The Medical College of Wisconsin Orchestra
Winter 2024 Concert
Georg F. Handel: Hallelujah chorus, from “Messiah”
Conducted by: Alexander Mandl, DMA
Handel wrote the oratorio Messiah (1741) for modest vocal and instrumental forces, with optional settings for many of the individual numbers. In the years after his death, the work was adapted for performance on a much larger scale, with giant orchestras and choirs. In other efforts to update it, its orchestration was revised and amplified by (among others) Mozart, and Prout. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries the trend has been towards reproducing a greater fidelity to Handel's original intentions, although "big Messiah" productions continue to be mounted. The oratorio text begins in Part I with prophecies by Isaiah and others, and moves to the annunciation to the shepherds, the only "scene" taken from the Gospels. In Part II, Handel concentrates on the Passion and ends with the famous "Hallelujah" chorus. In Part III he covers the resurrection of the dead and Christ's glorification in heaven.