Music at Christmas

At the top of the list—Handel’s Messiah. By the German-born, naturalized British citizen, George Frideric Handel (1685-1759). It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742. Continued to be performed. Still, as we know, is. Often.

I listen to this oratorio all through the year. The thing about this music is that there are some of the most uplifting passages and some of the saddest—all in the same piece of music. In the exalted category, well, to name three, “Every valley shall be exalted,” “For unto us a child is born” and “I know that my Redeemer liveth.”

And, of course, the iconic “Hallelujah!” chorus that makes everyone feel they’re two inches higher.

Messiah isn’t just the story of the birth of Jesus but of his death as well. It’s sung both at Christmas and Easter, and sometimes it’s abridged to suit the particular holy day. Handel’s music is sublime, but the great choice he made was to have his words, the lyrics, taken from the Bible. From both the Old and New Testaments. (There is an actual credited librettist, but I’m still trying to figure out what he wrote.) Many of the most stirring passages are taken from the Old Testament. Isaiah is heavily drawn upon. Whatever your beliefs, if you love language, you can be uplifted by these words. “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill made low; the crooked straight and the rough places plain” can move an atheist as well as a believer.

And Messiah—everywhere I search it’s never referred to as The Messiah—has some of the most movingly sad music, too.

“He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” This is Jesus, alone, scorned, ridiculed. “…a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” You can’t write much better than that. In the Bible, the language is never just about dispensing information. The Bible, at its highest level, is poetry, as anyone knows who has read the 23rd Psalm. This is language that, even without Handel, is music. “But who may abide the day of His coming…” Add great music and—shazam.

What better choral/opera/oratorio is there in English? Can you think of another piece of music, for soloists, orchestra and chorus, sung in English, that can stand up to the Italian, French and German efforts? Listening to the chorus sing, “For unto us a child is born,” I hear male and female voices balanced, in counterpoint, playing off one another with equal force and effect. I feel not just stirred but optimistic for all of us.

I read somewhere that Beethoven, an admirer of Handel’s, said something to the effect that no one did more with less. I feel with Handel that he used every ounce of his talent and capability. That there was nothing left to draw on. He didn’t squander a thing. With Messiah you can hear—and if you see it live, see—how well made it is. He may have been born German, but Handel knew how to set English words to music.

I see that there is a new book out by Charles King, Every Valley: The Desperate Lives and Troubled Times That Made Handel’s “Messiah.” It was reviewed in the New York Times by the composer John Adams. I look forward to reading it. Yesterday a friend sent me a link to a (paywalled, alas) article in The Atlantic by Jan Swafford titled, “The Genius of Handel’s Messiah.” There’s so much I don’t know about Handel and his Messiah.

I listen to Messiah in July. I listen to it in October. In season and out of season. It’s not just a wonderful piece of holiday music. It’s wonderful music, period.

Have a great holiday.