Handel`s Oratorio, Messiah has been generally perceived as a choral church music for Christmas season. Such perception, however, does not concur with Handel`s original conception for his English Oratorio as an entertainment performed at secular places during the Lent. One of the most obvious deviations from two-part Italian model is English Oratorio`s three-part construction. In addition, the three consisting parts of Handel`s Messiah reveal different structural models, respectively: the first part closely follows the constructive principle of contemporary oas sesson. with its regular recitative-arn.-chorus sequences; the second part, with its emphasi durichorus and quasi-testo tenor solo, reveals a strong influence of Gsoman Passion tradition; the shortest third part includes a denouement which clearly shows all the traits of an English Coronation Anthes aIn addition to achieving a perfect balance between the vocal solos and choruses, Messiah is a culmination of all these fertilizing models. These models reflect Handel`s career as an international composer. He began from the German soil, achieved complete assimilation of Italian tradition, and worked as a quasi-official court composer for the House of Hanover. The overall structure of the oratorio, however, was not conceived by Handel but Charles Jennens, the librettist of Messiah. Jennens`s compilation of entirely biblical extracts provides the general contour for the whole work, while Handel was responsible for the actual compositional decisions for the musical characters of each movement.

• 이남재 | Namjai Lee