released 12/6/2019

In his book Handel’s Messiah: Comfort for God’s People, Calvin Stapert observed that this famous oratorio “marks the beginning of ‘classical’ music in the sense that it has never had to be revived.” In this interview from Volume 107, Stapert talks with Ken Myers about the origins and attributes of this distinctive and lasting work. Stapert comments on the Continental development of the oratorio as a liturgical form for services attended by laity that were centered around prayer, and gives a short history and description of various oratorios in Italy. Messiah was in a number of ways an introduction of the tradition of the oratorio to England. 

19 minutes

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