the chorus fades but comes back again and stays until the very end of the piece.
The concert began with an incredibly brief introduction from the president of the Rochester Oratorio Society, after which the society performed a piece that is not listed on the program. After hearing the raw talent the choir displayed in their first performance the crowd praised them, and at this time a representative from the city’s mayor office took the stage and presented the society with a proclamation. The proclamation was on behalf of the city offices and expressed thanks for their 70 years of musical performances and education. Afterwards the society performed Norman Dello Joio’s “A Jubilant Song,” which served as a transition for the Houghton College Choir to take the seats of the men’s choral section. The college choir was approximately a third the size of the society choir, but still managed to perform with a lot of talent. The Houghton College Choir performed Kenneth Jennings’ “The Lord is the Everlasting God” and Larry Farrow’s “Give Me Jesus.” After a quick intermission the Rochester Oratorio Society took to the stage to perform Brahm’s Requiem, which is typically performed with an orchestra, but in their rendition a two person piano served as a replacement. Brahm’s Requiem is in German, making it difficult to understan...
Word painting, a “musical representation of specific poetic images”, was a fairly common characteristic of music in the European Baroque period. Composers would often set words like “heaven” on a high note and “hell” on a lower note or set depressing lyrics to a descending chromatic scale. One of the most well-known pieces of the European Baroque period is Messiah by George Frideric Handel, which is an oratorio telling the story of Christ’s birth. Since an oratorio lacked costumes, sets, or acting, Handel used a lot of word painting to give the sacred text an ...
...se on both the tenor and alto flute, one an octave higher than the other. While the return of the verse and the flute’s soothing sound give this ending a vague happy feeling, the contrast between the flutes’ pitches and timbres cannot help but leave the listener with a feeling of tension and apprehension over what will ensue.
When played on lower strings, on the contrary, stringed instruments have a darker, deeper, and sometimes richer tone. By playing the melody with a warm, lush tone, the tale of the prince falling in love embodies a traditional love story full of hope and dreams. The violin melody ends at 22:06 , while the new entrance of clarinet and supplemental bassoon pick up to progress the story, transitioning to the next theme as an interlude. Now, at 22:20 , the melody returns, this time with the cello and oboe. As the story progresses, effects like plucking and different harmonic color are added. The flute transitions as an interlude at 23:20, and the second violin brings the warm melody back, as the first violins copy the same motive as the clarinet and flute interlude. Once again, the melody is transferred back to the first violins, and, after repeating a motive three times at 24:20 , carries on to new thematic material. A new instrument is blended into the mix, percussion. This adds a new dimension of color. The tempo increases faster and brings a new exciting tale of love. The new thematic material is introduced with the clarinet, then played around with by flute, violins, and
In order to fully encapsulate Leonardo’s conquest of the almighty heavens it would only be fitting to have the text set to a full orchestra accompanied by a SATB choir. This is the only combination of instrumentation and vocals that will fully capture the piece’s dramatic story (save a Wagnarian music drama). A full orchestra is a glorious medium that can be used to accommodate the full range of emotions embodied in the poem because of the breadth of orchestral timbre. In parallel with the orchestra, a four-person choir is ideal for the lyrical expression of the poem due to the wide range of notes that can be sung by the soprano, the bass and everyone in between. The parts of the poem sung by the full choir would be done in an imitative polyphony texture utilizing malismas on the repeated line “Leonardo, Leonardo, viene á volare” to accentuate the fact that this line is a “siren-song” sung by “the very air itself.” However, the majority of the text would be sung by the tenor to give the piece a story telling quality, with the rest of the choir chiming in for the Italian parts. This will serve to emphasize the contrast between English and Italian that Sylvestri creates in his poem. It seems appropriate to have the orchestra and choir perform a through-composed setting with a change in music for each st...
The same line is repeated ecstatically by the quartet, which soars upward to it’s peak. The orchestra and chorus re-enter at a rapid tempo to bring the movement to its conclusion.
Before I begin discussing Esther at length, I will provide information on the definition of oratorio, the origins of Handel, and a basic description of Handel’s most familiar work, Messiah. Oratorio was derived from the form of opera as a way to continue a narrative form of music throughout the Lenten season when the performance of opera is usually forbidden. An oratorio is a biblical drama with no costumes or staging. It employs the use of the same themes of opera such as recitative and aria, sometimes exploring a larger use of chorus.
George Frideric Handel was born musically inclined. As a child he was deprived of musical instruments because his father wanted him to pursue the law profession. However, George was allowed to take music lessons from a local organist, by the name of Friedrich Wilhelm Zachau, after Handel had impressed the Duke when he played the organ at the chapel. In his following years, Handel would travel to many places, accepting many different musical occupations. As Handel traveled, he was introduced to many of his musical influences. He wrote operas, oratorios, anthems, secular cantatas, and also wrote scarred music. Throughout his life, Handel would become famous for his compositions, particularly for his English Oratorios, however the most popular ones today include: “Messiah”, “The Water Music”, and “Royal Fireworks.”
German-English composer, George Frederick Handel, is one of the greatest composers of the Baroque period if not of all time. His work, Messiah, is one of the most famous and beloved works of music in the world. During his career in music, Handel composed Italian cantatas, oratorios (like Messiah), Latin Church Music, and several operas. Handel moved around from country to country writing, composing, and producing music for royalty such as Queen Anne and George of Hanover. In his life, Handel mastered several instruments including the violin and the harpsichord.
Hamilton the musical written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, introduces a new spin on the classic American tale. By comprising a cast of actors of different ethnicities, Miranda was able to bring a story about dead old white men and revitalize it to reflect the changing times of the current world, essentially giving the story a new sense of life. He was aware of the struggles of minorities, particularly immigrants, and wrote the musical to dedicate to and inspire those people. The unique perspective presented by the musical is that the stories of the beginning of America are not just for white Americans, but all Americans from all sorts of ethnic backgrounds. This appeals to a contemporary audience because it reflects the socioeconomic and political
Music + Meaning Translated across many forms of media, William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet has long gripped the hearts of audiences around the world. Its many adaptations have made it readily available in a range of forms. Baz Lurhmann’s William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet is one example of a film bringing the story of Romeo and Juliet to a new generation. Originally met with hesitation, Lurhmann’s film was deemed a pop culture remake of the classic story.
It is as though each part of the orchestra was in their own dance and joining other pieces of the orchestra to create the music as a whole. Each part of the orchestra competing to be center stage fleeting back and forth combining their pieces of music together to make this large unravel deep message. Yet, as always the timpani is what kept everything in line, and with the help of the bass supporting the timpani, the timpani was able to keep the rhythm for the rest of the orchestra to understand the stages of Spring. The bass would be the supporting piece to the timpani through the performance. This shows the true mind of Stravinsky. The music is as though it is a heart. Each vale beating to their own piece coming together like the bass beating as one. I honestly believe his is the heart of all Stravinsky's
For this concert report I chose to go to a performance of student composers held at the Kimball Recital Hall. I chose this one because I wanted to see some of the talent that my peers have in the music realm, and also it was one of the only concerts I have been able to attend because I usually work at night. It was impressive to hear pieces composed by students. I cannot imagine creating something as complex as a musical composition, much less actually performing it, so this aspect of the concert was particularly awe-inspiring. There was a large attendance, and I think that much of the audience consisted of friends of the composers and/or performers. I went with three friends, who I convinced by telling it would be interesting to see student composers.