Welcome to the new Aradia Blog. 

It will be my great pleasure to keep you up to date with our news and to give you insight into some of the music we are performing or recording! Happily, my first post about our upcoming concert is an Aradia favourite! (Well, they all are!) It’s December, so that must mean Messiah—and in our case the Dublin Messiah, our reconstruction of the first performance in Dublin.

“The Ladies who honour this Performance with their Presence would be pleased to come without hoops, as it will greatly encrease the Charity by making room for more company The Gentlemen are desired to come without their Swords.”   (The Dublin Journal 10 April 1742).

With these words, the gentlefolk of Dublin were invited to attend the first performance of what was to become one of the most beloved and enduring works of the classical music repertoire. When the celebrated German composer George Frideric Handel (his name already Anglicized) was invited to Ireland, it was at a time when his opera enterprises in London were failing. He then turned his hand to a new medium—Religious Oratorio, and one such, was Messiah, the first performance of which took place in the New Music- Hall in Fishamble Street in Dublin (the theatre no longer exists), on April 13^th, 1742.

On December 17^th, at Toronto’s Glenn Gould Studio, the Aradia Ensemble presents a recreation of the first performance of Messiah.

Over the years it has become standard for performing groups to do a type of averaged-out version of the Messiah.  In reality each performance in Handel’s time had special characteristics. Our attempt at a reconstruction of a specific event, in this case the first performance, is not meant to signify that this version is better than others. Indeed, it is my opinion, that in nearly every case, the numbers he altered subsequently were much improved by doing so!

We can’t be clear about the audience capacity of the New Music- Hall in Fishamble Street in Dublin, but we suspect that it was relatively small with a correspondingly smallish orchestra size (as with Glenn Gould Studio and Aradia’s performance.) It has become customary to hear the work in a church, but clearly, the first performance took place in a concert- hall.  Perhaps this is why, at the premier, Jonathon Swift (Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and also of Gulliver’s Travels fame) was reluctant to let the choristers under his charge take part, not wanting to “assist at a club of fiddlers.” In a sense he was right, for it is likely that Handel saw his religious oratorios more in operatic and theatrical terms as opposed to a purely religious experience. Of course, wherever it is performed the music is deeply moving.

But what are the differences between the original and what has become standard?

It is by no means clear whether the first performance had oboes. Although Handel certainly had oboes available for his Dublin season in 1742, he only officially added separate oboe parts after his return to London—besides, they only double the violins in the overture and the sopranos and altos in the chorus, even in this case.

Although there would subsequently be many variants, we present the original versions of the following:

• The famous air- But who may abide the day of His coming is given in its original as a Recitative for Bass.
• The soprano Air - Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion is originally in a 12/8 version.
• The Air - He Shall feed his flock is sung by the Alto only.
• The Air- Thou art gone up on high, (usually sung by Soprano), is sung by a Bass.
• How beautiful are the feet is a Duetto for 2 Alto solos and chorus. (The following chorus—Their sound is gone is out was not performed in the 1^st performance.)
• The Air- If God be for us, who can be against us? is sung by the Alto.

There are also little textual differences here and there.

For example, in the tenor aria Every Valley, Handel original wrote an extra bar, where there is a repeated figure. (He subsequently scribbled out the extra bars)

The bass recitative: Thus saith the Lord, in fact, started life as a little arioso, which turns into a recitative. (As with the Every Valley bars above, he scrubbed this opening, starting with the more usual recitative)

It is likely that Handel had already made these changes before the 1^st performance—but as a bit of fun, we preset these in our version as examples of his original intention.

You see these examples at work in a little Youtube Kevin TV from last year (please note that the dates announced are for 2010—the date of Aradia’s performance this year is December 17th and details can be found below)
Click here to watch the Youtube Video

Another difference, is that it has become usual for people to stand for the Hallelujah chorus (and worse, to sing along!) The standing supposedly comes form the fact that in the London performance, King George II was so moved that he stood up, and therefore if he stood, the congregation would have to also. But whether this story is true or not, the king was not there for the first performance, of which this concert is a recreation! So I usually ask people sit and enjoy! By so doing, I make a little historical claim and make a gentle Irish insult to the British Monarchy- all in one gesture!

Dublin Messiah

A reconstruction of the first performance of Handel's Messiah

Saturday, 17 December 2011, 8pm at Glenn Gould Studio

The choir and orchestra of the Aradia Ensemble, Director Kevin Mallon, is joined by soloists:

Virginia Hatfield (Soprano)

Maria Soulis (Mezzo-soprano)

Joseph Schnurr (Tenor)

Giles Tomkins (Bass)

Aradia Ensemble at Glenn Gould Studio,  

250 Front St. West.

416 -872-4255 or Order Online at Roy Thomson Hall

Cost: Adults $35, Seniors $25, Students $15

Click here to order online at Roy Thomson Hall Box Office