New York Harmonic Society Concert: Messiah

“Under circumstances of peculiar difficulty the Harmonic Society has this year maintained its laudable custom of giving the regular Christmas performance of Handel’s ‘Messiah.’ Almost at the last moment the regular conductor, Mr. F. L. Ritter resigned, and the society was obliged to invite the conductor of another organization to take his place. Dr.Pech responded promptly to the invitation, and under his lead the oratorio was creditably given. The chorus, though reinforced by volunteers from other societies, was weak, especially in female voices, but generally kept well together. The best choruses of the evening were ‘Lift up your heads, O ye gates,’ and the ‘Hallelujah.’ Of the solos, Miss Hutchings’s rendering of ‘He shall feed his flock,’ was marked with much taste, feeling and intelligence, and won the cordial recognition of the audience; and Miss Brainerd’s singing of ‘I know that my Redeemer liveth’ was in the best style of this experienced oratorio singer. Mr. Simpson sang the tenor solos, and Mr. Joseph Jewett (who possesses a good voice, only needing further cultivation to make its mark,) sang the bass music.

“The attendance last night was not very good. The performance as a whole was not up to the metropolitan standard. Yet the entire affair possessed a novel significance. For the first time the traditions of the oratorio were defied, and the arrangement of the different numbers was entirely reconstructed. Dr. Pech, the conductor, with the support of good musical advice, undertook the responsibility of this reconstruction. He omitted a number of choruses, which however endeared to the student of Handel, are not essential to the completeness of the oratorio. These omissions included certain recitatives, the aria, ‘Thou are gone up on high,’ and the choruses ‘Let all the angels of God worship him,’ Their sound is gone out,’ and ‘But thanks be to God.’ Further omissions, we believe, were intended, but out of courtesy to solo singers were not urged. The oratorio would have improved by still further omissions. The quartets and responsive choruses beginning ‘Since by man came death.’ were last night retained, but were badly sung.

“The new arrangement of the different numbers of the oratorio practically divided it onto four sequential parts, which may be briefly defined as Prophecy, Nativity or Advent, the Passion and the Triumph. By this rearrangement the dramatic idea of the oratorio found its climax in the grand announcement of the resurrection as figured in the aria, ‘The trumpet shall sound,’ leading to that wonderful masterpiece of counterpoint, the chorus, ‘Worthy is the Lamb.’ After this was placed the air, ‘I know that my Redeemer liveth’—being an expression of Christian faith in the great mystery which had now been fully accomplished; and the whole oratorio concluded with its fitting music, ‘The Hallelujah chorus.’ We have not the slightest hesitation that this new adaptation of the ‘Messiah’ is an improvement alike in a dramatic, a musical and a popular sense; but there should be still further ‘cuts.’ Several of the bass arias of this immortal oratorio are long, antiquated and tedious. Most people think so, though few can say it. We are certain that if the fetish-like worship of a page of music simply because it is by Handel be abandoned the common sense of musical amateurs will acknowledge the propriety of bringing the oratorio within a compass that will not make it wearisome to the average listener.”

“The ‘Messiah’ was given very effectively last night, under the direction of Dr. JAS. PECH, at Steinway Hall. The performance was rather remarkable, inasmuch as for the first time, we believe, a rearrangement of the pieces of the oratorio was effected for the occasion. Thus, it has been customary to sing the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ at the end of the second part, and the aria ‘I know that my Redeemer liveth,’ at the beginning of the third. Last night they were both placed at the end of the performance, and by this transposition the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ was made a climax which gave to the rendering a very effective termination. From the Overture to the chorus, ‘For unto us a Child is Born,’ the score may be considered prophetic. From the pastoral symphony to the chorus ‘His Yoke is Easy,’ refers to the immediate coming of the Savior. From ‘Behold the Lamb of God,’ to ‘Life Up Your Heads,’ comprehends the Passion, Crucifixion and Ascension. The last part of all deals with the consummation of Christianity on earth, and introduces the tenor recitative and solo, ‘He that Dwelleth in Heaven,’ and ‘Thou shall break them,’ and ‘The Trumpet shall Sound,’ with the magnificent contrapuntal choruses. ‘Worthy is the Lamb,’ and ‘Amen’ as a close, as it may be supposed, of the rejoicing of the angels over the success of Christ’s mission on earth. Here, as previously stated, ‘I know that my Redeemer’ is introduced as a fitting tribute on earth of an acknowledgment of salvation. The angels in heaven are then understood to ‘Praise the Lord’ in the form of the ‘Hallelujah.’ The rearrangement is cleverly accomplished; it is evident that Dr. PECH has planned it with care and consummate skill. The principal soloists on the occasion we write of were Miss MARIA BRAINERD, Miss C . V. HUTCHINGS, Mr. SIMPSON and Mr. JOSEPH JEWTET. [sic] The chorus and orchestra were somewhat small, but under the magnetic control of the leader, the whole performance became highly impressive. We trust this may be the commencement of better times for the New-York Harmonic Society. It is an old organization of respectability, and it is time that its members awoke from the lethargy into which for the last few years they have fallen.”

“The annual Christmas performance of ‘The Messiah’ was given by the New-York Harmonic Society last night at Steinway Hall, before a rather slim audience, and with a slim orchestra and chorus. About one hundred members of the society took part in the performance. Prof. Ritter, who has been their conductor for several years past, resigned a short time ago, and Dr. James Pech was borrowed for this occasion. Miss Brainerd, Miss Hutchings, Mr. Simpson, and Mr. Joseph Jewett were the solo singers—all of them old friends, so familiar in their respective parts that criticism upon them is uncalled for. We thought that all showed a [illeg.] in their [illeg.] of the hard work they were probably called upon to perform in various churches on Christmas day. The orchestra was not only weak, but coarse and careless. The chorus was unusually correct but also unusually ineffective, and its performance never rose above the level of respectable performance. The only point that calls for special notice in the representation is a change in the order of some of the numbers, so as to bring the ‘Hallelujah’ chorus at the end and ‘I know that my Redeemer liveth’ immediately before it. Why the solo should be taken from its proper place we do not know. The transposition of the chorus is possibly for the purpose of winding up the evening with the loudest and most effective piece on the programme. We are not aware that anybody has yet undertaken to reconstruct Beethoven’s Symphonies on this plan, or Meyerbeer’s grand operas, or Shakespeare’s plays, or Milton’s Paradise Lost; but if the effectiveness or even the merit of a particular passage is to determine its place in the composition of which it forms a part—without any reference to its meaning—we see no reason why all the great works of genius should not be twisted and turned upside down. The absurdity of this change in ‘The Messiah’ is so plain that we have hardly the patience to discuss it. Handel’s oratorio is not a patchwork of songs and choruses, but a sacred drama constructed with elaborate art. It is logically divided into three parts—we might almost say three acts. The first represents the coming of the Savior; the second his mission on earth and the establishment and triumph of Christianity; the third the gloritled [sic; glorified?] reign of the Messiah in heaven after the trumpet has given forth its final sound and death has been swallowed up in victory. Each part has its appropriate and peculiar music imbued with a coloring distinct from the others. In the first we have the comforting voice of the prophet announcing the fulfillment of the desire of all nations; the joy of the faithful who have held fast to the promises; the exquisite simplicity in which Handel tells the wonderful story of the Nativity; and the tender invitation to the weary and heavily-laden to come unto Him who will give them rest. In the second part, we are shown the Lamb of God despised and rejected, bearing our griefs, and cut off for our transgressions. We see how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel which he has left us, and we are reminded that though the nations furiously rage together the Lord will break them with a rod of iron, and the kingdom of this world shall become the kingdom of Christ. Then it is that the splendid ‘Hallelujah! For the Lord God reigneth,’ bursts forth, to celebrate the triumph of the Christian Church. The last part is devoted entirely to death and the resurrection—the final triumph of all. It begins with the soprano air, ‘I know that my Redeemer liveth,’ a tender and thoughtful meditation upon the life that is beyond the grave, and the thought grows through successive numbers, becoming more and more ecstatic, until it breaks  into exulting strains of ‘Thanks to God who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ,’ and the oratorio closes with the song to the Lamb that sitteth upon the throne—the song which the apostle in his vision heard the redeemed souls chanting in the New Jerusalem. This sequence of ideas is perfect, both in the text and the music. What shall we say, then, of the Vandal who believes he understands the meaning of this drama better than Handel—one of the most dramatic of all composers—and disfigures the second and third parts till there is no meaning left in them? Just look at the preposterous arrangement. After the tenor air, ‘Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron,’ describing the overthrow of the enemies of the Church, the author of the reformed Messiah places the quartet, ‘Since by man came death!’—which, in such a position has no sense and no musical effect either—and then goes on with the other fragments of the Resurrection music, even to the musical effect either—and then goes on with the other fragments of the Resurrection music, even to the song of the glorified saints, and the ‘Amen’ chorus which, if there is any significance in words or in musical phrases, ought to end the performance. The close is so obvious after the chorus that it is a positive shock to see the conductor to take up his baton and go on. Having led us into heaven, he now goes back to sing of death (‘I know that my Redeemer liveth’), which was rightfully the introduction to the quartet; and then goes back still further to sing ‘Hallelujah!’ at the triumphs of the faith! A little wholesome reverence for a great composer might have saved him from these gross absurdities. It is quite safe to infer that Handel was a good judge of his own calling, and understood what he wanted to express a great deal better than the gentlemen who now so anxious to speak for him.”

“Of the performance of the ‘Messiah,’ on the 26^th ult., by the Harmonic Society, the Independent [source further unidentified] says:

“’Although the chorus was rather more correct than usual, yet, so meagre was it in number (about 100), so indifferent was the orchestra, and so cold and small was the audience, that the entertainment, upon the whole, was dispiriting. Miss Brainerd and Miss Hutchings, who sang the soprano and alto solos, have a well-deserved celebrity in their respective parts; but neither was on this evening in her best voice. Mr. Simpson sang the tenor solos very well. Mr. Jewett, who took the bass, showed improvement since his last appearance in oratorio, though he was unequal to the severe exactions of the noble music of ‘The Messiah.’ Prof. Ritter, who had been the conductor of the society for several years past, suddenly resigned a short time ago, and the performance on the 16^th was consequently given under the baton of Dr. James Pech. To this gentleman we must probably attribute a gross piece of impertinence to the memory of Handel, which has aroused a great deal of indignation among musicians. Dr. Pech undertook to reconstruct ‘The Messiah,’ by altering the sequence of the numbers in the second part, so as to finish with the ‘Hallelujah’ chorus; although his plan involved several other changes beside this. Now, Handel wrote his great work with a most religious observance of the meaning of the text, so as to present a complete synopsis of the history of the Saviour, beginning with the prophecies of his coming, touching upon his life on earth, the establishment of his Church, and the great mystery of death and resurrection, and closing with the song of the redeemed in Heaven—the song which the Apostle, in his vision, heard the blessed spirits chanting to the Lamb that sitteth upon the throne. To each of these chapters Handel gave music of a distinct and appropriate spirit; and a musician who cannot appreciate the difference in the character of the songs and choruses, the progressive development of the idea, from the overture to the amen, must have unusually blunt perceptions of art, as well as an astonishing lack of sympathy with the text. Some of the sequences which result from Dr. Pech’s arrangement are ludicrous. He puts death after the resurrection, and the rejoicing over the establishment of Christ’s kingdom on earth (that is, the Church, as Handel understood it) comes long after the final triumph of the elect in Heaven. It does not seem to us that as a musical ‘sensation’—quite apart from any consideration of the meaning of the text—the new arrangement is the slightest improvement upon the old. Handel was an admirable judge in such matters; and Dr. Pech is not the man to review the great master’s decisions. We are aware that story was once current to the effect that the ‘Hallelujah’ was once intended to be the final chorus, and that Handel made it change places with ‘Worthy is the Lamb’ because he found that the interest of the second part was flagging; but this intrinsically improbable tale has been completely refuted. The original MS. shows that the “Hallelujah’ has always stood just where it stands now.’”