The elements of music to consider
Melody
Due to the length and amount of instruments included in the A setting of religious words for soloists, chorus and orchestra. means that there are both The voice as a musical instrument. and instrumental melodic devices. The devices featured are:
- When the music replicates what it is wanting to portray, eg an ascending melody when the lyrics talk of mountains. in the following lyrical examples from the first aria are:
- 'mountain' rises in pitch
- 'low' is sung on the lowest pitch of the phrase
- 'crooked' is written with staggered quavers with semitone intervals
Handel has written three examples of word painting between bars 24 and 27
- Musical lines moving in an opposite direction. in the chorus between the soprano and tenor vocal harmonies on the lyric 'astray' - this is also a Several notes sung to one syllable.
The soprano vocal melody ascends while the tenor vocal melody descends
- A common tool for enhancing melodies by repeating the passage at a higher or lower pitch. as shown in the excerpt below - the second full bar is a repeat of the first full bar but a tone lower in pitch
The fainter notes in the second 3/4 bar are a semitone lower than the bar before, but are identical in rhythm
- another example of melisma is in the chorus For Unto Us a Child is Born, when the soprano has a run of 57 notes on the word ‘born’
- Handel uses Individual melodic or rhythmic fragment that makes an important contribution to the structure of a piece of music. and uses four of them to compose And the Glory of the Lord
Rhythm
Handel implements the following to create interesting Patterns created by notes of various lengths.:
- An effect created by moving between triple and duple meter by replacing two groups of three beats - 2:3 to 3:2. rhythms shift the emphasis on the usual The first beat of the bar - a reference to the conductor's baton movement going down. so that the music feels as if it has changed Numbers or letters written at the start of a piece of music depicting how many beats are in a bar and what type of beat are in each bar. and is now three bars of 2/4 or one of 6/4
- Haydn writes A dot after the note increases its value by half again. in the trumpet Short brass feature, usually including leaps and dotted rhythms.
Structure
The Messiah is divided into three main sections:
- the prophecies about the coming of Jesus, the Messiah, and the nativity
- the suffering of Christ and his death
- the Day of Judgement and redemption for all
Within each section there are a range of smaller movements. These include:
- choruses - for the whole choir to sing
- arias - for solo voices
- duets - for pairs of solo voices
- recitatives - a mix of melody and speech, used to advance the narrative of the oratorio at a greater pace
- instrumental sections of music for instruments only feature to give some contrast to the vocal movements
Instrumentation and timbre
The Messiah was written with the instruments:
- Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass. choir with soloists
- strings
- two trumpets
- timpani
- organ
- harpsichord continuo
- the oboes and bassoons were added for later performances
- the choir would have only featured male vocalists
Texture
To define each section, there are frequent texture changes. Here are some of the important moments to reference:
- Interweaving melodic parts, also known as polyphonic. and A texture based on chords. passages in And the Glory of the Lord
- Where one musical part copies another. texture in And the Glory of the Lord
- homophonic texture in the Hallelujah Chorus
- A type of texture where there is only one clear melody and an accompaniment that plays different notes and rhythms but is supporting the melody. heard in The Trumpet Shall Sound section
Harmony and tonality
There are many different movements and the oratorio covers many keys. The tonality helps reinforce the mood and story. Some of the key changes and the purpose of that key change include:
- at the end of the first scene in part 1 And the Glory of the Lord is written in A major and is completed with a A type of cadence where the chords played are chord V then I. This progression sounds complete. (V-I)
- the aria The people That Walked in part 1, scene 3 is written in B minor as the text refers to darkness and finishes a phrygian cadence (IVb - V)
- to match the upbeat and triumphant moment, the Hallelujah Chorus at the end of part 2 is in D major and concludes with a A type of cadence where chords IV to I are played. Makes the phrase sound finished, but is softer than a perfect cadence. In the key of Bb major, a plagal cadence is the sub-dominant third (Eb) leading to the tonic chord (Bb). (IV-I)