The soundtrack of the Christmas season for many music lovers, Messiah is performed annually by choral societies across the world. And so, perhaps unsurprisingly, many aspects of it have been explored by scholars over the years. The work is the subject of several listeners’ guides and there are a number of books and articles of various lengths that describe the biographical circumstances of the work’s formation and details of its many performances, many including lists of singers for each performance (an area that has itself spawned a whole field of research).
There has been no extensive study of the creative process of Messiah, however, since 1969. This book seeks to redress this imbalance by providing a thorough investigation of the work’s creative process. Beginning with the creative process of the libretto, it examines the earliest sketches, Handel’s use of pre-existent material, alterations made to the autograph score, and the latest versions of movements. Each stage of composition is examined via primary source material, with particular reference to the autograph score and conducting score. Each chapter is formed as a case study and contains related discussion points for use in teaching or study settings.
1. The Libretto
2. Pre-autograph Activity: Sketches
3. Pre-autograph Activity: Pre-existent Material
4. The Autograph: Method and Construction
5. Autograph Alterations
6. Later Revisions
7. General Conclusion
Appendix A: Libretto Sources
Appendix B: Sketches Pertaining to Messiah
Appendix C: Movements Based on Italian Duets
Appendix D: ‘Rejoice’ (Autograph Version, 14 September 1741)
Appendix E: Alternative Movement Settings
Bibliography
Biography
Amanda Babington is a lecturer at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, England, and executive officer for the Royal Musical Association. She has published several articles on Handel, and her edition for the Hallische Händel-Ausgabe of Handel’s Dettingen Te Deum and Dettingen Anthem was published by Bärenreiter in 2016. She is regularly invited to give talks at Göttingen International Handel Festival. Dr. Babington is also a musette player, baroque violinist, and recorder player, specialising in historically informed performance. As the artistic director of Baroque In The North, she has played and recorded with many of the leading British and European period-instrument ensembles. Her debut musette album, Music for French Kings, was well-received on its release in 2022, and featured on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show. She is also director of the University of Manchester Baroque Orchestra and has given masterclasses at various universities and conservatoires in the United Kingdom, and at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music in Riga, Latvia.
“This in-depth and copiously illustrated study investigates the musical and literary sources of Handel’s Messiah at every stage of the compositional process, from the composer’s earliest response to the text to his latest revisions. Different chapters consider the creative process of the libretto, the various sketches, Handel’s borrowings, the autograph score, and the many alterations and developments to which the work was subject after its original conception. Clearly structured with chapter previews, summaries, and discussion points, it brings new insights to the study of Handel’s most celebrated choral work, and will be of interest to scholars and performers alike.”
Prof. Cheryll Duncan
Royal Northern College of Music, UK
