Handel - Messiah (And The Glory Of The Lord) Flashcards
How many voices are in the piece?
4
What is the home key of the piece?
A major
When was this piece composed?
1741 (18th century)
When was this piece first performed?
13th April 1742
Where was this piece first performed?
Dublin
What style is this piece?
Baroque
What are some key features of baroque music?
- use of ornamented melodic parts
- major and minor keys
- use of diatonic keys (of I, IV, V, II, VI)
- Basso continuo
- Different textures (mono, homo and poly phonic.)
- Prevalence of one ‘affection’ (mood)
- Terraced dynamics (contrasts of two levels)
What is the home key of this piece?
A major
What is the metre of this piece?
3/4
What is the tempo of this piece?
Allegro (fast) until the end where it becomes adagio (slow)
what does the tempo change create?
creates a stately and grand ending
What is the instrumentation of this piece?
Baroque orchestra
- 1st and 2nd violins
- violas
- SATB choir
- Double bass
- Cello
- Chamber organ
How many main motifs are there for the melody?
four
What is the main rhythm of the first 3 motifs?
mostly crotchets and quavers
what is the rhythm of the 4th motif like?
uses long (dotted minim) repeated notes
What is used towards the cadence point and what does this make the music feel like it’s in?
Hemiolas’
2/4 timing
what is used in the lyrics to match the rhythm?
Word painting
What two keys does the piece modulate too?
E major (dominant) B major (supertonic)
What are the majority of the cadences?
Perfect cadences
What is the ending cadence?
Plagal cadence
What is completely diatonic? (only uses notes within the key)
The Harmony
What textures contrast?
Homophonic and polyphonic
What is the ending texture?
Homophonic
What is used between parts?
Imitation
What are the dynamics like at the end?
Loud
What do the dynamics determine?
The number of parts playing at a time
What is there a clear contrast between in dynamics?
Loud and soft
What is used in the word setting?
Mixture of syllabic and melismatic word setting
What are repeated many times?
The different phrases
What is the mood/affection of this piece?
Joyful
the piece is celebrating, glorifying and praising God
How is this mood reinforced?
- The major tonality
- The sprightly tempo
- The 3/4 tempo
Name two details of motif A
‘And the glory, the glory of the lord’
- First sung by Altos
- Dotted rhythm in bar 2
- Word setting is completely syllabic
Name two details of motif B
‘shall be re-veal-ed’
- First sung by the Tenors
- the word ‘revealed’ is a descending sequence’
- Word setting is melismatic on the word ‘revealed’
Name two details of motif C
‘And all flesh shall see it to-ge-ther’
- First sung by the Altos
- There is repetition used between ‘all flesh’, ‘shall see it’ and ‘together’
- There are melismas’ in this motif
Name two details of motif D
‘For the mouth of the lord hath spoken in’
- First sung by the tenors and basses
- There are only two notes used (A and B)
- There are longer notes used, which are repeated
- Word setting is completely syllabic
what is messiah?
an oratorio
how long did it take for Handel to write ‘Messiah’?
3 weeks
When would this piece typically be performed?
Easter
but it is often performed at Christmas now too.
what is the texture of this piece?
homorhythmic
what does Handel do with the 4 man musical ideas?
Handel introduced each idea using one part and then weaves them into the rest of the music, often imitation and overlapping each other.
what is most of the singing in this piece?
syllabic
melisma’s are used in this piece. what is a melisma?
when a syllable is sung over several notes.
there are some hemiolas used In this piece. what is a hemiola?
when music that is in triple time (3/4), temporarily sounds like it is in duple time (2/4) for 2 bars.
where would a hemiola often be in baroque music?
at cadences
name 3 techniques used in the melody vocal part in this piece.
- Imitation
- singing is syllabic
- melisma
what is the pitch like in this piece?
all parts keep to a moderate pitch range.
what are the dynamics like in this piece?
- hardly any marked dynamics
- only p and f are used.
- typical as baroque music rarely has crescendos or diminuendos marked.
what are the chords in this piece and what speed to they change at?
diatonic (all belong to the key)
a fast harmonic rhythm (speed at which the chords change)
what instruments play throughout?
the continuo players (cello, double bass and organ)
