Portrait of (c. 1726–28) by Balthasar Denner (1685–1749). Wikimedia Commons. Wikimedia (1685–1749). Denner Balthasar by 1726–28) (c. Handel Frideric George of Portrait

Saturday, December 10, 2016, 8pm Zellerbach Hall The Choir of Trinity Wall Street Trinity Baroque Orchestra

Messiah

music by George Frideric Handel

libretto compiled from Holy Scripture by Charles Jennens

the Choir of trinity Wall Street trinity Baroque orchestra Soloists from the Choir Julian Wachner, conductor

 The Choir of Trinity Wall Street

SOPRANO TENOR elizabeth Bates eric Dudley Sarah Brailey Andrew Fuchs megan Chartrand Brian Giebler mellissa Hughes timothy Hodges linda lee Jones Scott mello molly netter tommy Wazelle tanya roberts elena Williamson BASS Paul An ALTO Christopher Dylan Herbert melissa Attebury Steven Hrycelak luthien Brackett tim Krol tim Keeler thomas mcCargar Clifton massey edmund milly timothy Parsons Jonathan Woody

Trinity Baroque Orchestra

VIOLIN 1 VIOLA ORGAN robert mealy, concertmaster Jessica troy, principal Avi Stein Beth Wenstrom Kyle miller Claire Jolivet Daniel elyar HARPSICHORD Katie Hyun Alissa Smith James Kennerley Chloe Fedor marie Daniels Jeremy rhizor OBOE Abigail Karr VIOLONCELLO Geoffrey Burgess, principal theresa Salomon ezra Seltzer, principal Kristin olson James Wilson VIOLIN 2 Katie rietman BASSOON Francis liu, principal Sarah Stone Andrew Schwartz, principal tatiana Daubek Arnie tanimoto Clayton Zeller-townson marika Holmqvist Dongmyung Ahn BASS TRUMPET noémy Gagnon-lafrenais Douglas Balliett, principal John thiessen, principal maureen murchie robert nairn Samuel Jones Wen Yang TIMPANI Daniel mallon

 PLAYBILL PROGRAM NOTES

A Fine Entertainment: Handel’s Messiah “The whole is beyond any thing I had a notion of until I Read and heard it. It seems to be a Spe cies of Musick dif - ferent from any other, and this is particularly remark able of it. That tho’ the Com position is very Master ly and artificial, yet the Harmony is So great and open, as to please all who have Ears & will hear, learned & unlearn’d….”

he Bishop of elphin’s rapturous review of tMes siah’s Dublin pre- miere points out how imme- diately this great work caught the public imagination. Since that day in 1743, Messiah has become one of our most The Great Music Hall in Fishamble Street, Dublin, familiar and popular musical where messiah was first performed landmarks. the chief diffi- culty with approaching this work today, of early as 1732, when he composed Esther, but course, is that very familiarity: like Hamlet or the arrival of Messiah as part of his london Lear, “the” Messiah has become so much a part series marked a decisive transition from Italian of our cultural landscape that it seems always operas to english oratorios, “in which the already known. But, again like Shakespeare, its Solemnity of Church-musick is agreeably greatness lies in the fact that it is also always united with the most pleasing Airs of the more interesting and remarkable than we have Stage,” to quote the librettist of Samson. Messiah remembered. is, however, very different from Handel’s other In July 1741, Handel’s librettist Charles Jen - oratorios, all of which which are essentially nens wrote to a friend: “Handel says he will do dramatic versions of Biblical stories presented nothing next Winter, but I hope I shall perswade without staging. the idea of setting the crux of him to set another Scripture Collection I have Christian belief, the story of Jesus’ birth, death, made for him, & perform it for his own Benefit and resurrection, was at the time a novel and in Passion Week. I hope he will lay out his whole potentially shocking one; to have this story Genius & Skill upon it, that the Composition told entirely in the form of Biblical quotations may excell all his former Compositions, as the from both the old and new testaments was Subject excells every other subject. the Subject remarkable indeed. is messiah.” In fact, within the month Handel except for the brief nativity scene in Part I, was hard at work. He began composing Messiah where the Angel speaks to the Shepherds, Mes - on August 22 and finished a rough score a little siah’s libretto is constructed wholly from pas- more than three weeks later. sages in the third person, thus avoiding the the composition of Messiah proved to be a chief objection against oratorio in general and turning-point in Handel’s career. He had begun this subject in particular: the messiah never ac- working with a new kind of english oratorio as tually sings. But this also opened the way for a

 PROGRAM NOTES

far greater breadth of textual reference. Jennens on first glance, the grandeur of Jennens’ used a passage from St. Paul that neatly sums conception is not particularly reflected in up the program of his “Scripture Collection”— Han del’s instrumentation. Immediately upon “God was manifested in the Flesh, justify’d completing Messiah, Handel began composing by the Spirit, seen of Angels, preached among Samson for an especially large and colorful the Gentiles, believed on in the World, received orchestra. But Messiah’s original version was up in Glory.” scored only for strings and trumpets, perhaps because Handel was unsure of the forces he would find at its first performance in Dublin; the string parts were later reinforced with oboes and bassoons. using only these simple means, however, he makes remarkably telling effects. For example, we first hear the trumpets only “from a distance, and softly” in the chorus “Glory to God,” with- out their usual accompani- ment of drums. their full brilliance is revealed much further on, well into the Hal - le lujah Chorus, where they finally are heard onstage with the timpani. And despite the minimal forces he uses, Handel’s mu- sical language in Messiah is full of variety. Just as Handel’s own speech was an eloquent mix of at least four languages, so too his musical discourse Portrait of Charles Jennens (c. 1745), by Thomas Hudson (1701–1779) accommodates with ease the english anthem tradition, the All this is far more than a simple retelling Italian opera aria, the tumultuous crowd-scenes of the life of Christ, and Jennens’ net of quota- of German lutheran Passions, and even the tions draws our attention to the symbolic im- French opera overture (its first appearance in an plications of these events. this is why (for oratorio). Such stylistic wealth was somewhat example) the tremendously dramatic Passion lost on Jennens, who thought that the score was story in Part II is conveyed entirely at one re- not entirely up to his libretto and complained move, through the language of the old testa - vociferously about “some weak parts, which he ment whose prophecies it is seen to embody. was too idle & too obstinate to retouch, tho’ Indeed, Part III (which is patterned largely I used great importunity to perswade him to it.” after the Anglican burial service, with its em- Jennens’ pressure to alter parts of the work phasis on resurrection and the victory over sin) (particularly the overture, in which he thought has no “plot” at all, but rather concerns itself “there are some passages far unworthy of Handel, with the wider implications of God’s interven- but much more unworthy of the messiah”) tion in the world. seems to have materially contributed to a major

 PLAYBILL PROGRAM NOTES breakdown for Handel in April of 1743, “a return and its annual benefit performances were so of his Paralytick Disorder, which affects his Head successful that the hospital even considered re- & Speech.” the librettist admitted shortly there- questing Parliament to reserve Messiah “to the after “that a letter I wrote him about [Messiah] sole use & Benefit of this Hospital.” (When con- contributed to the bringing of his last illness sulted, Handel made it clear that this “did not upon him… this shews that I gall’d him: but seem agreeable for the Present.”) Charles Burney I have not done with him yet.” Interestingly, wrote eloquently of this work’s social (and eco- Handel scholar Frederic Feh - leisen has pointed to the structural importance of the overture in presenting several motivic ideas that are crucial to the musical and theological unfolding of the work; the whole is bound together in a tonal scheme so important that the threat of undoing its crucial threads seems to have made Handel physically ill. After its rapturous wel- come in Dublin, Messiah re- ceived a rather more mixed reception in london the fol- lowing season, where Jennens noted “a clamor rais’d against it, which has only occasion’d it’s being advertis’d without its name.” Perhaps because of this controversy, Handel seems to have been reluctant to revive Messiah the follow- ing season. It was performed again in 1745, but not re- The chapel of London’s Foundling Hospital, the venue peated until 1749, when it for regular charity performances of messiah from 1750 assumed what was to become its regular place at the end of his season, just nomic) force that it “fed the hungry, clothed the before easter. the next year it found an even naked, fostered the orphan, and enriched suc- more appropriate home as a regular benefit for a ceeding managers of oratorios, more than any local charity. the “Hospital for the maintenance single musical production in this or any country.” and education of exposed and Deserted Young It is pleasant to find that what its librettist de- Children,” otherwise known as the Foundling scribed happily as “a fine entertainment” had so Hospital, welcomed Handel to its board of salutary an effect on the world. In re-creating governors in 1750, and from thence till Handel’s the musical conditions of Handel’s own perform- death a performance in the hospital’s chapel of ances, we may hope that we re-create the reac- Messiah at eastertime became an annual event. tions of Bishop elphin’s fellow-listeners: “they the association of Messiahwith the Found ling seem’d indeed throughly engag’d frome one end Hospital was a long and honorable one. Handel to the other … which Show’d that they were not bequeathed a set of performing parts to the char- only pleas’d but affected with the performance.” ity, which were copied out in 1759 after his death, — © Robert Mealy

 ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Julian Wachner whom he won ASCAP’s Alice Parker Award (Trinity Church Wall Street director of music) for adventurous programming and Chorus As director of music at new York’s historic America’s margaret Hilles Award for Choral trinity Wall Street, Julian Wachner oversees excellence. an annual season of hundreds of events, with Wachner’s extensive catalogue of original duties including conducting trinity’s flagship compositions has been variously described as “jazzy, energetic, and ingen- ious” (Boston Globe); being “a compendium of surprises” (Washington Post); having “splen dor, dignity, outstanding tone combinations, so phisti- cated chromatic ex plor a tion… a rich backdrop, wavering between a glimmer and a tingle…” (La Scena Musicale); and “bold and atmospheric,” having “an im ag inative flair for allusive text setting” and noted for “the silken complexities of his harmonies” (New York Times). the American Record Guide noted that “Wachner is both an unapologetic mod- ernist and an open-minded eclectic—his music has some- thing to say.” Wachner also enjoys an ac- tive guest conducting schedule including performances with the San Francisco opera; the Julian Wachner Philadelphia orch estra; Glim - mer glass opera; Hawaii opera weekly series, Bach at one, canvassing the en- theater; the montreal, Pacific, Calgary, and tire choral-orchestral output of J. S. Bach, and Pittsburgh symphony orchestras; the new York leading Compline by Candlelight, trinity’s Philhar monic; Carnegie Hall Presents; Seraphic innovative fully improvised variation on this Fire; the national Arts Centre orchestra; ancient monastic ritual. In addition, Wachner Juilliard opera theater; curates the long-standing and cherished Con - Festi val; Phil har monia Baroque orchestra & certs at one series presenting an eclectic pro- Chorale, Hong Kong Philharmonic; Bang on gram of weekly concerts for lower manhattan a Can All-Stars; ; and and beyond through its HD live and on- Apollo’s Fire. demand webcasting. Also at trinity Wall Street, With multiple Grammy nominations to his Wach ner serves as the principal conductor of credit, Wachner has recorded with Chandos, noVuS nY (trinity’s resident contemporary naxos, Atma Classique, erato, Cantaloupe music, music orchestra), the trinity Baroque orch - Arsis, Dorian, Acis, and musica omnia. He is estra, and the Choir of trinity Wall Street. published exclusively by e.C. Schirmer and is Wachner is also music director of the Grammy represented worldwide by opus 3 Artists. Award-winning Washington Chorus, with

 PLAYBILL ABOUT THE ARTISTS

The Choir of Trinity Wall Street In addition to its Grammy-nominated Israel As peerless interpreters of both early and new in Egypt CD, the Choir of trinity Wall Street has music, the Grammy-nominated Choir of tri - released several recordings with naxos, musica nity Wall Street has changed the face of 21st- omnia, VIA recordings, and Avie records. century vocal music, breaking new ground with trinity’s long-term commitment to new music is its artistry, described as “blazing with vigour… evident in these recordings and in collaborations a choir from heaven” (The Times, london). with living composers including Du Yun, Paola under the direction of Julian Wachner, this Prestini, ralf Gawlick, elena ruehr, and Julia premier ensemble can be heard in new York Wolfe, whose 2015 Pulitzer Prize-winning and City and around the world in performances Grammy-nominated work Anthracite Fields was alternately described as “thrilling” (The New recorded with the choir. the 2016–17 season Yorker), “musically top-notch” (The Wall Street promises to uphold trini ty’s long-standing rep- Journal), and “simply superb” (New York Times). utation for conferring a “musical blessing” (New the choir leads the liturgical music on Sundays York Times) on new York City and beyond. at trinity Church and St. Paul’s Chapel, while performing in Bach at one, Compline by Can - Trinity Baroque Orchestra dle light, and many other concerts and festivals Praised by the New York Times for its “dramatic throughout the year, often with the trinity vigor” and “elegantly shaped orchestral sound,” Baroque orchestra and noVuS nY. Critically the Grammy-nominated trinity Baroque orch - acclaimed annual performances of Handel’s estra made its debut for trinity Church Wall Messiah are part of its long and storied tradi- Street’s 2009 performances of Messiah, and has tion, and attending the choir’s performances at since performed early music masterworks with trinity’s annual time’s Arrow Festival has the Choir of trinity Wall Street. In early 2016, quickly become the holiday tradition of many trinity’s ever-popular Bach at one series com- new Yorkers as well. pleted a presentation of Bach’s entire output of the choir has toured extensively throughout sacred vocal music. In addition to a soon-to-be the united States, making appearances at Car - released recording of Han del’s Messiah, the trinity negie Hall, lincoln Center, the metro politan Baroque orches tra has recorded with the Choir museum of Art, the Berkeley early music Fes - of trinity Wall Street for Handel’s Israel in tival, BAm’s next Wave Festival, and the Protot - Egypt and J.S. Bach: Complete Motets. ype Festival. the choir is also increasingly in With Julian Wachner as principal conductor, demand internationally, and recent seasons the group boasts a varied roster of north have seen performances at Paris’ théâtre des America’s finest period players. robert mealy, Champs-Élysées and london’s Barbican thea - described by The New Yorker as “new York’s tre. the choir has been featured with the Bang world-class early music violinist,” serves as prin- on a Can All-Stars, the new York Philhar monic, cipal concertmaster. In addition to performing and with on their 50th an- with the finest orchestras, several of the players niversary tour. hold positions at distinguished institutions including Yale university, Harvard uni versity, Indiana university, and the ’s Historical Performance Program.

 LIBRETTO

oVerture Chorus And he shall purify the sons of levi, PART ONE that they may offer unto the lord an offering in righteousness. Arioso for Tenor (mr. Giebler) Malachi 3:3 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Recitative for Alto (mr. massey) Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and cry unto her, that her warfare is and bear a son, and shall call his name accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. emmanuel, “God with us.” the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Isaiah 7:14 and St. Matthew 1:23 Prepare ye the way of the lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Air for Alto and Chorus Isaiah 40:1–3 o thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain; Air for Tenor o thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, every valley shall be exalted, and every lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, mountain be not afraid; and hill made low: the crooked straight, say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! and the Arise, shine; for thy light is come, rough places plain. and the glory of the lord is risen upon thee. Isaiah 40:4 Isaiah 40:9 and 60:1

Chorus Arioso for Bass (mr. milly) And the glory of the lord shall be revealed, For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and all and gross darkness the people: flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of but the lord shall arise upon thee, the lord and his glory shall be seen upon thee, hath spoken it. and the Gentiles shall come to thy light, Isaiah 40:5 and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Isaiah 60:2–3 Recitative for Bass (mr. Woody) thus saith the lord of hosts: Air for Bass Yet once, a little while, the people that walked in darkness and I will shake the heavens, have seen a great light: and the earth, the sea, and they that dwell in the land of the and the dry land; and I will shake all nations, shadow of death, and the desire of all nations shall come. upon them hath the light shined. the lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come Isaiah 9:2 to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: Chorus Behold, he shall come, saith the lord of hosts. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: Haggai 2:6–7 and Malachi 3:1 and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Air for Alto (mr. Parsons) Counsellor, the mighty God, the But who may abide the day of his coming? everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. And who shall stand when he appeareth? Isaiah 9:6 For he is like a refiner’s fire. Malachi 3:2

 PLAYBILL LIBRETTO

Pifa (Pastoral Symphony) Air for Alto and Soprano (mr. Parsons & ms. Brailey) Recitative for Soprano (ms. roberts) He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: there were shepherds abiding in the field, and he shall gather the lambs with his arm, keeping watch over their flock by night. and carry them in his bosom, Saint Luke 2:8 and gently lead those that are with young. Come unto him, all ye that labor and are Arioso for Soprano heavy laden; and he will give you rest. And, lo, the angel of the lord came upon them, take his yoke upon you, and learn of him; and the glory of the lord shone round for he is meek and lowly of heart: about them; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. and they were sore afraid. Isaiah 40:11 and Saint Matthew 11:28–29 Saint Luke 2:9 Chorus Recitative for Soprano His yoke is easy, and his burthen is light. And the angel said unto them, Saint Matthew 11:30 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 INTERMISSION David a Savior, which is Christ the lord. Saint Luke 2:10–11 PART TWO Arioso for Soprano And suddenly there was with the angel Chorus a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, Behold the lamb of God, that taketh away and saying, the sin of the world. Saint Luke 2:13 Saint John 1:29

Chorus Air for Alto (ms. Brackett) Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, He was despised and rejected of men; good will toward men. a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. Saint Luke 2:14 He gave his back to the smiters, and his cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: Air for Soprano (ms. roberts) he hid not his face from shame and spitting. rejoice greatly, o daughter of Zion; Isaiah 53:3 and 50:6 shout, o daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee. Chorus He is the righteous Savior, and he shall speak Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried peace unto the heathen. our sorrows: Zechariah 9:9–10 he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: Recitative for Alto (mr. Parsons) the chastisement of our peace was upon him; then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and with his stripes we are healed. and the ears of the deaf unstopped. All we like sheep have gone astray; then shall the lame man leap as an hart, we have turned every one to his own way; and the tongue of the dumb shall sing. and the lord hath laid on him the Isaiah 35:5–6 iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:4–6

 LIBRETTO

Arioso for Tenor (mr. Hodges) Recitative for Tenor (mr. Hodges) All they that see him laugh him to scorn: unto which of the angels said they shoot out their lips, and shake He at any time, thou art my Son, their heads, saying, this day have I begotten thee? Psalm 22:7 Hebrews 1:5

Chorus Chorus He trusted in God that he would deliver him: let all the angels of God worship Him. let him deliver him, if he delight in him. Hebrews 1:6 Psalm 22:8 Air for Bass (mr. Herbert) Recitative for Tenor (mr. Hodges) thou art gone up on high, thy rebuke hath broken his heart; thou hast led captivity captive, and received he is full of heaviness: he looked for some gifts for men; to have pity on him, yea, even for thine enemies, that the lord but there was no man, neither found he any God might dwell among them. to comfort him. Psalm 68:18 (Ephesians 4:8) Psalm 69:20 Chorus Air for Tenor the lord gave the word: great was the Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like company of the preachers. unto his sorrow. Psalm 68:11 Lamentations 1:12 Air for Soprano (ms. roberts) Recitative for Soprano (ms. netter) How beautiful are the feet of them that He was cut off out of the land of the living: preach the gospel of peace, for the transgression of thy people and bring glad tidings of good things. was he stricken. Romans 10:15 Isaiah 53:8 Chorus Air for Soprano their sound is gone out into all lands, But thou didst not leave his soul in hell; and their words unto the ends of the world. nor didst thou suffer thy Holy one Romans 10:18 (Psalm 19:4) to see corruption. Psalm 16:10 Air for Bass (mr. Woody) Why do the nations so furiously rage together: Chorus why do the people imagine a vain thing? lift up your heads, o ye gates; the kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; take counsel together: and the King of glory shall come in. against the lord, and against His Anointed. Who is this King of glory? Psalm 2:1–2 the lord strong and mighty, the lord mighty in battle. Chorus lift up your heads, o ye gates; let us break their bonds asunder, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and cast away their yokes from us. and the King of glory shall come in. Psalm 2:3 Who is this King of glory? the lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. Psalm 24:7–10

 PLAYBILL LIBRETTO

Recitative for Tenor (mr. Herbert) Air for Bass He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to the trumpet shall sound, and the dead scorn: the lord shall have them in derision. shall be raised incorruptible, Psalm 2:46 and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, Air for Tenor (mr. Herbert) and this mortal must put on immortality. thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; I Corinthians 15:52–53 thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Recitative for Alto (mr. Parsons) Psalm 2:9 then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Chorus Death is swallowed up in victory. Hallelujah: for the lord God omnipotent I Corinthians 15:54 reigneth. the kingdom of this world is become the Duet for Alto and Tenor kingdom of our lord and of his Christ; (mr. Parsons & mr. mcCargar) and he shall reign for ever and ever. o death, where is thy sting? o grave, King of Kings, and lord of lords. where is thy victory? Revelation 19:6, 11:15 and 19:16 the sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. I Corinthians 15:55–56 PAUSE Chorus But thanks be to God, who giveth us PART THREE the victory through our lord Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 15:57 Air for Soprano (ms. netter) I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he Air for Soprano (ms. Brailey) shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: If God be for us who can be against us? and though worms destroy this body, Who shall lay any thing to the charge yet in my flesh shall I see God. of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. For now is Christ risen from the dead, Who is he that condemneth? the first fruits of them that sleep. It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen Job 19:25–26 and Corinthians 15:20 again, who is at the right hand of God, who maketh intercession for us. Chorus Romans 8: 31–34 Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. Chorus For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall Worthy is the lamb that was slain all be made alive. and hath redeemed us to God by I Corinthians 15:21–22 His blood to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and Recitative for Bass (mr. milly) glory, and blessing. Behold, I tell you a mystery; Blessing, and honor, glory, and power, We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, changed, in a moment, and unto the lamb for ever and ever. Amen. in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: Revelation 5:12–137 I Corinthians 15:51–52

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