Handel’s Marvellous Messiah with RBSC

RBCS Concert

Handel’s Marvellous Messiah with RBSC

19th March 2016 from 19:30

This spring concert is part of series of events organised by the community choir for Rotherhithe & Bermondsey, where local people come together to sing.

 

Conductor Sue Heath Downey

RBCS Orchestra

Soloists: Dr Dorothy Maddison, Marianne Andersen, Panos Ntourntoufis and Michael Lafferty-Smith

Messiah Oratorio by George Frideric Handel

Title page of Handel's autograph score
Title page of Handel’s autograph score

Messiah (HWV 56) is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible, and from the version of the Psalms included with the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 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.

Handel’s reputation in England, where he had lived since 1712, had been established through his compositions of Italian opera. He turned to English oratorio in the 1730s in response to changes in public taste; Messiah was his sixth work in this genre. Although its structure resembles that of opera, it is not in dramatic form; there are no impersonations of characters and no direct speech. Instead, Jennens’s text is an extended reflection on Jesus Christ as Messiah. The text begins in Part I with prophecies by Isaiah and others, and moves to the annunciation to the shepherds, the only “scene” taken from the Gospels. In Part II, Handel concentrates on the Passion and ends with the “Hallelujah” chorus. In Part III he covers the resurrection of the dead and Christ’s glorification in heaven.

Handel wrote Messiah for modest vocal and instrumental forces, with optional settings for many of the individual numbers. 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, although “big Messiah” productions continue to be mounted. A near-complete version was issued on 78 rpm discs in 1928; since then the work has been recorded many times.

RBCSThe Royal Bermondsey Choral Society

RBCS is a friendly non-audition mixed-voice amateur community choir based in Rotherhithe, Southwark, south-east London. They aim is to practise and perform good music to suit a variety of tastes, and have a good time in the process.

Rehearsals take place from 8.00 to 9.45 pm every Tuesday during term-time at the Time & Talents Community Centre, St Marychurch Street, Rotherhithe, SE16 4JE.

Additional members are always welcome for all voice parts. If you enjoy singing and are interested in joining us, please contact us, or just come along to our next rehearsal. Please see our Join us page for more details of membership.

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