MESSIAH
A Sacred Oratorio
Georg Friedrich
Händel
(1742)
Bible texts
adapted by Charles Jennens
PART
ONE
1.
Sinfonia (Overture)
2.
Accompagnato
Tenor
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith
your God.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and
cry unto her, that her warfare is
accomplished, that her iniquity is
pardoned.
The voice of him that crieth in the
wilderness; prepare ye the way of the
Lord; make straight in the desert a
highway for our God.
(Isaiah 40: 1-3)
3.
Air
Tenor
Ev'ry valley shall be exalted, and ev'ry
moutain and hill made low; the
crooked straight and the rough places
plain.
(Isaiah 40: 4)
4.
Chorus
And the glory of the Lord shall be
revealed, and all flesh shall see it
together: for the mouth of the Lord hath
spoken it.
(Isaiah 40: 5)
5.
Accompagnato
Bass
Thus saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts:
Yet once a little while and I will
shake the heavens and the earth, the sea
and the dry land.
And I will shake all nations; and the
desire of all nations shall come.
(Haggai 2: 6-7)
The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly
come to His temple, even the
messenger of the Covenant, whom you
delight in; behold, He shall come,
saith the Lord of hosts.
(Malachi 3: 1)
6.
Air
Alto
or soprano
But who may abide the day of His coming,
and who shall stand when He
appeareth? For He is like a refiner's
fire.
(Malachi 3: 2)
7.
Chorus
And He shall purify the sons of Levi,
that they may offer unto the Lord an
offering in righteousness.
(Malachi 3: 3)
8.
Recitative
Alto
Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear
a son, and shall call His name
Emmanuel, God with us.
(Isaiah 7: 14; Matthew 1: 23)
9.
Air and Chorus
Alto
O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion,
get thee up into the high
mountain. O thou that tellest good tidings
to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice
with strength; lift it up, be not afraid;
say unto the cities of Judah,
behold your g od!
(Isaiah 40: 9)
Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and
the glory of the Lord is risen
upon thee.
(Isaiah 60: 1)
Chorus
O
thou that tellest. . . etc.
10.
Accompagnato
Bass
For behold, darkness shall cover the
earth, and gross darkness the people;
but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and
His glory shall be seen upon thee.
And the Gentiles shall come to thy light,
and kings to the brightness of
thy rising.
(Isaiah 60: 2-3)
11.
Air
Bass
The people that walked in darkness have
seen a great light;
and they that dwell in the land of the
shadow of death, upon them hath the
light shined.
(Isaiah 9: 2)
12.
Chorus
For unto us a child is born, unto us a
son is given, and the government
shall be upon His shoulder; and His name
shall be called Wonderful,
Counsellor, the mighty God, the
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
(Isaiah 9: 6)
13.
Pifa ("Pastoral Symphony")
14a.
Recitative
Soprano
There were shepherds abiding in the
field, keeping watch over their flocks
by night.
(Luke 2: 8)
14b.
Accompagnato
Soprano
And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon
them, and the glory of the Lord
shone round about them, and they were
sore afraid.
(Luke 2: 9)
15.
Recitative
Soprano
And the angel said unto them: "Fear
not, for behold, I bring you good
tidings of great joy, which shall be to
all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city
of David a Saviour, which is
Christ the Lord."
(Luke 2: 10-11)
16.
Accompagnato
Soprano
And
suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host,
praising God, and saying:
(Luke 2: 13)
17.
Chorus
"Glory to God in the highest, and
peace on earth, good will towards men."
(Luke 2: 14)
18.
Air
Soprano
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion;
shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, thy King cometh unto thee; He is
the righteous Saviour, and He
shall speak peace unto the heathen.
Rejoice greatly. . . da capo
(Zecharaiah 9: 9-10)
19.
Recitative
Alto
Then shall the eyes of the blind be
opened, and the ears of the deaf
unstopped.
Then shall the lame man leap as an hart,
and the tongue of the dumb shall
sing.
(Isaiah 35: 5-6)
20.
Air (or Duet)
(Alto
&) soprano
He shall feed His flock like a shepherd;
and He shall gather the lambs
with His arm, and carry them in His
bosom, and gently lead those that are
with young.
(Isaiah 40: 11)
Come unto Him, all ye that labour, come
unto Him that are heavy laden, and
He will give you rest.
Take his yoke upon you, and learn of Him,
for He is meek and lowly of
heart, and ye shall find rest unto your
souls.
(Matthew 11: 28-29)
21.
Chorus
His yoke is easy, and His burden is
light.
(Matthew 11: 30)
PART
TWO
22.
Chorus
Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away
the sin of the world.
(John 1: 29)
23.
Air
Alto
He was despised and rejected of men, a
man of sorrows and acquainted with
grief.
(Isaiah 53: 3)
He
gave His back to the smiters, and His cheeks to them that plucked off His
hair:
He hid not His face from shame and spitting.
He
was despised. . . da capo (Isaiah 53:
6)
24.
Chorus
Surely He hath borne our griefs, and
carried our sorrows!
He was wounded for our transgressions, He
was bruised for our iniquities;
the chastisement of our peace was upon
Him.
(Isaiah 53: 4-5)
25.
Chorus
And with His stripes we are healed.
(Isaiah 53: 5)
26.
Chorus
All we like sheep have gone astray; we
have turned every one to his own
way. And the Lord hath laid on Him the
iniquity of us all.
(Isaiah 53: 6)
27.
Accompagnato
Tenor
All they that see Him laugh Him to scorn;
they shoot out their lips, and
shake their heads, saying:
(Psalm 22: 7)
28.
Chorus
"He trusted in God that He would
deliver Him; let Him deliver Him, if He
delight in Him."
(Psalm 22: 8)
29.
Accompagnato
Tenor
Thy rebuke hath broken His heart: He is
full of heaviness. He looked for
some to have pity on Him, but there was
no man, neither found He any to
comfort him.
(Psalm 69: 20)
30.
Arioso
Tenor
Behold, and see if there be any sorrow
like unto His sorrow.
(Lamentations 1: 12)
31.
Accompagnato
Soprano
or tenor
He was cut off out of the land of the
living: for the transgressions of
Thy people was He stricken.
(Isaiah 53: 8)
32.
Air
Soprano
or tenor
But Thou didst not leave His soul in
hell; nor didst Thou suffer Thy Holy
One to see corruption.
(Psalm 16: 10)
33.
Chorus
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye
lift up, ye everlasting doors;
and the King of Glory shall come in.
Who is this King of Glory? The Lord
strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in
battle.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye
lift up, ye everlasting doors;
and the King of Glory shall come in.
Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of
Hosts, He is the King of Glory.
(Psalm 24: 7-10)
34.
Recitative
Tenor
Unto which of the angels said He at any
time: "Thou art My Son, this day
have I begotten Thee?"
(Hebrews 1: 5)
35.
Chorus
Let all the angels of God worship Him.
(Hebrews 1: 6)
36.
Air
Alto
or soprano
Thou art gone up on high; Thou hast led
captivity captive, and received
gifts for men; yea, even from Thine
enemies, that the Lord God might dwell
among them.
(Psalm 68: 18)
37.
Chorus
The Lord gave the word; great was the
company of the preachers.
(Psalm 68: 11)
38.
Air (or « duet and Chorus »)
Soprano
or alto (or soprano, alto and Chorus)
How beautiful are the feet of them that
preach the gospel of peace, and
bring glad tidings of good things.
(Isaiah 52: 7; Romans 10: 15)
39.
Chorus (or air for tenor)
Their sound is gone out into all lands,
and their words unto the ends of the
world.
(Romans 10: 18; Psalm 19: 4)
40.
Air (or « Air and Recitative »)
Bass
Why do the nations so furiously rage
together, and why do the people
imagine a vain thing?
The kings of the earth rise up, and the
rulers take counsel together
against the Lord, and against His
anointed.
(Psalm 2: 1-2)
41.
Chorus
Let us break their bonds asunder, and
cast away their yokes from us.
(Psalm 2: 3)
42.
Recitative
Tenor
He that dwelleth in Heav'n shall laugh
them to scorn; The Lord shall have
them in derision.
(Psalm 2: 4)
43.
Air
Tenor
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron;
thou shalt dash them in pieces
like a potter's vessel.
(Psalm 2: 9)
44.
Chorus
Hallelujah: for the Lord God Omnipotent
reigneth.
(Revelation 19: 6)
The kingdom of this world is become the
kingdom of our Lord,
and of His Christ; and He shall reign for
ever and ever.
(Revelation 11: 15)
King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.
(Revelation 19: 16)
Hallelujah!
PART
THREE
45.
Air
Soprano
I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that
He shall stand
at
the latter day upon the earth.
And though worms destroy this body, yet
in my flesh shall I see God.
(Job 19: 25-26)
For now is Christ risen from the dead,
the first fruits of them that
sleep.
(I Corinthians 15: 20)
46.
Chorus
Since by man came death, by man came also
the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ
shall all be made alive.
(I Corinthians 15: 21-22)
47.
Accompagnato
Bass
Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall
not all sleep, but we shall all be
changed in a moment, in the twinkling of
an eye, at the last trumpet.
(I Corinthians 15: 51-52)
48.
Air
Bass
The trumpet shall sound, and the dead
shall be raised incorruptible, and
we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on
incorruption and this mortal must put on
immortality.
The trumpet. . . da capo
(I Corinthians 15: 52-53)
49.
Recitative
Alto
Then shall be brought to pass the saying
that is written: "Death is
swallowed up in victory."
(I Corinthians 15: 54)
50.
Duet
Alto
& tenor
O death, where is thy sting? O grave,
where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin, and the strength
of sin is the law.
(I Corinthians 15: 55-56)
51.
Chorus
But thanks be to God, who giveth us the
victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ.
(I Corinthians 15: 57)
52.
Air
Soprano
alto
If God be for us, who can be against us?
(Romans 8: 31)
Who shall lay anything to the charge of
God's elect? It is God that
justifieth, who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea rather,
that is risen again, who is at the right
hand of God, who makes
intercession for us.
(Romans 8: 33-34)
53.
Chorus
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and
hath redeemed us to God by His
blood, to receive power, and riches, and
wisdom,
and strength, and honour, and glory, and
blessing.
Blessing and honour, glory and power, be
unto Him that sitteth upon the
throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and
ever.
Amen.
(Revelation 5: 12-14)