Handel?s oratorio Messiah is a phenomenon with no parallel in music history. No other work of music has been so popular for so long. Yet familiarity can sometimes breed contempt ? and also misundersta
Handel?s oratorio Messiah is a phenomenon with no parallel in music history. No other work of music has been so popular for so long. Yet familiarity can sometimes breed contempt ? and also misunderstanding.
This book by music expert Calvin Stapert will greatly increase understanding and appreciation of Handel?s majestic Messiah, whether readers are old friends of this remarkable work or have only just discovered its magnificence.
Stapert provides fascinating historical background, tracing not only Messiah?s unlikely inception but also its amazing reception throughout history. The bulk of the book offers scene-by-scene musical and theological commentary on the whole work, focusing on the way Handel?s music beautifully interprets and illuminates the biblical text.
For anyone seeking to appreciate Handel?s Messiah more, this informed yet accessible guide is the book to have and read.
(Handel?s Messiah: Comfort for God?s People is the newest volume in the flourishing Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Liturgical Studies Series, edited by John D. Witvliet.)
?Messiah is ?the classic,? not only in the West but even in Japan. I have been performing this magnificent work with Bach Collegium Japan every year in the past decade, but it still makes us exuberant each and every time we perform it. . . . In this book my friend Calvin Stapert helps us understand this masterwork from manifold points of view, pouring deeper appreciation for the work into our hearts through the funnel of his words. Thank you very much, Cal!?
? Masaaki Suzuki
founder and director of Bach Collegium Japan
?A superb study of one of the most widely performed pieces of Western music. As we have come to expect from this author, the writing is profound and scholarly as well as lucid and accessible. This is destined to be a classic guide to a classic work.?
? Jeremy Begbie
Duke University
?Calvin Stapert observes that oratorio, like opera, was written to entertain. Messiah certainly does that. But it does more. It proclaims good news. This fascinating, informative book will enrich the hearing of one of the world?s musical masterpieces. It will also deepen and enhance appreciation of one of Christianity?s true treasures.?
? John Buchanan
Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago
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