Handel’s Messiah- Sacred, Sacrilegious or Secular?
All of us at one time or another have heard the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s Messiah. What’s more, all of us at one time or another have formed an opinion about Handel’s Messiah, whether we realize it or not.
The other day I was sitting in class when an interesting question was proposed- Is Handel’s Messiah sacred or sacrilegious? This question was left rolling around in my head and I expanded the question to include the word secular.
Handel’s Messiah is seen by many as being a sacred work, simply because the oratorio is about Jesus Christ- the central figure of Christianity. The oratorio goes through Christ’s life and depicts the many miracles He performed, culminating in the Atonement and His crucifixion. There are several moments in the oratorio that have touched millions of people and because of the spiritual nature of the messages, many recognize this work as a spiritual one.
However, there are others who think that Messiah is sacrilegious and secular because of where the music itself came from. Handel was famous for “borrowing” musical passages and inputting them in his work. Because of this, people criticize him for putting sacred text to borrowed music. Another argument of Messiah being a secular work stems from the idea that Messiah is typically only performed at Christmas time, and even then, sometimes only the Hallelujah Chorus is performed.
After finishing my class, I was stumped. I wanted to know what I thought. If Handel’s Messiah is so sacred, why does it only seem to be performed at Christmas time? But if it’s so secular, why is it tradition to stand whenever the Hallelujah Chorus is performed?
My thoughts are thus: Handel’s Messiah is a sacred work. The text is taken directly from scripture, featuring the prophecies of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, words from the apostle John from the New Testament book of Revelation, and words from Jesus Christ himself, recorded in the New Testament. My counter-argument to the fact that Handel may have borrowed music from other sources is that, simply, this was a massive job. Music is not what it used to be- one would be hard-pressed to find a musician who would write a 2 and a half to 3 hour long oratorio with entirely original music.
Finally, Handel’s Messiah was not written for Christmas time. It was written and premiered during Lent, a time that most Christians participate in. This time is preparation for the Easter holiday, the celebration of Christ’s sacrifice for the human race. Originally I thought that ever since the premiere of Messiah on April 13th, 1742, it had only been performed during Christmas time since then. However, I found a concert program here that includes a performance of all of Handel’s Messiah from the year 1881. This performance pointed out to me that the oratorio was performed nearly 140 years later, and still during the Easter season. The conception that Handel’s Messiah is only performed at Christmas time is untrue and unrealistic to claim that such a work is secular.
However, my opinion is my own. Let me know what you think in the comments! Do you have any additional thoughts?