Music used: New Novello Choral "Watkins Shaw" edition: ISBN 0-85360-211-5

These are the sound files to help you practice at home - they are organised in sections of the work but large pieces of orchestra or solo have been cut out to save me the task of punching it all into my PC!. I'm not guaranteeing that they are 100% correct but consider finding any errors as part of the learning process (have I covered myself with that?). The soprano, alto, tenor and bass versions have got those parts highlighted. They are all midi files you can download by clicking on the icon. I've included all the choruses for anybody who wants to use this facility after we've finished with it.

NOTE - Page numbers refer to the New Novello Choral "Watkins Shaw" edition: ISBN 0-85360-211-5

PCs - right click the icon and "save target as" - but remember where you saved it to!

If you have a request of what you would like and it's not available (such as slower, faster or just a part on its own) either tell me at a rehearsal or email me on this link - windy999@lineone.net

Recommended Recordings

Academy & Chorus of St Martin-in-the-fields - Neville Marriner Decca 444 824-2 (Good all-round recording)

The English Concert & Choir - Trevor Pinnock Archiv Produktion 423 630-2 (A collectors item)

04 And the Glory of the Lord
07 And He Shall Purify p35
09 O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion p41
12 For Unto Us a Child is Born p55
17 Glory to God in the Highest p68
21 His Yoke is Easy p86
22 Behold the Lamb of God p91
24 Surely He Hath Borne Our Grief p98
25 And With His Stripes p102
26 All We Like Sheep Have Gone Astray p106
28 He Trusted in God p115
33a Lift Up Your Heads (Start)
33b Lift Up Your Heads (Fugue)
35 Let all the Angels of God worship Him
37 The Lord Gave the Word p146
39 Their Sound is Gone Out
44 Hallelujah Chorus p171
46 Since By Man Came Death p186
51 But Thanks Be to God p199
53 Worthy is the Lamb p217

Lyrics

Programme Notes

Handel’s Messiah (please note the lack of any “The”) is not so much a piece of music than a monument of western civilisation. There are very few people who do not know some part of this work and if people only know one piece of it chances are it’ll be the Hallelujah! Chorus.

A popular piece for amateur choirs from around the world Messiah was the idea of Handel’s friend and amateur musician Charles Jennings who took text from all over the Bible to tell the story of Jesus’ life. It was first performed on 13th April, 1742 in Neale’s Music Hall in Dublin in aid of local charities. It was so well-received and the audiences so large that a notice was published in the local papers asking the ladies, “…come without Hoops, as it will greatly increase the Charity by making room for more company”.

Messiah is unique amongst Handel’s oratorios in using direct quotations from the Bible (the Authorised English Bible of 1611) instead of heavily edited versions of Old Testament epic stories.
Part One of Messiah acts as a prologue with the opening section using Old Testament prophesies of the coming of the Messiah while the second section tells of His birth and the promises of His miraculous powers.

Part Two catalogues the events around Jesus’ Crucifixion and Resurrection from His suffering at the beginning of the section to the joy of His Resurrection – the Hallelujah Chorus. It is traditional to stand in this chorus. This tradition is said to have started with King George I who, depending on which version of the story you believe was, a) so impressed with the chorus that he rose to his feet in salutation or, b) it sounded like the end of Messiah so he got up to leave! Whatever the reason when the monarch rose to their feet so did everybody else.

The text for Part Three is taken mainly from St Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians and Revelations to tell of Christ’s second coming and the banishment of death. The whole piece ending with the rousing “Worthy is the Lamb” chorus.

Written for a relatively small chorus of about twenty Messiah grew and grew. At Handel’s memorial service in 1784 the chorus consisted of 275 singers – then the largest number of singers ever assembled for a single performance (they were accompanied by 250 musicians). By 1859 this had grown to 2,765 singers for the Great Handel Commemoration Festival and to a staggering 10,000 singers for Boston's Grand National Celebration of Peace in 1869 (accompanied by 500 musicians).
To list the popular sections of Messiah here would mean reproducing the programme running order from the front page, so popular is it in the repertoire of so many musical societies around the world.