Part 1, scene v, no. 19 Recitative: Isaiah 35:5-6
Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ear of the deaf unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing.
This is a short dry recitative, but it makes a big statement. In a few short lines, Isaiah tells us that the Great Physician is coming and he will heal un-healable ailments. Even in our day, blind people do not suddenly see, deaf people do not suddenly hear. There is no “fix” for these things. But an itinerant preacher in a backwater outpost of the Roman Empire did fix blindness and deafness. He told people with severe spinal chord injuries to stand up, and not only did they stand but they leapt, jumping and dancing. Mute people were given the ability not just to communicate, but to sing!
Isaiah tells us to expect the miraculous.
We don’t expect the miraculous much anymore. When something extraordinary happens we try to find reasons. Our postmodern world has lost the ability to wonder, to stand in awe, to accept what we can’t explain. This might be the biggest loss of our time. If we can’t see the miraculous, we can’t see God.
Because it is secco recitative, accompanied only by cello and harpsichord, the notation for the accompaniment would have been a single bass line with numbers written above it as a guide for the keyboard player to improvise. I love what the harpsichordist does after the phrase “leap as an hart.” He gives a little flourish so that we can hear the leaping.
Handel wrote two versions of this recit, one for soprano and the one we hear here which is more commonly done, for alto. He frequently would rewrite music based on the singers and orchestra he had available. The aria that follows this recit also has two versions, so you use whichever recit goes with the aria version you are using.
The miraculous still happens. Let’s look for it.
