Music Handel's Messiah: Hallelujah Chorus

Handel's Messiah was composed in 1741 and was first performed in 1742. Handel's Messiah was composed in the Baroque period.

An oratorio is a religious work that follows a similar structure to that of an opera but was not considered an opera. Whereas operas were written for the common performance, they were not permitted to be performed during the period of Lent. During this time, the church permitted oratorios instead, works that did not use any characters and that focused upon Biblical themes. In this instance, the entire oratorio focuses on Jesus Christ as Messiah.

An aria or da capo aria is a solo portion of an opera intended to show off the virtuoso abilities of the singer. Arias typically follow a specific form. In the Baroque period arias followed an AB or later an ABA structure. Most arias were performed by a solo voice and accompanied by harpsichord and possibly cello.

The aria "Ev'ry Valley" in the oratorio uses word painting to match the text with its imagery. The text begins with the phrase, "and ev'ry mountain and hill made low. In order emphasize the word mountain, there is a leap from high F. sharp to low F. sharp. To emphasize hill, there is a short scalar movement beginning at D. sharp.

The next phrase "the crooked straight" is matched with scaled eighth notes placed on top of the word crooked and then the same note repeated at the word straight.

The next phrase, "and the rough places plane." Also remains on B, which is the note that straight was placed at, giving a sense of a lack of motion or straightness to the piece.

This same theme is then further played with and altered in the next 11 measures using long coloraturas and yet still ending the final two syllables on B.

5. The Hallelujah chorus's texture is that of homophony with a basic motif that is repeated throughout the entire chorus. During the chorus various lines from the Biblical book of Revelation are quoted, but always come back around to the hallelujah motif, giving the overall chorus a cyclical feel.

6. The texture of the line, "and he shall reign forever and ever" begins in a fugal form, but makes bold leaps...

The Hallelujah chorus has an energetic momentum reminicent of a baroque fuge. While certain lines do stray away from the overall chorus, they are quickly brought back around with the reoccuring hallelujah theme.
8. The Hallelujah chorus is an allegro tempo.

9. Handel's melodies are exceptionally operatic. Even when composing oratorios, he does not do so sparingly and seeks to ensure that every note is counted and utilized. Handel uses clear timbre, ensuring that the intonation of the notes is clearly recognizable and blends well. His rhythm is for the most part fugal with predictable and steady rhythm throughout.

Beethovan

1. Beethoven's 5th was composed between 1804-1808 and belongs to the classical period of music.

2. A symphony is the primary creation of 18th century music. It contains four movements, often with themes slightly woven throughout. The first movement of a symphony is fast, the second movement is slow, the third movement is medium, and final movement is fast.

3. The most common form for the first movement of a symphony is a sonata. The sonata structure has five distinct parts. The first part is the introduction. The introduction presents the motif. This part is often slower to make the motif clear to the listeners. It is often in the dominant key. The second section is the exposition. The exposition takes the motif and expands it using harmonic and thematic parallelisms. There are often modulations in this movement. The third part of a sonata is the development, which picks up in the same key that the exposition ended in and alters the original themes. The fourth part of a sonata is the recapitulation, which is simply a changed repetition or recapitulation of the exposition. It is even usually done in the same key as the exposition. Finally, the Coda goes back to the movement proper but ends the piece with a perfect cadence.

4. The opening motif of the 5th symphony is a grouping of three eighth notes followed by an extended half note. Next, there is an eighth rest and then the same rhythm is followed only one step lower…