… "And the government shall be upon his shoulders"
As I was getting up this morning, the local classical station was playing Handel's Messiah and that familiar phrase above is oft repeated, as I am sure you are well aware. It has always struck me as quite strange. I am hoping some of our musicological members can help me understand the meaning and intent of Handel giving that phrase such a prominent place in the work. Certainly, it seems to run counter to Christ's own teaching that we should "render under Caesar, the things that are Caesar's, and to God, the things that are God's".
I am aware that our modern American notion of separation of church and state was not the case in the Europe of Handel's time. Also that the medieval church had maneuvered itself into the rather convenient arrangement with earthly Kings that their right to rule proceeded from God. Which was known as the divine right of kings. This fortuitous arrangement put the church officials in the position of validating earthly power as the manifestation of God's will. But all of that still doesn't quite square with the mantra, "and the government shall be upon his shoulders".
From everything I have ever learned Christ did not give a fig for earthly power. Is this as big a contradiction as it appears? Is Handel's Messiah a propaganda piece?
@frogman Interesting piece which seems to give undue weight to Old Testament prophecies, Isaiah, over Christ's actual teachings, "My kingdom is not of this world". Also the sermon referred to seems prone to a fair dose of wishful thinking. Fascinating that Dec 25 in India is "Good Governance Day" in India. I don't believe we have such a day in the U.S.. But you could be right that this was the line of thought going on in Handle's mind. |
quick finds vary, I once read that Handel was not religious, simply wrote it for money. excerpt: "Handel, in financial trouble, was sent a manuscript by the writer Charles Jennens entitled Messiah." https://www.praeclara.org/?page_id=641 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Frideric_Handel
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By coincidence, the December 25th edition of the New York Times had a wonderful article on Charles Jennens who provided the text for Handel's Messiah. The article titled "Two Men Wrote The Messiah. You Know One Of Them." is linked here: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/25/opinion/handel-messiah-holiday-hope.html?smid=em-share
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He throw the merchant tables outside of the temple. Christ was not interested by power but does not means that he was indifferent to power exercise... Imagine his reaction about control over not only church but school and work... Christ was not a marxist but certainly not a Smith disciple... And Haendel write music to eat for sure, but that does not means he does not put his heart writing music...
Christ only can govern earth social fabric , why ?
Because it will be a multipolar social fabric instead of a monolithical Roman Empire power. Or a techno-cultist control of people... Christ govern by authority not power imposition... Even our education is unfree from lobbies as our politic... We dont wait for Christ physical on physical earth but inside our heart and thinking not as a religion but as a way to be... I put as most people "the Messiah" on par with Bach works... Incredible genius...
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Great insights @elliottbnewcombjr . I especially like this quote from praeclara.org: "Why then did Handel compose Messiah? Or more precisely, why did he dare? The immediate answer is that by 1741 Handel’s life and career were in trouble. Not only was he deeply in debt and partially paralyzed by stroke, but his latest Old Testament oratorios, including Israel in Egypt, had been poorly received. When the Duke of Devonshire invited him to compose a work for a concert in Dublin to raise money for a variety of charities (including the Charitable Musical Society for the Relief of Imprisoned Debtors), Handel most likely decided upon Messiah in the belief that an oratorio based on “new material”� — the New Testament — might succeed where his previous oratorios had failed and that perhaps the concert’s Christian charitable purpose would shield him from charges of committing sacrilege. Even then, Handel took extra precautions. Although Messiah is about the life and passion of Jesus, more than half its texts derive from the Old Testament." and, "Handel’s own attitudes toward Messiah remain a mystery, and we will probably never know if he intended this work as a clever career move or as a tribute to God, or, as is quite possible, both." |
