Part 1, scene ii, no. 5 Recitative: Haggai 2:6-7 & Malachi 3:1
“Thus saith the Lord, the Lord of Hosts; yet once, a little while, and I will shake the heav’ns, and the earth, the sea, and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come; the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, ev’n the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.”
Handel begins this accompanied recitative with the orchestra rhythmically outlining a D minor chord and a proclamation “thus saith the Lord” by the bass in stentorian tones. It’s a little scary. The listener is meant to sit up and take notice.
But then suddenly the modality switches to the relative major key of F. It’s as if, now that he has our attention, Handel switches to an exciting secret. The bass word-paints “shakes” but in major – and it feels light-hearted – almost a jolly laugh. The bass sings a few more of these belly-laughs (like a bowlful of jelly?) and then the high strings start to build the excitement with repeated sixteenth notes. The low strings add an ascending bass line that walks up the C scale – the dominant of F – and creates a sense of anticipation. This shaking isn’t meant to fill us with dread, but to wake us up – with the longest coloratura passage on the word “desire.” The desire of all nations is coming! Wake up!
After a strong cadence in F major, there is another quick switch. In a declamatory forte, the strings use a dotted-rhythm to introduce the secco or dry recitative – a recitative in which the orchestra only punctuates the text. The dotted rhythm was frequently linked to the processional of royalty – Lully used it in all of his French ouvertures, designed to get Louis XIV into the room – and composers all over Europe adopted it. Handel uses it here in the secco recitative in which the herald announces the King: “The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple…” But the herald is gentler in this section, this is a benevolent Lord, one in whom we delight.
