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Messiah – Part 1, Scene iv: The appearance of the Angels to the Shepherds

Part 1, scene iv, nos. 14a and 14b Recitative: Luke 2:8-9

“There were shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.”

There is only one short section in Messiah that is actual narrative; it tells a story. There are four recitatives, two pairs, and a chorus that are taken from the book of Luke and tell of the appearance of the angel to the shepherds. One could argue this whole scene, beginning with Pifa, is the only section that truly follows the format of Handel’s other oratorios. Handel wrote somewhere between 25 and 29 oratorios, depending on how they are categorized, and most were drawn from Old Testament or Apochryphal stories. Aside from a greater role for chorus, and being in English, Handel’s oratorios resembled his operas. Recitative was meant to move the plot line forward, and arias were reserved for emotional moments or commentary on the action. But the other oratorios told an actual dramatic story.

The whole of scene iv could, theoretically, be staged, and I’ve seen a few unfortunate attempts at it. This is the Christmas story as we know it, the one that Linus quotes in the Charlie Brown Christmas special. I’m not sure why it is that the announcement to the shepherds has so impressed itself of the Christian psyche, but maybe it is because they were so ordinary. These guys were nobodies, and if they are the first witnesses to the King of Kings, maybe he is also for me, a nobody.

These recitatives follow a dry -accompanied, dry – accompanied pairing. The first two, which we are looking at today, begin with a pedal point on a C in the bass, and a simple statement of fact by the soprano: “There were shepherds..” It is short and plain. Only two chords appear over the course of four measures. The music is fairly static. The scene is set: nothing much is happening.

Suddenly, the strings enter with broken ascending sixteenth note arpeggios which create a magical shimmering moment. “And lo, an angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.”

Two contrasting recitatives in eleven short measures effectively convey the mundane and the majestic, the ordinary and the extraordinary.

Messiah – Part 1, Scene iv: The appearance of the Angels to the Shepherds

Part 1, scene iv, no. 13 Interlude: Pifa

After the joyful ebullience of For unto us a child is born, Handel lowers and raises the curtain on a new scene. One of only two instrumental pieces in the whole of Messiah, the Pastoral Symphony or Pifa introduces a quiet night in the fields outside of Bethlehem. Using a rocking compound rhythm known as a sicilienne or a type of music played by Sicilian shepherds., this sweet lullaby is scored senza ripieno, or without the full orchestra, using only a small group of strings. Most performances we hear today ignore that marking, probably because it is so beautiful everyone wants to play!

I’d always wanted to know what Pifa meant, so I did what any uninformed and curious person does – I searched the web. There was surprisingly not a lot of information on this. I had to go down a rabbit hole and one thing led to another. From what I pieced together, this made the most sense: the Italian word pifferaio means “piper or one who plays the bagpipes.” A piffero was a double reed antecedent to the oboe, and was frequently played with the zampogna or a type of bagpipe. Originally, these were rustic instruments but over time Pifferi (or those who play the pipes) provided music for important occasions. Handel, who had spent a fair amount of time in Italy, doubtless knew about this musical custom.

And yet he includes no wind instruments in his scoring of Pifa, just strings and continuo. He gives us the feel of the bagpipe by using a pedal point or drone in the bass. This soft lullaby is meant to tell us that a baby has been born, but an important one, as well as lull the shepherds and sheep to sleep in the cold hills. Handel uses a da capo format or ABA form, most commonly used in arias. The repetition of the first section soothes the listener even further as it is frequently played much softer on the return.

We hear in this recording a very small group of instrumentalists, much like would have been used in Handel’s day, but with some liberties taken. In the repeat of the A section, this recording uses an oboe and bassoon which is not in the original score, but I think enhances the idea of a bagpipe.

Learning about the pifferi has changed how I listen to this piece. I’ve always thought it was lovely, but somewhat dull, thrown into the middle of a masterpiece. Knowing the deeper meaning of what Pifa means completely changes this. I can hear the pipes, I can hear the Sicilienne, and I can hear the monotony of sitting night after night in the hills outside of Bethlehem guarding a flock of stupid sheep. To know that the pifferi announced great things, and that the greatest announcement of all time is prefaced to sleepy shepherds by a sweet lullaby, allows me to hear the subtle irony Handel infuses into this piece.

The extraordinary is masked within the ordinary, and I miss it because I don’t know what I am hearing.

Messiah – Part 1, Scene iii: The prophecy of the Virgin Birth

Part 1, scene iii, no. 12 Chorus: Isaiah 9:6

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulders: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.”

Outside of the Hallelujah chorus, this is arguably the most well-known movement of Messiah and for good reason. Handel pulls out all the stops for this chorus. We are given a delightful initial subject for the fugue’s exposition. It is just about perfect in its execution. This is a theme that sticks in one’s head and leaves one whistling it. And it almost needs to be whistled – this is not really a humming subject – it is dance-like and ebullient. Handel brings the whole chorus together to proclaim the names this child will be called: Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace while the violins dance in sixteenth notes about a dotted eighth rhythm in the bass. You will remember that the dotted eighth rhythm was used to usher in a king.

This is the birthday of the King and Handel gives us suitable music for such an event!

What many people don’t know was that Handel borrowed this subject from a duet he had written earlier the same year. This was common practice in his time, to rework material he had used elsewhere. Considering Messiah was written in about three weeks this makes sense, although it was not unusual for Handel to compose large works in short amounts of time. This chorus has become far more famous than its antecedent, so I, for one, am glad Handel reused it!

The text is a grand reminder and comforting, particularly now: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” Let’s fix our hope on that.

Messiah – Part 1, Scene iii: The prophecy of the Virgin Birth

Part 1, scene iii, no. 11 Air: Isaiah 9:2

“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.”

The contrast in the text informs the composition of this bass aria. Handel fluctuates between modalities based on dark and light. He begins the work in b minor – dark and ominous – and uses the minor mode whenever the text is about darkness and the shadow of death. The melody also meanders around the key center using many accidentals and dissonant intervals.

When the text shifts to the light, Handel moves to the major mode and uses a chordal melody that reinforces the key center and mostly ascends.

Giving this aria to the bass must have been a no-brainer for Handel. Basses almost always play the villain – there is something about a bass voice that can seem more menacing than the other voice parts. But when a bass uses the top of his voice well it shines.

I must confess that I’ve never cared for this aria and I think perhaps Handel didn’t mean for us to. Darkness is frightening, unsettling. There is no way to gauge where you are. Until light illuminates the path you cannot find your way and are destined to meander around. But when the light shines, the path becomes clear. When there is light, there are still shadows, but they retreat under the noonday sun. The light does not eliminate the shadow, but it becomes less scary.

Death has always seemed to me more bleak and heavy when it happens in the winter. Grief is hard enough to bear when there is light, but in the darkness and cold it is oppressive, settling in around us and making it nearly impossible to find our way. When the light shines, so does hope. The light doesn’t eradicate grief, but it makes the shadows retreat at least a little. We still live in the shadow of death, we still walk in darkness, but a light has shone and shows us the way.

Messiah – Part 1, Scene iii: The prophecy of the Virgin Birth

Part 1, scene iii, no. 10 Accompagnato: Isaiah 60:2-3

“For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.”

This recitative begins ominously, with the strings wandering blindly and steadily around the key of b minor. The listener can feel the despair and oppression, the darkness weighs heavily.

The bass enters with “For behold, darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people.” In this performance, the bass is not making a proclamation, something we expect when we hear the word behold. Rather, he enters gently and with trepidation. This makes the move to D major feel more like a dawning of hope. “But the Lord shall arise” is presented in this new key and Handel uses a steady climbing in the vocal line to paint the coming light. “And his glory” is given to us in a gloriously held dominant chord before it descends from on high so that it “shall be seen upon thee.”

Then Isaiah gives us one of the most shocking statements of prophecy given to the Jewish nation, “and the Gentiles shall come to thy light.” Handel moves us here to a new and unexpected key of F# major – a key associated with the soul that has deeply struggled and triumphed. (Christian Schubart, Ideen zu einer Aesthetik der Tonkunst 1806)

The final phrase of the prophecy, “and kings to the brightness of thy rising,” is given a high note on kings and descends like the sun’s rays to end on an ascending perfect fourth on the word rising.

There is so much packed into this short recitative, I hardly know where to start. It just occurred to me, right now, that perhaps the final line of this prophecy may refer to the Magi that followed the bright star. We refer to the wise men as kings, even though we don’t know that they were. Just a thought.

Doesn’t this piece feel appropriate for our time? It feels like we are covered with darkness, even gross darkness. The darkness of pandemic, and politics, and injustice. So often we seem to be blindly staggering around with no clear light at the end of the tunnel. Isaiah’s prophecy, which I believe to be as true now as it was pre-Christ, promises that the LORD shall arise with light upon us and we shall see his glory. This is hope that I cling to in these dark days.

Messiah – Part 1, Scene iii: The prophecy of the Virgin Birth

Part 1, scene iii, no. 9 Air and Chorus: Isaiah 40:9; 60:1

“O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain: O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.”

This is one of my favorite movements in Messiah. It is full of restrained jubilance. Handel sets this movement in a ritornello form so the motivic material is clear and evident. The key is D major which is considered triumphant in the Baroque doctrine of affections which links tonal centers with different emotions, but he keeps the orchestration simpler than most triumphal pieces – there are no trumpets or timpani. D major is also one of the most accessible keys for string players and allows those instruments to sparkle. Handel uses a compound duple meter which gives a dance-like quality.

All of this adds up to a piece of great joy mixed with anticipation. The text is telling the bearers of good news, of the God-spell or gospel, to get as high up as they can and point to the coming Messiah. “Oh thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up!” He is approaching, the Bridegroom is coming. “Behold your God!”

This particular performance was a new one for me, and I love it. The tempo is faster than we usually hear it, but more in keeping with the excitement of the music. While English is clearly not the singer’s first language, her interpretation was universal – this is a message for all people. She sings the text with lightness and expectancy. The orchestra creates stunning contrasts between the high motivic material, and the tidings being shared with the low notes. Listen carefully to what the orchestra does when she sings “Behold your God.” There is a moment of awe and wonder.

When the chorus enters at the end of the aria, they maintain the same sense of expectancy. They echo the message of joy.

“Arise, shine, for thy light is come.”

Messiah – Part 1, Scene iii: The prophecy of the Virgin Birth

Part 1, scene iii, no. 8 Recitative: Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23

“Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel, GOD WITH US.”

This is the first recitativo secco, or dry recitative, Handel uses in Messiah. Secco recitativo is characterized by the speech-like rhythm of the music and the use of basso continuo to accompany the voice. Basso continuo was the most common type of accompaniment in baroque music. It consisted of a bass instrument and a harmony instrument, in this case cello and harpsichord, that improvised above a bass line called figured bass. The composer would write JUST the bass line with some “figures” – numbers or accidental markings. The bass instrument would play the bass line and the harmony instrument would be used to “realize” the figured bass, or improvise a chordal accompaniment using the composer’s shorthand. In dry recitative, the harmonic motion tends to be slow and that is what we find here.

The text is intended to be the most important part of secco recitative. Baroque opera composers, of which Handel was one of the greatest, used dry recit to move the story forward, reserving the arias for emotional commentary. “Behold, a virgin shall conceive” serves this purpose, and yet Handel imbues it with dignity and purpose beyond the simplicity of the music. This is a crucial part of the story. Handel states that in clear syllabic text (one note per syllable). This is a proclamation of highest import.

It is, isn’t it? Only one virgin has ever borne a child. This is miraculous in every way possible. I’ve often wondered about Mary. Just last night I heard a talk by one of our pastors on this very topic. Her point was not that the virgin conception was miraculous and mysterious. It was that Mary was so young. The word virgin in biblical context tells us that. Girls were married off fairly early, and while Mary was engaged, she was not yet with her husband. She was probably 13 or 14, at the high end MAYBE 16. Once she hit puberty, it was time. The betrothal for a virgin lasted between 10 months and a year.

The point Kris made about Mary’s youth is that she was still young enough to believe in possibilities, in dreams. It was, perhaps, easier to accept that such a thing could happen, and she was young enough, perhaps, not to fully understand the consequences of this pregnancy outside of marriage.

Mary was also betrothed to a good man. When he found out she was pregnant, he could have had her stoned which would have saved his reputation. He knew the child wasn’t his, but who else would believe that? At best, people would have assumed they had been intimate outside of marriage – a shameful act in their society – and at worst, he had been cuckolded. Yet Joseph, even before the angelic visit, makes the decision to end things quietly. He is also a godly man. When the angel appears and tells him the truth, he recognizes this prophecy. He believes the angel and names the child Jesus, “for he will save the people from their sins.” Matthew 1: 21

Emmanuel. God with us.

Messiah – Part 1, Scene ii: The prophecy of the coming of Messiah and the question, despite (i), of what this may portend for the World

Part 1, scene ii, no. 7 Chorus: Malachi 3:3

“And he shall purify the sons of Levi, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.”

The fugue is arguably the most beloved form of Baroque composers – it certainly was of Bach! But Handel also employed fugues and this is the first one we see in Messiah.

Texture in music can be defined as how the individual musical lines are put together. Monophonic is unison – when everyone is singing and/or playing the same note at the same time. Homophonic is probably the most common in our day – when there is a clear melody that is accompanied by a chordal structure – think of a hymn or a pop song. The final texture is polyphony – when each individual line of music has an interesting melody that is layered one atop the other.

The fugue is a specific type of polyphony. It uses points of imitation that then spin off into free counterpoint, but the entrance of each individual voice is the same thematic material. The first time the theme is presented it is called the subject, and we usually hear it in its entirety. This is certainly true of “And he shall purify.” The sopranos immediately present us with the fugue theme in the key of g minor which establishes “home.” Before they are quite done, the basses begin the theme but this time in the dominant of g minor, d minor. This is called the answer – it is strict imitation, but starts on a different note. The altos also come in on the dominant – this is slightly unusual but not unheard of in a fugue – usually we would hear the theme again in the tonic key – but Handel gives that to us in the next entrance with the tenors. So now we have a scheme that goes subject – answer – answer – subject, and every voice has presented the theme once in its entirety. This time, however, he lets the tenors continue with a countersubject on the text “the sons of Levi.” A countersubject is a second theme that will only be heard in conjunction with the first theme.

After this initial presentation by all the voices of the theme, we get an episode of different music. In this case, Handel uses a homophonic and homorhythmic declamation of the text: “that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” The homophonic texture sets this text apart as a group exercise, the offering is from the people, as opposed to the purifying which is from the Lord.

Following the episode, we hear the fugal subject again, but not in its completeness, and passed through various keys before the tenors kick it off one last time quickly followed by one voice after another, layering theme on theme until all voices come together homophonically at the end.

The fugue is a very intellectual form of music. It requires the listener to pay attention carefully; to learn the theme and then listen for each presentation of it. The term fugue comes from the Italian word fuga which means “to fly” or “to escape.” You can certainly hear that in this fugue as the voices fly and chase each other throughout, only pausing long enough to bring an offering to the Lord.

In so many ways, I find myself flying from purification. Being purified isn’t an easy process – remember the refiner’s fire? Handel’s use of a fugue to set this text is certainly ironic and yet completely apropos. We try to fly or escape from the Lord, when we should be flying to Him. Only when we have been purified, caught by the Lord, can we bring an offering as one who is right with God. Maybe that is what Handel really meant by this fugue.

Messiah – Part 1, Scene ii: The prophecy of the coming of Messiah and the question, despite (i), of what this may portend for the World

Part 1, scene ii, no. 6 Air: Malachi 3:2

“But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire.”

“But who may abide the day of his coming?” begins in a slow lilting triple meter in the key of d minor. Key selection was important to Baroque composers because they felt that inward emotions could be conveyed by outward signs and that music could be used to invoke specific emotions. In this case the key of d minor signified something serious. What could be more serious than contemplating the day of judgement?

Handel interrupts this contemplative section by changing key, meter, and tempo. He bursts into a fiery, fast, almost frantic depiction of the text that leaves the singer and listener breathless. Handel also indicates the contrasts of forte and piano, which was uncommon in his era. It was generally assumed the performer was clever enough to figure it out, but clearly it was important to Handel that his dynamic markings be followed closely in this section. We hear the crackling and fluctuations of an intense fire.

He repeats these two sections in an abbreviated format allowing us to contemplate both the dread AND fear of judgement. But we aren’t left without hope – the refiner’s fire is not intended to consume everything, only the dross leaving the pure gold at the end. While unpleasant, it leaves the final product perfect and pure.

I love this recording from 1987 featuring Robert Shaw conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and featuring Marietta Simpson as the alto soloist. Her stillness and accuracy is breathtaking. She sings this intense solo with dignity and strength. My senior year in college I had the privilege of singing the St. Matthew Passion under the direction of Maestro Shaw, and I can attest to his attention to the detail and intention of the composer as well as his immense musicality. He would conduct staring at his left shoelace, but if something wasn’t as he wanted it, his head would shoot up and piercing blue eyes would immediately find the source of the problem. His ear for the music was impeccable. I learned so much in the short time we had with him about the importance of freedom of expression within the boundaries of what the composer wrote – accuracy was important but so was emotional context.

This is a good life lesson.

Maybe we are living within a refiner’s fire now. So many things we deemed important are being stripped away leaving us with what truly matters. Maybe the end result will be worth the current discomfort.

Messiah – Part 1, Scene ii: The prophecy of the coming of Messiah and the question, despite (i), of what this may portend for the World

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.