Handel - Messiah | Overture, Comfort Ye, & Every Valley | Behind the Score - Ep. 69
Added 2025-12-17 03:33:26 +0000 UTCI invite you to join me on a score study of the first three selections in Handel's Messiah. We'll hear a French-style overture including a three-voice fugue, an accompanied recitative, and a florid aria! I hope you enjoy!
Comments
Thank you ever so much Doug for this! I had not ever heard that the opening was in the style of a French opening for the "grand entrance of the King"; indeed, the King of Kings.
Kingsley Hortin
2025-12-22 04:04:31 +0000 UTCI have strange memories of The Messiah. My first wife was a very good pianist, and would play in the orchestra for a major pharmaceutical company at their Christmas concert. I would turn her music, which was a great pleasure. We didn't make it as a couple, so the memory has soured somewhat. But I do love the grandeur of the piece. I visited the lovely church in Dublin where the piece was debuted...it seemed a strange venue for it, but perhaps the city was more on the European cultural map back then (of course it still is, but in a different way). Thanks for breaking it all down Doug. And Merry Christmas to you all. X
Ralph Darvill
2025-12-18 13:37:06 +0000 UTCThis is a joyful Christmas present for me. I used to listen to the first few pieces of the Messiah every Christmastime (as is traditional of course), and having this analysis of the first three pieces is a treasure. It does whet my appetite for more - particularly jumping ahead to the Amen chorus. I also think of sections of Bach's B Minor Mass, or the opening of the St Mathew Passion; in fact, a whole series of BTS covering a wide variety of pieces! But, for now, thanks for this delight.π
Adie
2025-12-18 09:17:23 +0000 UTC
