2. Who Is Jonathan Swift? What Is His Connection with the Messiah?

LAB-51

Brigid Cohen

Messiah Quiz

1. When and where was the Messiah first performed? Who compiled the Biblical and liturgical texts?

April 13, 1742; Great Music Hall in Fishamble St., Dublin; Charles Jennens

2. Who is Jonathan Swift? What is his connection with the Messiah?

author of Gulliver’s Travels, Modest Proposal; political satires; dean of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral—their choir participated in the performance (the other choir was Christ Church)

3. Name and briefly define the three different kinds of choruses found in the Messiah.

anthem chorus—each phrase of text is set to a different musical idea; there is a mixture of polyphony and homophony, with a very full texture.

fugue chorus—strict imitative polyphony that begins with the successive entrances of each set of voices singing the “subject” (or theme) of the fugue in imitation.

duet chorus—adapted from a duet Handel had composed the previous year; characterized by a light and airy texture; for most of the chorus, only two sets of voices sing at once.

4. What are the musical elements of a fugue?

subject, exposition, episodes

5. Name three musicians connected with the first performance of the Messiah.

Susanna Cibber, Mrs. Maclaine, Matthew Dubourg, Christina Avolio; James Bailey (tenor); John Hill (bass); John Mason (bass)

Listening Section

Excerpt 1 [Rejoice] (4 minutes) (track 11)

6. To what genre of music does this belong?

aria

7. What is its instrumentation?

harpsichord and a full complement of strings

8. What is the meter at the beginning of the excerpt?

duple

9. How would you describe the overall structure of this piece? (choose one)

ABA ABBA ABAB

10. How would you describe its texture?

light and airy; upper strings play together in homophony; lower strings and harpsichord play in harmony with slightly different, simpler rhythms (I accepted a variety of answers for this question—both homophony and polyphony—we will discuss texture more in section)

Excerpt 2 (track 7) (For Behold, Darkness)

11. What kind of recitative is this?

accompagnato

12. What aria does it precede? (extra credit)

“The people that walked in darkness”

13. Name an example of text painting in this excerpt.

One example: rising vocal line that sets the word “arise.” There are many other examples.

Excerpt 3 (track 13) (His Yoke is Easy)

14. What kind of chorus is this?

duet chorus

15. How would you describe its texture and meter?

very light imitative texture, polyphonic

duple meter

16. Where in the Messiah does this chorus occur? (extra credit)

at the end of Part 1