Review (PDF) Handel: Messiah (Cambridge Music Handbooks)
Donald Burrows brings many new insights to this fascinating account of one of the favorite works of the concert hall. He traces the course of Messiah from Handel's initial musical response to the libretto, through the oratorio's turbulent first years to its eventual popularity with the Foundling Hospital performances. The book addresses such questions as the position of Messiah within the oratorio genre, Handel's treatment of structural design, tonal relationships in the work and problems of English wordsetting, as well as contemporary issues such as Handel's relationship with his librettist, Charles Jennens, and with his performers and audience.
Series: Cambridge Music Handbooks
Paperback: 140 pages
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (June 28, 1991)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0521376203
ISBN-13: 978-0521376204
Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.3 x 8.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #543,493 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #30 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Sheet Music & Scores > Composers > Handel #148 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Sheet Music & Scores > Forms & Genres > Religious & Church Music #846 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Instruments > Voice
My favorite book about Handel's iconic work remains Jens Peter Larsen's definitive study of 1957. However, getting through Larsen's painstakingly researched and densely written volume is a forbidding task for even a trained musician, let alone a casual music lover wanting to know more about the oratorio. This shorter guide by Donald Burrows offers a worthy alternative and supplement (though a fairly high degree of musical literacy is still presupposed). Burrows' portrait of Handel's librettist Charles Jennens and the uneasy relationship between Jennens and the composer brings both figures vividly to life, in part through frequently quoting primary source material. His chronology of Messiah's composition and early performances is both more concise and more interesting than Larsen's somewhat ponderous background text. On the other hand, for cogent, detailed analysis of each individual number, as well as in thorough dissections and balanced conclusions regarding Messiah's changing versions, Larsen comes out far ahead. I also do not agree with Burrows' contention in a separate essay that Handel's original text-settings, with their frequently faulty accentuation of the English language, must be kept at all costs. Still, in terms of packing quantities of useful, interesting information into a small space without sacrificing readability, this Cambridge Musical Handbook is a winner.
These Cambridge Music Handbooks are geared for specific background and analysis on specific musical works. I own another Cambridge book about Haydn's Creation, which is also very good.Burrows begins with historical background of the Messiah, recounts the initial performances in Dublin, and then covers the revisions and revivals in London. Other chapters cover later versions of Messiah (e.g. Mozart's orchestration), a short analysis of the overall design of the work, short comments on individual movements of interest, and Handel's word-setting. There are also two appendices and a wonderful bibliography.Although brief and concise, the work is quite scholarly, containing many citations. It is clear that Burrows knows his stuff regarding Handel and Messiah.My only disappointment with the book (and subsequent reason for four stars) is that many of Burrows' good points are buried within his scholarly prose and these gems are easy to overlook. Despite this, I would recommend this book to anybody involved in a performance of Handel's Messiah, and it is a must for any conductor. It provides a great deal of necessary background information in a concise manner, and is a great resource for program notes.
Handel: Messiah (Cambridge Music Handbooks) The Cambridge Companion to Handel (Cambridge Companions to Music) G. F. Handel MESSIAH: 15 Selections of the Sacred Oratorio arranged for Solo Organ Handel's Bestiary: In Search of Animals in Handel's Operas Berlioz: Roméo et Juliette (Cambridge Music Handbooks) Brahms: Symphony No. 1 (Cambridge Music Handbooks) Debussy: La Mer (Cambridge Music Handbooks) Dvorák: Cello Concerto (Cambridge Music Handbooks) Elgar: Enigma Variations (Cambridge Music Handbooks) Haydn: The Creation (Cambridge Music Handbooks) Holst: The Planets (Cambridge Music Handbooks) Liszt: Sonata in B Minor (Cambridge Music Handbooks) Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth) (Cambridge Music Handbooks) Musorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (Cambridge Music Handbooks) Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire (Cambridge Music Handbooks) Sibelius: Symphony No. 5 (Cambridge Music Handbooks) Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (Cambridge Music Handbooks) Mozart: Clarinet Concerto (Cambridge Music Handbooks) Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra (Cambridge Music Handbooks) Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 20 and 21 (Cambridge Music Handbooks)
