‘MESSIAH,’ NOT JUST FOR CHRISTMAS?
Among the great winter holiday traditions, both old and new, lies one highly honored in the world of classical music — the sacred oratorio “Messiah,” written by composer George Frideric Handel in 1741.
Despite the popularity of Holiday Pops concerts featuring medleys of recognizable Yuletide carols, Handel’s “Messiah” remains a universal rite, awing audiences worldwide.
This weekend, the Houston Symphony will present the choral masterpiece, led by conductor Paul Agnew, who serves as associate musical director of the vocal and instrumental ensemble Les Arts Florissants and co-director of its academy, Le Jardin des Voix.
Agnew, who will be making his Houston debut, first encountered a small section of “Messiah” as an 8-year-old boy singing the “Hallelujah” chorus in the cathedral choir. Through the years, the oratorio has become a staple in his life’s work. The Scottishborn, Paris-based operatic tenor has led a dozen or so ensembles through at least 40 concerts and has performed in roughly 150 others.
“It’s a shame that not everyone can sing it because to hear it is wonderful,” he said. “But to be within it is absolutely extraordinary.”
The centuries-old holiday tradition is a compilation of Scriptures from the Old and New Testaments arranged by literary scholar Charles Jennens. Celebrating the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the piece was originally intended to be an Easter offering. The reasoning for this, Agnew explained, is likely historical.
“In Italy, the century before, there was a habit of closing all the theaters for Lent, so the composers were stuck, and so were the singers,” Agnew said. The artists therefore turned to creating and performing oratorios, which are concert pieces that lack the opera’s musical-theater component.
Still, the composition developed close ties to the December holiday. “It’s so incredibly uplifting that it fits with difficulty into the Passion time and much more happily, I think, into Christmas,” Agnew said.
Its debut in Dublin in April of 1742 received rave reviews from a crowd of 700 people, but the piece was certainly not exempt from religious controversy. For its London premiere, Handel renamed the work “A New Sacred Oratorio” in an attempt to pacify the predominantly Protestant city and its critics, who disagreed with his decision to combine his secular theater existence with what is sacred.
The sincerity of the piece is what Agnew said he believes ultimately won people over. Handel was raised in a pious family with a seemingly profound knowledge of the Bible, he explained. “It’s a philosophical experience as much as it is a dramatic experience.”
The reflective nature of “Messiah” challenges holiday traditions that place greater emphasis on materialism — those like Advent calendars featuring 24 days of surprises, including beauty products, chocolates and even booze. “You get this counting down to this mythical, meaningless moment where everyone just spends lots and lots of money,” Agnew said.
“I think people need to be reminded about why Christmas exists. It has to do with this child and then this man and what he goes on to experience and how he changes the world.”