Handel, Messiah – For Unto Us a Child Is Born

If you followed Professor Carol’s Advent Calendar this year, you know that we remain in the middle of the Christmas season. It’s the 8th day of Christmas – maids a’milking and all that.

Handel’s Messiah is frequently performed during the Christmas season, although much of the oratorio is built around the Christ’s Passion and Resurrection.

The oratorio form became popular in the Baroque era as a substitute for opera during Lent. The opera houses were closed during the penitential season. Opera season took place in the weeks preceding Carnival or Mardi gras. Oratorios were dramatic, but not staged. The drama consisted of a text that told a biblical story, usually from the Old Testament. It had characters, although the singers were not in costume and the work was presented in a concert format. And so audiences had musical performances in keeping with Lent, and opera composers and musicians had employment.

Messiah is surely one of the best known oratorios, but it is atypical because it has no characters and presents no dialogue.

This performance conducted by Sir Colin Davis uses a relatively small orchestra (London Symphony) and choir (Tenebrae). The massive resources frequently assembled for a performance of Messiah are really not in keeping with the performance practices of the time. You should find the clarity and precision of a smaller ensemble much more satisfying than mere bigness.