| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立高雄師範大學 === 音樂學系 === 105 === George Frideric Handel was one of the most admired composers of the Baroque era. Although today he is most well-known for his oratorios, especially Messiah, he was most famous in his own day as a composer of 41 Italian operas. From 1711 to 1741, George Frideric Handel ‘s first thirty years in London,
Not only did he compose nearly forty operas during this period, but he founded and managed his own opera company. But in the late 1730s and 40s, disaster struck Handel’s opera company. The popularity of Italian opera in London declined sharply,
and box office revenues collapsed. In response to this series of disappointments, Handel turned to oratorio. The idea for an oratorio called Messiah came not from Handel, but from Charles Jennens, a wealthy Englishman and literary scholar who edited Shakespeare’s plays. Jennens compiled the libretto of Messiah from the Bible, primarily the Old Testament. Rather than telling the story of Jesus narratively, it presents the significance of the Christian Messiah as a theological idea.
Handel composed Messiah in approximately three weeks in August and September of 1741. Messiah is in three parts: part one brings various texts concerning Advent and Christmas. Part two deals with His Passion, and ends with the triumphant Resurrection, and the Hallelujah chorus. Part three deals with the Resurrection and extends it to all mankind, ending with the Amen chorus.
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