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Messiah (excerpts) K. 572
G.F. Handel (1685 – 1759), arr. Mozart
Handel’s Messiah is one of the best-loved and most-performed works in the choral repertoire. Composed to very short order over 24 days in the summer of 1741, the work was premiered in Dublin on 13 April 1742, at a charity concert. The text for the sacred oratorio was compiled by Charles Jennens. Handel conducted Messiah many times, often altering it to suit the needs of the moment. In consequence no single version can be regarded as the “authentic” one, and many more variations and rearrangements were added in subsequent centuries, including this version by Mozart. His patron Baron van Swieten was giving performances in Vienna of Handel’s oratorios, and Mozart took over the conducting of these concerts in 1787. It was for once such performance in March 1789 that he completed his arrangement of the Messiah. revising the oboe and trumpet parts and adding flutes, clarinets, bassoons, horns and trombones to Handel’s original orchestra. The early music revival of the latter half of the twentieth century notwithstanding, Mozart’s version of the Messiah has remained popular to the present day.
Handel arr. Mozart: Messiah K. 572
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