The Messiah: A Frame Without a Picture

by Adam Barnes


Most people easily recognize the “Hallelujah” chorus of Handel’s Oratorio “The Messiah.” It has been used in countless television and radio commercials to advertise everything from fast food to luxury automobiles. Those anthemic acclamations of praise are often heard in the soundtrack of films to announce an attractive person’s entrance to a scene or when all hope seems lost, but “miraculously” a key twist in the plot rights things for the protagonist. That climactic melody is very effective in eliciting certain emotions of hope and joy from the listener. (Also, it’s use is public domain so no one has to pay royalties). However, if the average person (likely even the average church-goer) heard any other excerpt from Handel’s work, it is doubtful that they could readily identify it. Like many things in popular culture, it has become an icon out of context.

George Frideric Handel composed the music for “The Messiah” with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and from the Psalms included with the Book of Common Prayer in 1741. It was first performed in Dublin in 1742 and received its London premiere nearly a year later. After an initially modest public reception, the oratorio gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western Music. Although its structure resembles that of opera, it is not in dramatic form; there are no impersonations of characters and very little direct speech. Instead, Jennens’s text is an extended reflection on Jesus Christ as Messiah. There are 3 parts, all declarations. It begins with the prophecies of The Old Testament, foretelling of Christ’s coming, and affirming man’s need for a savior. Part 2 tells the Gospel, from the Angels declaring to shepherds of the Messiah’s arrival to the Passion week and Crucifixion. Part 3 tells of Resurrection and Glorification. Throughout the text is a common theme proclaimed by a chorus, just as all of scripture points to one God and His plan for salvation. Here is where the “Hallelujah Chorus” proclaims God’s Glory in a fitting context.

Handel wrote Messiah for modest vocal and instrumental arrangements with optional settings for many of the individual numbers. Usually with only 20-30 choral members and a small string ensemble, with brass being reserved for only the climaxes of movements. In the years after his death, the work was adapted for performance on a much larger scale, with giant orchestras and choirs. In other efforts to update it, its orchestration was revised and amplified by (among others) Mozart. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the trend has been towards reproducing a greater fidelity to Handel’s original intentions. A remnant of scholars who “get it” have sought to find the greater meaning in this composition.

Similar to Holy Scripture itself, when taken out of context, the power and meaning is lost. There can be no Hallelujah without realizing the depths of our own depravity and the need for a Messiah. As much of our culture encourages us to download and subtract, taking in only sound bites and single mp3s, let us slow down. Read the whole book, listen to the whole album, find time and space to acknowledge the enormity of the Universe and that its Creator reached out to find you. In the most humble of ways, He sent a baby who became a man and died so that we might live. Hallelujah!