10064 Movements from 'Messiah'

G. F. Handel

arranged by Roger Harvey for 10-piece brass ensemble

(accompaniment for use in choral performance or for instrumental perfomance)

10064a: Overture (Instrumental)

10064b: Ev'ry Valley (Tenor Solo)

10064c: For unto us a Child is Born (Chorus)

10064d: He Shall Feed his Flock (Alto and Soprano Solo)

10064e: And the Glory (Chorus)

10064f: Pastoral Symphony (Instrumental - trumpets optional)

10064g: O Thou that Tellest (Alto Solo and chorus)

10064h: His Yoke is Easy (Chorus)

10064i: Thou Shalt Break Them (Tenor Solo)

10064j: Glory to God (Chorus)

10064k: The Trumpoet Shall Sound (Bass Solo)

10064l: Hallelujah Chorus (Chorus)

10064m: Worthy is the Lamb; Amen Chorus (Chorus)

10064n: Rejoice Greatly (Soprano solo)

Difficulty: Advanced

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Programme note:
Messiah was first performed at St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin in 1742, where the Dean was novelist Jonathan Swift. He had been difficult about the event, had it delayed and insisted that profits from the performance be donated to a hospital for the mentally ill. Despite this problematical debut it has become Handel's most popular work. It is performed in its entirety on an annual basis by choral societies throughout the world and arias and choruses from it are frequently performed in mixed programmes.
It was famously written to texts by Charles Jennens, in only 24 days though, in the practice of the time, Handel recycled many of the movements from earlier works, not all of them his own.
It is in 3 main parts: Part 1 covers Advent and the Christmas story, Part 2 tells the story of the Passion and Part 3 is mostly about events in the Book of Revelation.

This selection of pieces covers all three parts.

Although the Hallelujah Chorus is the climax of Part 2 it is often sung as a Finale to Part 1 when this section is peformed alone. Tradition demands that the audience should stand for the Hallelujah Chorus due to a precedent set by George 1. It is not clear whether he stood because he was inspired to do so by the music or whether he was late arriving, had an attack of gout or was simply a bit stiff from sitting through the performance so far, but this tradition has endured whatever the reason.

Performance note:
This version is designed to be used as accompaniment to the usual choral version. The markings are for the Watkins Shaw edition but, with little alteration, could be adjusted for other editions.
Piccolo A/B flat or D/E flat trumpets are required for the upper parts.
Since the ensemble is mostly replacing a small string group, it should at all times ensure that the style is very light, taking great care to avoid thickening the texture and so covering the vocal lines. In particular the higher trumpet parts should be played without forcing and the inner 'continuo' parts, mostly in the trombones, should be clearly articulated but without much resonance.
There are many eoitorial expression marks which are given as a suggestion for when rehearsal time may be short or for guidance if the performers are not familiar with the appropriate Baroque style. Ideally the performers should make their own decisions based on musical sensitivity to the style.Where notes are marked staccato this should be considered as an indication that the style should be light and the notes slightly detached - no hint of sostenuto - but on the other hand, not too short or heavily articulated. Tenuto lines are used to indicate phrase emphasis.
The tuba doubling of the bass line at the lower octave should also be treated with care; it should add richness in the tuttis but avoid any heaviness of style.
At some points small size notes are used - these passages can be played or not as required.
In the Pastoral Symphony the trumpet parts are desirable but if practicalities make them unreasonable the movement can be played satisfactorally without trumpets.