2. George Frideric Handel
 Born in Germany 1685
 Went to Italy in his 20s
 Returned to Germany and became court conductor for
Prince Elector of Hanover
 Moved to London. Then Prince Elector of Hanover
became George 1st of Britain so Handel composed for
him again
 Generally made his living from composing operas and
oratorios
 Died in London 1789

3. Sacred and Secular music
 Sacred – has a religious aspect. Can be
Mass, Requiem, Chorale, Oratorio or Cantata.
 Secular – non religious. Can be Opera or Cantata.

4. Features of Baroque Music
 Tonal
 Use of ornamentation
 Mainly string orchestra
 Use of basso continuo
 Terraced dynamics

5. Messiah
 An oratorio
 Written in 3 weeks in the summer of 1741
 Words set by Charles Jennens. Mainly from the
prophecies of the Messiah in the Old Testament of
King James’ Bible.
 First performed in Dublin 13 April 1742
 First performed in London in the Covent Garden
Theatre. The audience doubted of presenting such a
subject in the theatre was a good idea. But eventually
this became the most famous of all major choral work.

6. An oratorio
 Large scale orchestral work
 Biblical subject for concert performance (like an opera
but sacred music not secular)
 Handel’s were often poetic versions of dramatic stories
In oratorios there were:
 Arias – vocal solo with orchestral accompaniment
 Recitative – like a spoken song. Tells a story and
rhythm is like normal speech
 Chorus – sung by the choir . Usually SATB.

7. First Performance in Dublin 13th
April 1742
 No more than 16 singers and 10 string players
 The altos were counter altos – male altos – who used a
technique called falsetto to get the high notes.
 The pitch was a semitone lower than today.
 The recording tries to imitate this performance.

8. ‘And the Glory of the Lord’
 The fourth movement.
 First chorus.
 After a tenor aria and before a bass recitative
 4 motifs based on the four phrases:
 And the glory of the Lord
 Shall be revealed
 And all flesh shall see it together
 For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it

9. Metre
 This is in ¾ simple triple time
 The triple metre makes I dance like so it sounds joyful
Tempo
 Allegro – fast, sounds joyful
 Last four bars are marked Adagio. This is only
intended to be a little slower than allegro (which is
what it is in the recording). It helps create a grand
ending.

10. Tonality
 Begins in bright and joyful key of A major.
 Starts to change in bar 22 to E major – the dominant –
with the appearances of D#.
 It then returns to A major in bar 37. E major is briefly
passed through in bar 63 before the piece moves
swiftly to B major – the dominant of the dominant.
 The piece then returns on its journey the way it wen
and it goes back to E major in bar 93 then A major in
bar 105.
 It stays in A from then onwards.

11. Harmony
 The voices are in harmony . There is no dissonance.
 At the end of the introduction, there is a perfect
cadence to mark it.
 Perfect cadences are used o confirm the changes of
keys eg. bars 37 – 38 a perfect cadence in E major.
 Handel makes the last of chord of one section the first
of the next so that a sense of energy is achieved.
 The piece ends in a plagal cadence so it sounds like a
grand ‘Amen’.

12. Melody
 Each motif has its distinctive melody
 Motif A: leaps to outline A major. Ends with the last 3
notes of an ascending A major scale. This movement
from low A to high A creates a surge of confidence.
 Motif B : a smooth descending outline. Has a
sequence.
 Motif C: A repeated figure spanning the interval of E
and A.
 Motif D: mostly on the same pitch, combined with the
rhythm creates a solemn chant.

13. Rhythm
 Like melody, the rhythm for each motif is different.
 Motif A: simple rhythm, with a dotted crotchet- quaver
rhythm in the second bar
 Motif B: dotted rhythm sequence
 Motif C: a repeated crotchet quaver, quaver, crotchet figure.
 Motif D: contains long dotted crotchets, expressing
seriousness of the words.
 Hemiolas are used at cadences eg. Bar 9 – 10
 There is a general pause before the last phrase for
effectiveness

14. Texture
 Alternates between homophonic and contrapuntal.
 Motif A is sung by altos then repeated by the whole choir
homophonically.
 Handel contrasts the opening homophonic texture by
creating a contrapuntal one in bar 22 where the tenors
enter with motif A whilst the others continue with motif B.
 Motifs are often combined in counterpoint to create a
complex contrapuntal texture.
 Another technique used by Handel to vary texture is by
using different combinations of voices. Eg. Bar 108 – 110
where the sopranos are on their own so that their highest
note – A – is exposed.
 Ends homophonic so it sounds ‘grand’.

15. Structure
 All based around the 4 motifs
 Begins with introduction – bars 1-10
 Then the entry of motif A and B – bars 11-8
 After the piece modulates to E major there is a ritornello in
E major – bars 38-42
 It then introduces motif C and D – bars 43-73
 There is another ritornello for 3 bars (73-75)
 Then there is a long section of 57 bars which the choir
sings
 There is a general pause before the Adagio bars, which is
the ‘grand ending’

16. Dynamics
 They were originally not marked.
 Terraced dynamics are used as instruments then did
not have a great dynamic range.
 The only dynamics are f and p
Instruments
 String orchestra.
 Basso continuo: cello and chamber organ.