| Messiah, Handel's oratorio, has won universal affection and appreciation from the world by its infinite charm, since the day it was created. People are marveled by this wonderful music, not only at its beautiful melody, but also at the profound thought it carries.Messiah is played on concert halls around the world for hundreds of time each year. Even today, every year during Christmas period in USA, Britain and mostly English speaking countries (the lyrics of Messiah are in English), this great oratorio will be performed. The vitality of Messiah directly comes from the content of this work. The profundity of Christianity and the richness of music culture in western countries give this piece of work a long lasting popularity to endure centuries.This article starts from introduction of Messiah's author-Handel, presenting his life, historical background, his oratorio works, and his writing features; the word Messiah originates from Hebrew (mashiah), meaning "the anointed, king". In Christianity, Jesus is Messiah, the Savior of humanity. He so loved the world, to the extent of willingly taking the punishment for man and allowing himself to be crucified on the cross. God raised him from the dead after three days. He who has faith in Him shall inherit the etemal life. This is what Messiah presents to us.The background Handel was in and the context of this work cannot be separated form Christianity, so I particularly introduce what's behind Handel's Messiah-Christianity and the Bible. I believe, to grasp Messiah more accurately, one must begin from here. If we only analyze its music and the structure in a superficial way, or simply view it as representation of the mass, neglecting author's situation and his belief and ignoring its biblical connotation between the lines, it will be very difficult to conduct a correct analysis on the formation of this work.In the final part I made some detailed appreciation and analysis on the overall structure of Messiah and some of its main sub tunes. |
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