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.