Two Lectures on the Genius of Handel; And the Distinctive Character of His Sacred Compositions (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1862 Excerpt: ...are perhaps so well known; and yet such are its transcendent qualities that it seems to rise in majesty and grandeur with every repetition. It has been by many considered the master-piece of Handel, the master-piece of musical skill and science. It is essentially a hymn of praise, a song of highest adoration. The words are from the Book of Revelations, and are as follows: --"Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever, King of kings, and Lord of lords, Hallelujah " Now, I would first remark upon these sublime words as set to Handel's sublime music, that the chorus is essentially a Hallelujah chorus. That one great object of the composer throughout, is to express and to repeat that sacred exclamation, the meaning of which, in the Hebrew, is literally, "Praise the Lord," or "Praise to the Lord." Accordingly, there are, as it were, two parties in the chorus, we might perhaps say two choirs, --the one pouring out the words of adoring praise, the other keeping up, as it were, the burthen of the sacred song, "Hallelujah Hallelujah for ever and for ever;" both, however, at times uniting their voices in expressing the highest act of adoration, and forming a conjoint expression of grateful praise. I am so strongly impressed with this idea of the construction of the chorus, that I have often wondered Handel had not adopted here the regular double chorus, as he has so often done in "Saul," "Israel in Egypt," and other oratorios; but, for some reason or another, few of the choruses in the "Messiah" are double. Now, we should bear these remarks in mind, as we listen to the chorus, ...