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That Handel was superior in the strength and boldness of his style, the richness of his harmony, and complication of parts, to every composer who has been most admired for such excellencies, cannot be disputed. And, while fugue, contrivance, and a full score, were more generally reverenced than at present, he remained wholly unrivalled. To Italian elegance and facility, he united the depth and elaborate contrivance of his own country. Burney's Commemoration of Handel. Strong in new arms, lo! giant HANDEL stands,

Like bold Briareus, with his hundred hands;

To stir, to rouse, to shake the soul he comes,

And Jove's own thunders follow Mars's drums.-Pope.

Handel was equally at home in all styles; in the florid style of the Italian opera, and in the thunder of his chorusses, he is alike natural. The grand, the beautiful, the cheerful, the solemn, the moanings of repentance, and the sounds of joy, were portrayed with equal ease and felicity. He could, upon occasions, be light, airy, and even, when he thought proper, comic. Some songs of the latter cast, of the happiest nature, occur in his Italian operas, and the laughing song and chorus, in "L'Allegro ed il Penseroso," is as fine a piece of musical jocularity as ever was penned. His works, ever since his death, have been kept in constant fluctuation, by new editions, from time to time. The being the Editor of his compositions, confers, like the Shakspearian Editorship, a degree of fame. Dr. Clarke has lately published a large body of his vocal compositions, eminently calculated, by their arrangement, for the delight and improvement of private amateurs.-Anon.

When Handel is lively and cheerful, he is so without vulgarity. All his points of imitation are new and pleasing. He united propriety of expression with as much learning and ingenuity of fugue, modulation, accompaniment, and texture of parts, as the art of music can boast. His musical feelings were exquisitely sensible; and, when in the act of composing some of his pathetic songs, he has been seen to dissolve into tears.

Graham's account of a musical performance in Edinburgh. As, in fine writing, the sound is the echo of the sense, so in music, particularly that of the higher class, the notes ought constantly to correspond with, and be, as it were, the echo of the very words to which they are set by the composer. It is by all acknowledged, that no man ever yet possessed this faculty of adapting his music to the occasion, in such an eminent degree as HANDEL: and, in spite of that capricious changeling, popular taste or fashion, we still find that the works of this great master always hold the highest place in the estimation of competent judges.

Quarterly Mus. Mag. and Review.

If there ever existed a musician who could lay just claim to originality, that man was HANDEL. He drew all his stores from nature and the force of his own genius, and was indebted to no one either for his style or his thoughts. He could not bend his talents to think after any body else. Conscious of the strength of his own powers, he disdained imitation, and trusted confidently to them alone. He stands first and foremost of all others in his profession, and his works deserve to be held in the highest admiration, and to be studied by all the lovers of music.

Musical Magazine and Review. Kelly, while resident in Vienna, received instructions from the celebrated Gluck. One morning, at the close of the lesson, Gluck said, “Follow me up stairs, Sir, and I will introduce you to one, whom, all my life, I have made my study, and endeavoured to imitate." I followed him into his bedroom, and, opposite to the head of the bed, saw a full length picture of Handel, in a rich frame. "There, Sir," said he, "is the portrait of the inspired Master of our art; when I open my eyes in the morning, I look upon him with reverential awe, and acknowledge him as such; and the highest praise

is due to your country, for having distinguished and cherished his gigantic genius."-Kelly's Reminiscences.

As to his performance on the organ, the powers of speech are so limited, that it is almost a vain attempt to describe it otherwise than by its effects. A fine and delicate touch, a volant finger, and a ready delivery of passages the most difficult, were attainments fully in Handel's possession, but scarcely noticed in comparison of excellencies of a far superior kind; his amazing command of the instrument, the fullness of his harmony, the grandeur and dignity of his style, the copiousness of his imagination, his close-wrought harmony, and the fertility of his invention, were qualities that absorbed every inferior attainment. Concertos on the organ, with which he used to gratify his audience between the parts of his oratorios, was a species of music wholly of his own invention.-Sir John Hawkins, Hist. of Music.

The celebrated Dr. Arne, and other eminent professors declared, (upon hearing him play at Oxford,) that neither themselves, nor any one else of their acquaintance, had ever before heard such extempore, or such premeditated playing, on that or any other instrument.

Dr. Burney's Commemoration of Handel. The late profound musical theorist, Baumgarten, remarking on the incessant fluctuation of musical taste, justly observed, that the strongest possible test of genius, in some of the old compositions, is their surviving the age in which they were produced, and becoming the admiration of future masters. Handel's music has received this honour in a more eminent degree than even that of our own divine Purcell. By Boyce and Battisbill the memory of the great German was adored; Mozart was enthusiastic in his praise; Haydn could not listen to his "Messiah" without weeping; and Beethoven has been heard to declare, that, were he ever to come to England, he would uncover his head, and kneel down at his tomb. This seems to prove, that Handel, like Shakspeare, was born for all ages; and, in despite of the versatility of taste, will ever be modern.

Busby's Anecdotes.

The remark of Mozart to Haydn, when they were both listening to the sublime production now to be performed, is well known: "This man," he exclaimed, "This man was the master of us all."

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

ON THE

ORATORIO OF THE MESSIAH.

THIS Oratorio, now about to be performed for the first time in Philadelphia, is universally acknowledged to be the most sublime of Handel's works, and indeed of all musical compositions. The words, it will be observed, are wholly composed of genuine texts of scripture; and it is, therefore, with great propriety, called a Sacred Oratorio. It was first performed in 1741; and it has ever since continued to delight the musical world. Burney remarks with justice, that "it has fed the hun

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gry, clothed the naked, fostered the orphan, and enriched the managers of Oratorios, more than any single musical production in any country."

The character of this work is exceedingly different from that of the Creation, by Haydn, several times performed by the Society, and which gave such universal pleasure. These two great works are indeed no more to be compared to each other, than are those of Milton and Thomson, in a sister art. They differ entirely in subject and in style, and they will also be found to differ in the effect produced, and to give rise to a totally different class of thoughts and sensations. The Creation is full of elegance, tenderness, and grace; of interesting melodies, and especially, of most ingenious imitations. In the Messiah we find grandeur, simplicity, and solemnity. The one is beautiful, the other sublime. In the Creation, joy, gratitude, benevolence, and love, are expressed with equal purity and ecstacy; while the Messiah excites those sacred emotions which inspire the hopes and terrors of religion, and which become us in our ascriptions to heaven, of "blessing and honour and glory and power."

pre

In the performance of the Messiah, the Society will employ the additional accompaniments which were composed by Mozart for wind instruments. These instruments were, indeed, used by Handel, not frequently, however, or together, but separately, when certain effects required their aid. He must even have possessed very able performers on them, for several of these accompaniments are found exceedingly difficult at the sent day. The clarinett he never used, at least in his Oratorios; but it was used near that period by the celebrated Galuppi, and not long afterwards by Dr. Arne. For very many years, the martial instruments have been employed when the march in Judas Macchabæus, and other warlike music of Handel's is played. The use of wind instruments in the orchestra, is not then a novelty, as is sometimes asserted; though their combined and more frequent employment is so.

The following annotations are selected from various authors, but principally from the work of Dr. Burney, on the Handel Commemoration.

THE

MESSIAH,

SACRED ORATORIO.

PART I.

OVERTURE.1

RECITATIVE ACCOMPANIED.2

COMFORT ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God; speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned.

The voice of him that cryeth in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

AIR.

Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill made low; the crooked straight, and the rough places plain.

(1) Overture. Handel's overtures are generally analogous to the opening of the first scene of the drama to which they belong, and may be called real prefaces or preliminary discourses to a book. In order therefore to suppress every idea of levity in so sacred a performance as the Messiah, he very judiciously finished the overture without an air.—Bur

ney.

(2) Comfort ye, &c. The short symphony to this accompanied recitative, or aria parlante, seems to such as are not acquainted with the oratorio, a preparation for a light minuet, gavot, or jig, with which overtures are usually terminated; but how exquisitely are judicious ears disappointed! Indeed, I am acquainted with no movement of the same cast, to the words of any language, which is more grateful and soothing than this. There is not a note, either in the principal melody or accompaniments, that is become vulgar, common, or unmeaning.--Burney.

Our great master, to express not only the sedate satisfaction which is implied in the words Comfort ye, but the first call to the holy fervor and religious joy, which are the immediate effects, has chosen for this recitative the key of E with four sharps, of which the peculiar characteristic is brilliancy.-Musical Magazine.

CHORUS.

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

RECITATIVE ACCOMPANIED.

Thus saith the Lord of Hosts: Yet once a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land, and I will shake all nations; and the desire of all nations shall come; the Lord whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in, behold he shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts.

AIR.3

But who may abide the day of his coming, and who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire.

CHORUS.4

And he shall purify the sons of Levi, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.

RECITATIVE.

Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel: God with us.

AIR AND CHORUS.

O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountains! O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength! lift it up, be not afraid! Say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Arise, shine, for thy light is come; and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.

RECITATIVE ACCOMPANIED.

For behold darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall rise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee; and the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

AIR.5

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light,

(3) But who may abide, &c. This air is in the Sicilian pastoral style, of which Handel was very fond, and in which he was almost always successful. Burney.

(4) And he shall purify, &c. This chorus is of a peculiar cast; each species of voice delivering the primitive subject, unaccompanied by the rest, till the counter-subject, in ligature or binding notes, is introduced, which adds to the effect of the whole, when the instruments come in, and all the voices, quitting the mazes of fugue, unite in simple counterpoint.—Burney.

(5) The people who walked, &c. There is a very curious expression of the words attempted in this air; where the chromatic and indeterminate

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