Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 2.djvu/557

ORATORIO. wrote unnecessary notes for these wonder-working Instruments, for the mere sake of keeping them going; but took care that their silvery tone should sustain its due part in the fulfilment of his preconceived intention—a task to which they always proved themselves equal. The great strength of these arrangements lay in the perfect balance of the whole. From the beginning to the end of the work, each of its several subdivisions was exactly proportioned to all the rest. Yet, there was no lack of variety. Taking the Thorough-Bass with its accompanying chords as the lowest attainable point in the scale of effect, and the Full Band, with the Trumpets and Drums, as the highest, there lay, between these two extremes, an infinity of diverse shades, as countless as the half-tones in Turner's summer skies, all of which we find turned to good account, and so arranged as to play into each other, and contrast together, with the happiest possible influence upon the general design. But, unhappily, the delicate gradations they once represented are now rendered altogether indistinguishable by the introduction of Clarinets, Trombones, Ophicleides, Bombardons, Euphoniums, and the loud unmitigated crash of a full Military Band—an innovation quite fatal to the Composer's original intention, inasmuch as it entirely destroys the unity of purpose he so carefully endeavoured to express. An English critic—by no means a revolutionary one—in describing the Autograph Copy of the 'Messiah,' speaks in a slighting tone of 'For unto us a Child is born,' as 'meagrely scored for voices and a stringed quartet.' Handel's 'meagre score,' by accompanying the softer parts only with the Organ and Basses, and delaying the entrance of the rest of the Orchestra until the forte at the word 'Wonderful,' provides for the finest effect the Chorus can be made to produce, and furnishes us with an infinitely grander reading than that which, by its excessive contrast between pppp and ffff, borders rather upon the extravagant than the sublime. It is not too much to say that 'For unto us a Child is born' is utterly ruined by the liberties which are taken with it in performance. In other Choruses we hear a Fugal Point taken up, over and over again, by Bass Trombones, or Euphoniums, with such rousing vigour that the Voice part is rendered completely inaudible: and, in cases like this, the result is, not a richness, but a thinness of effect quite unworthy of the Composer's meaning. We are quite alive to the beauty of Mozart's Instrumentation, which has certainly never been equalled in more modern times: but, would it be sacrilege to say that even he has not risen to the level of the 'Messiah'? We must feel that there is something wanting, when we listen to his exquisite description of 'The people that walked' not 'in darkness,' but in a golden twilight so enchantingly beautiful that the 'great light' afterwards mentioned rather tends to diminish than to add to its ineffable charms. Only, let it be clearly understood that Mozart by no means satisfies the taste of the present day. When we hear of the 'Messiah,' with his 'Additional Accompaniments,' we are to understand the farther 'addition' of a complete Military Band; and the aggregate result does not leave us much margin for the criticism of Handel's original idea. Great as this evil is, it is still on the increase. Let us hope that the rapidity of its advance may the sooner provoke a reaction; and that some of us may yet live to hear the 'Messiah' sung in accordance with its author's intention.

Handel wrote, altogether, seventeen English Oratorios, beside a number of sæcular works which are sometimes incorrectly classed with them. 'Esther,' the first of the series, was first performed in the private Chapel of the Duke of Chandos, at Cannons, on August 29, 1720. That the Duke fully appreciated its significance as a Work of Art is proved by the fact that he presented the Composer with £1000 in exchange for the Score: yet, after three or four private performances it was unaccountably laid aside; and we hear no more of it for eleven years. In 1731 it was revived by the Children of the King's Chapel, who represented it, in action, at the house of their preceptor, Mr. Bernard Gates, in James Street, Westminster, and again, at a subscription concert, at the 'Crown and Anchor.' These performances were, in a certain sense, private. But, in 1732, the Oratorio was publicly performed, without the Composer's consent, at the Great Room, in Villars Street, York Buildings, under the management of a speculator who is believed to have been identified as the father of Dr. Arne. This act of piracy provoked Handel into bringing out the Oratorio himself at the King's Theatre in the Haymarket, where it was performed, 'by his Majesty's command,' without dramatic action, on May 2 in the same year. The success of this experiment fully justified the preparation of a second work of similar character, which was produced on April 2, 1733, under the title of 'Deborah.' A careful comparison of the two Oratorios furnishes us with a valuable means of measuring the progress of the Composer's Art-life, at a very eventful period. As the 'Esther' of 1720, though enriched by several important additions before its reproduction in 1732, was not actually re-written, it may be accepted as a fair representative of its author's ideas at the time it first saw the light. 'Deborah' represents the enlargement of these ideas, after thirteen years of uninterrupted study and experience. The amount of advancement indicated is very great; great enough to remind us of that observable between Beethoven's Symphony in D, and the 'Eroica'; only that we see no sign of a change of style; no change of any kind, save that the old style has grown immeasurably grander. The Overture to 'Esther' has always been more generally appreciated than that to 'Deborah,' not from any real or fancied superiority, but solely by reason of its long-continued repetition, at S. Paul's Cathedral, for the benefit of the 'Sons of the Clergy.' But, the magnificent Double Chorus with which the latter Oratorio opens so far excels anything to be found in