and they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. CHORUS.6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders; and his name shall be called Wonderful! Counsellor! the Mighty God! the Everlasting Father! the Prince of Peace! PASTORAL SYMPHONY." RECITATIVE. There were shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night; And lo! the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid: RECITATIVE ACCOMPANIED. And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people; for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. RECITATIVE ACCOMPANIED. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, CHORUS,8 Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, good will towards men. modulation, seems to delineate the uncertain footsteps of persons exploring their way in obscurity. Whether this imitation is obvious, or possible to be made so, I know not; but there is merit in the attempt, when it involves no absurdity.-Burney. (6) For unto us a child is born, &c. During the performance of this Oratorio, I made three several pencil marks, expressive of the degrees of comparative good with which my ears were affected, by particular movements; and I found the sign of superlative excellence stamped on this chorus, which has so much merit of various kinds, that I know not where to begin to praise it. The subjects of fugue are so agreeable; the violin accompaniments of such a peculiar character; and the clearness and facility which reign through the whole so uncommon, that each of them deserves to be particularly remarked; but at every introduction of the words “Wonderful! Counsellor! the mighty God! the everlasting Father! the Prince of Peace!" which he so long and so judiciously postponed, the idea and effect are truly sublime. There is poetry of the highest class in the music, as well as the words, of this chorus.-Burney. (7) This pastoral symphony, following the high-sounding chorus, and played in a subdued manner, is balmy and delicious. The recitatives, though consisting of few and simple notes, without air or measure, are yet "melting sounds" to every hearer of sensibility.-Burney. (8) Glory be to God, &c. This magnificent chorus has more of the clair AIR. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold thy king cometh unto thee. He is the righteous Saviour, and he shall speak peace unto the heathen. RECITATIVE. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing. AIR.9 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, and he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. BEHOLD the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world. AIR.12 He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. obscure than perhaps had ever been attempted at the time it was composed. The answers to the fugue, succeeding each other so clearly and closely at the words "good will towards men," must always please artists, who know the ingenuity and merit of such contrivances; but the general effects of this chorus want nothing but attention and feeling, to afford unaccountable delight even to the ignorant.-Burney. (9) He shall feed his flock, &c. This is an air in Handel's best Sicilian style, and has ever been in great favour with performers and hearers. Burney. (10) The Second Part of this divine oratorio abounds in so many beauties of composition and effect, that I find one of my three marks of admiration affixed to almost every movement.-Burney. (11) Behold the Lamb of God, &c. This chorus has the single stamp of solemnity.-Burney. (12) He was despised and rejected of men, &c. This air has ever impressed CHORUS.13 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows; he was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. CHORUS.14 All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. RECITATIVE ACCOMPANIED. All they that see him laugh him to scorn; they shoot out their lips, and shake their heads, saying, CHORUS. 15 He trusted in God that he would deliver him; let him deliver him if he delight in him. RECITATIVE ACCOMPANIED.16 Thy rebuke hath broken his heart; he is full of heaviness; me with the highest idea of excellence in pathetic expression, of any English song with which I am acquainted.-Burney. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. The skilful introduction of a discord into this strain renders it so uncommonly pathetic, that foreigners need not a translation of the words, to inform them that the notes are the tones of a broken heart, and that the composer must have written them with his tears.-Shield. (13) Surely he hath borne our griefs, is an admirable piece of learned counterpoint and modulation, and very expressive of the words. The subsequent alla breve fugue, to the words, And with his stripes we are healed, is written upon a fine subject, with such clearness and regularity as was never surpassed by the greatest choral composers of the sixteenth century. This fugue, which is purely vocal, and à Capella, as the instruments have no other business assigned them than that of doubling and enforcing the voice-parts, may fairly be compared with movements of the same kind in Palestrina, Tallis, and Bird; which, in variety, it very much surpasses. Burney. (14) All we like sheep, &c. This chorus has a spirit, and beauties of composition, of quite a different kind: the base is costretto, and moving incessantly in quavers, while the voice-parts and violins express a roving, careless kind of pastoral wildness, which is very characteristic of the words. The fragment "And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all," is full of sorrow and contrition.-Burney. (15) He trusted in God, &c. The words of this admirable choral fugue, which contain the triumphal insolence, and are prophetic of the contumelious language of the Jews, were very difficult to express however, Handel, availing himself in the most masterly manner of the advantage of fugue and imitation, has given them the effect, not of the taunts and presumption of an individual, but of the scoffs and scorn of a confused multitude. Burney. (16) Thy rebuke hath broken his heart, &c. This is a piece of accompa he looked for some to have pity on him, but there was no man; neither found he any to comfort him. AIR. Behold and see, if there be any sorrow like unto his sorrow. RECITATIVE ACCOMPANIED. He was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgressions of thy people was he stricken. AIR. But thou didst not leave his soul in hell, nor didst thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. SEMI-CHORUS.17 Lift up your heads, O ye gates! and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is the King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle, the Lord of Hosts; he is the King of Glory. RECITATIVE. Unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee? CHORUS.18 Let all the angels of God worship him. AIR. Thou art gone up on high, thou hast led captivity captive, and received gifts for men, yea, even for thine enemies, that the Lord God might dwell among them. CHORUS.1 19 The Lord gave the word; great was the company of the preachers. nied recitative of the pathetic kind, no less honourable to the composer's feeling, than to his musical learning and recondite modulation; and all the sorrowful cast and expression are extended into the air which follows it : "Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto his sorrow!"-Burney. (17) Lift up your heads, &c. All these words are admirably expressed, and the contrasted effect of semi-chorus and chorus, never fail to produce the most striking effect in the performance.-Burney. (18) Let all the angels of God worship him. This spirited fugue, seemingly on two subjects, is, perhaps, the most artificial that has been compos ed in modern times. Handel, in order to exercise his abilities in every species of difficulty which the most learned and elaborate canonists and fughists of the fifteenth and sixteenth century were ambitious of vanquishing, has composed this movement in what ancient theorists called minor prolation; in which the reply to a subject given, though in similar intervals, is made in notes of different value: as when the theme is led off in semibreves, and answered in minims, or the contrary.—Burney. (19) The Lord gave the word, &c. The majesty and dignity of the AIR. How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things. CHORUS. Their sound is gone out unto all lands, and their words unto the ends of the world. AIR. Why do the nations so furiously rage together, and why do the people imagine a vain thing? CHORUS. Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away from us. RECITATIVE. their yokes He that dwelleth in Heaven shall laugh them to scorn; the Lord shall have them in derision. AIR. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. CHORUS.20 Hallelujah! for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. The few solemn notes with which this chorus is begun, is increased by the silence of the instruments; and the contrast of sensation occasioned by the harmony and activity of the several parts, afterwards, has a very striking effect.-Burney. (20) Hallelujah! It is an invariable custom for the auditory to rise at the commencement of this chorus, and to remain standing until it concludes. This sublime chorus is the triumph of Handel, and of the musical art. The opening is clear, cheerful, and bold; and the words, "For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth," (Rev. xix. 6.) set to a fragment of canto fermo, which all the parts sing, as such, in unisons and octaves, has an effect truly ecclesiastical. It is afterwards made the subject of fugue and groundwork for the Allelujah. Then, as a short episode in plain counter-point, we have "The kingdom of this world," which being begun piano, was solemn and affecting. But the last and principal subject proposed, and led off by the base-"And he shall reign for ever and ever," is the most pleasing and fertile that has ever been invented since the art of fugue was first cultivated. It is marked, and constantly to be distinguished through all the parts, accompaniments, counter-subjects and contrivances, with which it is charged. And, finally, the words-" King of Kings, and Lord of Lords," always set to a single sound, which seems to stand at bay, while the other parts attack it in every possible manner, in "Allelujahs-for ever and ever," is a most happy and marvellous concatenation of harmony, melody, and great effects.-Burney. When the Hallelujah chorus pealed its harmonies like the thunder of |