The libretto of Messiah is taken from numerous books of the Bible: Job, Psalms, Isaiah, Lamentations, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Matthew, Luke, John, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Colossians, 1 Timothy, Hebrews, and Revelation. If you’re not familiar with the passages selected by Jennens, you can find them at the above link.

The first passage sung in Messiah is from Isaiah 40:1–4. In “Comfort Ye My People,” I included a video of that aria.

The chorus then comes in to sing Isaiah 40:5.

In Handel’s Messiah: Comfort for God’s People, Calvin Stapert writes the aria of the first four verses,

“leads to the climactic chorus: “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed” …The text features four components. Handel gave each its own characteristic musical gesture and combined them in a variety of ways within the overall framework of a lively dance.

“The phrase “And the glory of the Lord” is always sung to a rising line that reaches its peak on “Lord.”

“”Shall be revealed” always descends, suggesting the incarnation…”

“”And all flesh shall see it together” is suggestive of a down-to-earth, rustic dance; its music is simple, repetitive, and rhythmically infectious.

“The fourth phrase, “for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it,” stands out from the rest. To suggest the rock-solid certainty of God’s word, Handel set the phrase to long, strong, repeated notes. It is sung only by the outer voices,¹ framing the music from top to bottom.”²

Here is the chorus:

Only a few verses later, Isaiah assures us of the “rock-solid certainty of God’s word.”

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Romano d’Ezzelino. Opera esposta alla Mostra dei Presepi. Roberto frison. Public domain.
¹“Outer voices are the highest voice (soprano) and the lowest voice (bass), and the inner voices are all the other voices that are between the two outer voices.”
²Calvin R. Stapert, Handel’s Messiah: Comfort for God’s People (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids MI: 2010) 92. I’ve broken the paragraph up and italicized the Scripture for easier reading and contrast.
Messiah:
Libretto: Old and New Testament Passages selected by Charles Jennens
Oratorio: George Frideric Handel
Theophil Asamoah-Gyadu conducting the Ghana Gramophone Chorus.

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