Handel: Messiah

My favorite book about Handel's iconic work remains Jens Peter Larsen's definitive study of 1957. However, getting through Larsen's painstakingly researched and densely written volume is a forbidding task for even a trained musician, let alone a casual music lover wanting to know more about the oratorio. This shorter guide by Donald Burrows offers a worthy alternative and supplement (though a fairly high degree of musical literacy is still presupposed). Burrows' portrait of Handel's librettist Charles Jennens and the uneasy relationship between Jennens and the composer brings both figures vividly to life, in part through frequently quoting primary source material. His chronology of Messiah's composition and early performances is both more concise and more interesting than Larsen's somewhat ponderous background text. On the other hand, for cogent, detailed analysis of each individual number, as well as in thorough dissections and balanced conclusions regarding Messiah's changing versions, Larsen comes out far ahead. I also do not agree with Burrows' contention in a separate essay that Handel's original text-settings, with their frequently faulty accentuation of the English language, must be kept at all costs. Still, in terms of packing quantities of useful, interesting information into a small space without sacrificing readability, this Cambridge Musical Handbook is a winner.

These Cambridge Music Handbooks are geared for specific background and analysis on specific musical works. I own another Cambridge book about Haydn's Creation, which is also very good. Burrows begins with historical background of the Messiah, recounts the initial performances in Dublin, and then covers the revisions and revivals in London. Other chapters cover later versions of Messiah (e.g. Mozart's orchestration), a short analysis of the overall design of the work, short comments on individual movements of interest, and Handel's word-setting. There are also two appendices and a wonderful bibliography. Although brief and concise, the work is quite scholarly, containing many citations. It is clear that Burrows knows his stuff regarding Handel and Messiah. My only disappointment with the book (and subsequent reason for four stars) is that many of Burrows' good points are buried within his scholarly prose and these gems are easy to overlook. Despite this, I would recommend this book to anybody involved in a performance of Handel's Messiah, and it is a must for any conductor. It provides a great deal of necessary background information in a concise manner, and is a great resource for program notes.