{"id":15761,"date":"2022-12-04T11:49:25","date_gmt":"2022-12-04T16:49:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/?p=15761"},"modified":"2025-12-12T09:49:40","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T14:49:40","slug":"dec5-dec11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/2022\/12\/dec5-dec11\/","title":{"rendered":"Dec 5th – 11th: Performances of George Frederic Handel\u2019s “Messiah”"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1710947980142{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”]Published on December 5, 2022<\/em><\/p>\n

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Back to This Week at Eastman<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” css=”.vc_custom_1764879893815{padding-bottom: 30px !important;background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1671549937364{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”]<\/p>\n

Throughout the Western world, and particularly in English-speaking countries, December is always a time of performances of George Frederic Handel\u2019s beloved oratorio Messiah.\u00a0 <\/em>Whether in professional venues, in houses of Christian worship, or at academic institutions; whether in full or in part (given the customary Christmas-season practice to restrict performance to the oratorio\u2019s first part); and whether live or transmitted over mass media, this music is not far from reach.\u00a0 Here at the Eastman School of Music, however, Messiah <\/em>has only seldom been performed.\u00a0 In 1942, to mark the 200th anniversary of Messiah\u2019s<\/em> premiere performance, Eastman forces gave two performances of parts II and III (on May 17-18, 1942), and then a performance of part I (on December 15, 1942), all conducted by Herman Genhart.[1]<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup> Three decades later, parts II and III were performed on April 27th, 1973, conducted by Robert De Cormier.[2]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 Messiah <\/em>was eventually heard at Eastman in its entirety in the early 1980s, 39 and 41 years ago this week, when on the evenings of Friday, December 7th, 1981 and Friday, December 9th, 1983, the Eastman Chorale performed the oratorio under conductor Donald Neuen,[3]<\/a> <\/sup>joined in each performance by chamber orchestra and soloists.\u00a0 The two performances marked a departure in that they were based on a new edition by renowned musicologist Alfred Mann.[4]<\/a> <\/sup>\u00a0Significantly, the 1981 performance marked the premiere of Mann\u2019s edition, and the 1983 performance was accompanied by the release of a commercial recording.\u00a0 Dr. Mann, an Eastman School faculty member at the time, served as Musical Advisor to both Eastman Chorale performances and also the Eastman School\u2019s commercial recording project.<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” gap=”10″ equal_height=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1764880007100{margin-bottom: 0px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1669054474769{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”15763″ img_size=”” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” css=”.vc_custom_1710947840458{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_empty_space height=”25px” css=”.vc_custom_1710947990963{margin-right: -15px !important;margin-left: -15px !important;}”][vc_images_carousel images=”15765,15766,15869,15767,15768,15870,15871,15769,15770,15771″ img_size=”500×650″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1710947874035{margin-bottom: 10px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;}”]\u25ba Program, Eastman Chorale, December 7, 1981<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1668793580705{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”15764″ img_size=”” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” css=”.vc_custom_1710947832890{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_empty_space height=”25px” css=”.vc_custom_1710947997523{margin-right: -15px !important;margin-left: -15px !important;}”][vc_images_carousel images=”15773,15772,15774,15775,15776,15777,15778,15779″ img_size=”500×650″ css=””][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1710947860108{margin-bottom: 10px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;}”]\u25baProgram, Eastman Chorale, December 9, 1983\u00a0<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” css=”.vc_custom_1764880017751{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1710948343253{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Messiah <\/em>occupies a unique place in the choral literature, for as Dr. Mann pointed out, it \u201c. . . remains the only work of its time that has seen a continuous sequence of revivals, for almost two decades under the direction of the composer, for two further decades under conductors who had shared in Handel\u2019s work on the London scene, and for the two following centuries through the devotion of generation after generation.\u00a0 The legacy upon which the interpreter of this work enters is of unique complexity.\u201d[5]<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup> The implications are tremendous: a work more o rless continuously in the repertory since the composer\u2019s own lifetime, but having varied markedly in its interpretation down through the years.\u00a0 Famously, the performance legacy around Messiah <\/em>has run the gamut in all respects, and the chamber-sized performing forces of the composer\u2019s day gave way to the larger forces (\u201cmonumental\u201d is the adjective used by numerous writers) of the 19th-century (which spilled over well into the 20th century), and finally a 20th-century re-evaluation based on scholarly inquiry that prompted a return (in some quarters) to chamber forces. \u00a0Alfred Mann, a noted choral conductor in his own right, made a priority of Handel\u2019s music among his own research and performance interests.\u00a0 Working in the 1950s, he prepared a new edition of Messiah <\/em>based on consideration of Handel\u2019s conducting score and other primary sources.\u00a0 His edition was published in full score by Rutgers University Press (c1959-1965) in the series Documents of the Musical Past, of which Dr. Mann was editor.\u00a0 Each of the oratorio\u2019s three parts was published with critical notes itemizing the manuscript and printed sources that had informed Mann\u2019s work, and comparing the primary and secondary sources with extant modern copies.\u00a0 Note that the first part of his edition was published in 1959, the bicentennial of Handel\u2019s death.\u00a0 Later on, the publication of instrumental parts corresponding to Mann\u2019s edition was undertaken in anticipation of the Handel tercentenary in 1985.\u00a0 The full score of Mann\u2019s edition was later reprinted in 1989 by Dover.\u00a0 Within that thirty-year span there was a marked increase in Handel research, including the 1957 publication of a landmark work on Messiah <\/em>by Danish musicologist Jens Peter Larsen (1902-1988), who would later come to Eastman as a visiting faculty member in 1974 and again in 1983.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” gap=”5″ equal_height=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1764880034004{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 30px !important;padding-bottom: 30px !important;background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1669054474769{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”15796″ img_size=”” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” css=”.vc_custom_1710948181877{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;}”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1668793580705{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”15797″ img_size=”” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” css=”.vc_custom_1710948175342{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;}”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1669054446764{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”15798″ img_size=”” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” css=”.vc_custom_1710948167962{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;}”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” equal_height=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1764880044149{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1710950163933{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Mann consulted several primary sources in the service of his edition:\u00a0 (a) Handel\u2019s autograph manuscript, now preserved in the British Library; (b) Handel\u2019s own conducting score, which had been copied from the autograph manuscript by Handel\u2019s assistant and copyist, John Christopher Smith, and is now preserved in the Bodleian Library at Oxford;\u00a0 (c) a conducting score written out by copyist Smith for his son, John Christopher Smith the younger (1712-1795), who served as organist in Handel\u2019s performances and later directed the London Messiah <\/em>performances after Handel\u2019s death, now preserved in the Hamburg State Library; and (d)\u00a0 a score and complete set of parts, copied from Handel\u2019s own performance material by several copyists under the direction of John Christopher Smith the elder, and presented by direction of Handel\u2019s will to the Foundling Hospital (London), now preserved in the archives of the Thomas Coram Foundation.\u00a0 The rest of Mann\u2019s sources were all printed editions and published critical commentaries.\u00a0 Significantly, Handel\u2019s conducting score differs from the autograph in that it bears layers of annotations and additions, added by Handel in the course of directing performances of Messiah <\/em>between 1742 and 1759.\u00a0 It was that same performance involvement to which Alfred Mann alluded when he said, \u201cEach performance of Handel\u2019s incomparable masterpiece necessarily reflects an editing process.\u201d[6]<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup> As Mann also observed, \u201cMessiah <\/em>holds an unusual place in the repertoire, not only because the work has met with unqualified success ever since its first performance but also because the first two decades of this triumphant history were marked by Handel\u2019s personal direction.\u00a0 During that time the composer made numerous changes in the work and enlarged the score with scrupulous annotations which both complicate its modern interpretation and enhance its extraordinary stature.\u201d[7]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

George Frederic Handel\u2019s association with the Foundling Hospital in London is the story of a charitable impulse realized in music.\u00a0 The Foundling Hospital, founded in 1739 by Captain (retired) Thomas Coram (1668-1751) and established by royal charter signed by King George II, was formally promoted as the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children.\u00a0 \u00a0As a private charity, the Foundling Hospital was from its outset entirely dependent on individual contributions; however, it soon became a much-recognized charity that would number several prominent citizens among its supporters, including artist William Hogarth (1697-1764), who was one of the Hospital\u2019s founding governors.[8]<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup> In 1749 Handel conducted a benefit concert at the Hospital to raise funds for the completion of its chapel; the following year he provided an organ for the newly finished chapel, and conducted Messiah <\/em>there on May 1st, 1750 as the new organ\u2019s inaugural concert.\u00a0 In response to Handel\u2019s generosity, the Hospital\u2019s General Committee elected him one of the Hospital\u2019s governors.\u00a0 The concert in May, 1750 was hugely successful in both musical and fundraising terms; it would prove to be merely the first in a series of annual Messiah <\/em>performances at the Foundling Hospital led by Handel for the express purpose of raising funds for the Hospital\u2019s work. \u00a0Between 1750 and 1754 Handel personally conducted those performances, and after that time, with his health in decline, he continued to support the performances by his attendance up until his death.\u00a0 A codicil to his will directed that a copy of the score and parts of Messiah <\/em>be given to the Foundling Hospital, his intention having\u00a0 been to provide for the continuation of the Messiah<\/em> benefit performances.\u00a0 Those performances would, in fact, continue for another two decades.\u00a0 Altogether, the Messiah <\/em>performances at the Foundling Hospital raised some 7,000 pounds[9]<\/a><\/sup> for the Hospital\u2019s operating costs; further, where Handel\u2019s legacy was concerned, the concerts also served to popularize the oratorio with English audiences, a point on which many writers have elaborated.<\/p>\n

The 1981 Eastman Chorale performance featured fourteen soloists, all of whom were students; in order of appearance, they were Martin Kelly, tenor; Matthew Lau, bass (MM 1983); Rebecca Russell, alto (BM 1983); Terry Strandt, bass (DMA 1982); Donna Mitchell, soprano (BM 1983, MM 1985); Myung Kim, soprano (BM 1980, MM 1982); Teresa Ringholz, soprano (BM 1981, MM 1983); Richard Byrne, bass (BM 1985); Renee Fleming, soprano (MM 1983); Gene Scheer, bass (BM 1981, MM 1982); Mark Thomsen, tenor (MM); Julia Faulkner, soprano; Robyn Redon, alto; and, Donna Jean Vaclav, soprano (MM 1983). Mann\u2019s edition was being heard for the first time, and taking his edition into consideration, some of the more obvious points of departure were the following.[10]<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup> \u00a0In Handel\u2019s conducting score, a division of the orchestra was apparent such that a smaller instrumental group (indicated in Mann\u2019s score as senza rip. [ripieno]<\/em>) accompanied the arias and recitatives, while the full ensemble (indicated by the rubric con rip. [ripieno])\u00a0 <\/em>accompanied the choruses (although even in the choruses, Handel sometimes used the smaller group).\u00a0 Mann also restored an 11-bar version of the \u201cPastoral Symphony\u201d (at the beginning of part II), much shorter than what modern audiences have been accustomed to hearing, but something that Handel had initially intended (Handel himself had at one point crossed out the longer version).\u00a0 Further, Mann endorsed terrace dynamics in performance, eliminating altogether any crescendo <\/em>between forte <\/em>and piano.<\/em>\u00a0 As he himself put it at this time, \u201cWhat has been taken out . . . is [sic] all the influences of\u00a0 romantic and symphonic conceptions.\u00a0 Everything becomes very clear cut, black and white.\u201d[11]<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup> \u00a0Conductor Donald Neuen, for his part, described as his goal\u00a0\u00a0 \u201c . . . trying to let the Messiah <\/em>be a real piece of Baroque music, one that will live and dance just as it lived and danced . . . in the time that it was performed . . . and not destroyed by an overweight, pompous approach.\u201d[12]<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup> To that end, he had assembled a chamber-sized orchestra of 29 players, selected from the Eastman School Symphony Chamber Orchestra (David Effron, conductor).\u00a0 He favored more lively tempos and sought to delineate shorter phrases; he also took care to segue the arias and choruses with minimum pause so as to achieve a continuous stream of music, thereby emphasizing the oratorio\u2019s overall structure.\u00a0 The orchestral players were performing from parts that had been prepared and edited from microfilms of the parts that the composer had bequeathed to the Foundling Hospital.\u00a0 Alfred Mann was quoted as having observed, \u201cThe students\u2019 eyes have been lighting up in rehearsals.\u00a0 They release that these notes haven\u2019t been played the way Handel wanted since musicians played under Handel himself.\u00a0 I feel like an archaeologist.\u201d[13]<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup> \u00a0The Eastman School of Music provided a grant for the preparation of the orchestral parts corresponding to Mann\u2019s edition, and by the time of the 1983 Eastman Chorale performance and recording, the parts had been engraved and printed.\u00a0 As in the full score edited by Mann, \u201cforte\u201d and \u201cpiano\u201d are spelled out in full, just as they were in Handel\u2019s conducting score and in the manuscript bequeathed to the Foundling Hospital.\u00a0 Throughout the parts, the rubrics \u201csenza rip.\u201d or \u201ccon rip.\u201d direct when added parts are to join or else leave the ensemble.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” gap=”20″ equal_height=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1764880056022{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1669054474769{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_images_carousel images=”15867,15868″ img_size=”medium” css=”.vc_custom_1710949607865{padding-top: 10px !important;}”][vc_column_text]\u25ba Front and back of the commercial release of the Eastman forces\u2019 Messiah, issued on the Word label. The boxed 3-disc set included extensive notes by Alfred Mann. <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1668793580705{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_images_carousel images=”15801,15802,15803,15804″ img_size=”420×500″ css=”.vc_custom_1710949616549{padding-top: 10px !important;}”][vc_column_text]\u25baRecognition of Professor Jens Peter Larsen during his fall, 1983 Visiting Professorship at the Eastman School including the public events promoted in this program.\u00a0 The panel discussion that preceded the December 9th, 1983 Messiah <\/em>performance gave significant local exposure to the historical project manifest in both performance and commercial recording.\u00a0 J\u00fcrgen Thym Collection.\u00a0 <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” equal_height=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1764880071659{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}”][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1710949664784{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”]The Eastman Chorale\u2019s 1983 performance of Messiah <\/em>enjoyed the presence of another renowned Handel scholar, Danish musicologist (and Professor Emeritus at the University of Copenhagen) Jens Peter Larsen, whose work had greatly influenced modern Handel scholarship.[14]<\/a>\u00a0<\/sup> Professor Larsen was a Visiting Professor at Eastman in the fall of 1983, and on December 6th, 1983, three days before the Messiah <\/em>performance, he joined a panel discussion on Messiah <\/em>performance traditions alongside conductor Donald Neuen, Alfred Mann, and five of the performers appearing in the Eastman Chorale performance (four vocal soloists and harpsichordist Arthur Haas).\u00a0 The discussion was moderated by Lowell Lindgren.\u00a0 Speaking in his capacity as Handel scholar, Professor Larsen presented an historical overview, after which Dr. Mann spoke on the various editions of Messiah; <\/em>the panel then discussed such topics as vocal solos, choruses, instrumentation, tempo and dynamics, and ornamentation.\u00a0 Three days later, on December 9th, the members of the Eastman Chorale were joined in concert by the Eastman Philharmonia Chamber Orchestra (David Effron, conductor) and eight vocal soloists, four of whom were faculty members, to perform Messiah <\/em>in its entirety.\u00a0 The soloists were Seth McCoy, tenor;[15]<\/a> <\/sup>Tom Paul, bass;[16]<\/a> <\/sup>Marcia Baldwin, mezzo soprano;[17]<\/a><\/sup> Jan DeGaetani, mezzo soprano;[18]<\/a> <\/sup>Jennifer Cable, soprano (MM 1983, DMA 1989); Carmen Pelton, soprano (MM, PC 1980); Teresa Ringholz, soprano (BM 1981, MM 1983); and, James Courtney, baritone (MM 1973).[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” gap=”5″ equal_height=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1764880082043{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1669054474769{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”15805″ img_size=”” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” css=”.vc_custom_1710949677030{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;}”][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”15806″ img_size=”” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” css=”.vc_custom_1710949716658{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”15807″ img_size=”” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” css=”.vc_custom_1671552513921{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″ css=”.vc_custom_1668793580705{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”15808″ img_size=”” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” css=”.vc_custom_1710949691985{padding-top: 10px !important;}”][vc_single_image image=”15809″ img_size=”” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” css=”.vc_custom_1733258039170{padding-top: 10px !important;}”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” css=”.vc_custom_1764880091047{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}”][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=”yes”][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1710949728633{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”]On the following day, Saturday, December 10th, those same forces gathered in the Eastman Theater for a recording session, the result of which was a commercial release of Messiah <\/em>on the Word Records label (p1984).\u00a0 This recording constituted the premiere recording of Alfred Mann\u2019s edition, and it also represented one of the Eastman School\u2019s contributions to the Handel Tercentenary in 1985. \u00a0Copies of this 3-LP set are available in the Sibley Music Library.\u00a0 Word Records also released a CD recording of excerpts, Choruses from The Messiah <\/strong><\/em>(p1985).\u00a0 For audiophiles, I should mention that the LP release of Messiah <\/em>was accompanied by a release on audio-cassette (a 3-cassette set, a copy of which is in the Sibley Music Library). To date the Eastman Chorale\u2019s Messiah <\/em>has not been re-issued digitally in its entirety, but a selection of ten excerpts (ending with the \u201cHallelujah\u201d Chorus) was released on the CD set The Spirit of Christmas: Highlights from Messiah \/ Nutcracker<\/strong> <\/em>\u00a0(Vox Music Group 7215) (p2000).\u00a0 That issue is now streamed in the Naxos Music Library.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” css=”.vc_custom_1764880100270{padding-top: 20px !important;padding-bottom: 20px !important;background-color: #f4f4f4 !important;}”][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”top”][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1664294037966{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_images_carousel images=”15818,15819,15820,15821,15822,15823,15824,15825″ img_size=”350×250″ css=”.vc_custom_1710949738487{padding-top: 10px !important;}”][vc_column_text]\u25baOn the day of the recording session, December 10th, 1983, members of the chorus and the vocal soloists all participate in preliminaries. <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_images_carousel images=”15839,15840,15841,15842,15843,15844″ img_size=”350×450″ css=”.vc_custom_1671554778068{margin-top: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text]\u25baConductor Donald Neuen on the day of the Messiah <\/em>recording session, December 10th, 1983.\u00a0 <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1665592758991{padding-left: 30px !important;background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_images_carousel images=”15826,15827,15828″ img_size=”350×500″ css=”.vc_custom_1710949763019{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 10px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_images_carousel images=”15829,15830,15831,15832,15833,15834″ img_size=”350×250″ css=”.vc_custom_1671554331820{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column_text]\u25baVarious shots of the vocal soloists for the Eastman Chorale\u2019s 1983 performance of Messiah. <\/em><\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″ css=”.vc_custom_1669143561582{background-color: #ffffff !important;}”][vc_images_carousel images=”15835,15836,15837,15838″ img_size=”350×250″ css=”.vc_custom_1710949773320{padding-top: 10px !important;}”][vc_column_text]\u25baMembers of the Eastman Chorale on the day of the Messiah <\/em>recording session, December 10th, 1983.\u00a0 <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”52px”][vc_images_carousel images=”15845,15846,15847,15848,15849,15850,15851,15852,15853,15854″ img_size=”350×250″ css=”.vc_custom_1671554211867{margin-top: 20px !important;}”][vc_column_text]\u25baPrincipals gather in the control room to hear playbacks.\u00a0 Variously seen in these shots are conductor Donald Neuen, producer Ray Wright, recording engineer Ros Ritchie, harpsichordist Arthur Haas, and several of the vocal soloists.\u00a0 <\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1671554874669{margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”]<\/p>\n

All of the Eastman School performances cited in this entry (1942, 1973, 1981, 1983) were recorded by Eastman School personnel.\u00a0 The masters reside in the Eastman Audio Archive.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

_____________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Faculty member; served from 1925 until his retirement in 1964.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Faculty member; served 1972-1976.<\/span><\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Faculty member; served 1981-1993.<\/span><\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Faculty member.\u00a0 Dr. Mann (1917-2006) served at Eastman 1980-1987 following his retirement from Rutgers University.<\/span><\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> \u201cThe work and its performance\u201d by Alfred Mann. Notes accompanying the commercial LP release Messiah, <\/em>WORD Records SPCN 7-01-892910-5.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> \u201cA new Messiah <\/em>edition\u201d by Alfred Mann. Handel and Haydn Magazine,<\/em> vol. II, no. 1 (fall 1982).\u00a0 Pages in the issue are unnumbered.<\/span><\/p>\n

[7]<\/a>\u00a0 <\/em>Ibid. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[8]<\/a>\u00a0 The charitable interest taken by William Hogarth and several of his fellow artists in the mission of the Foundling Hospital is promoted on several websites, including those of the Foundling Museum (URL:\u00a0 https:\/\/foundlingmuseum.org.uk\/our-art-and-objects\/foundling-collections\/hogarth-and-company\/ ) and HENI Talks (URL:\u00a0 https:\/\/henitalks.com\/talks\/william-hogarth-foundling-hospital\/ ), both accessed on December 14, 2022.\u00a0 Significantly, an exhibition of paintings set up by Hogarth at the Foundling Hospital has been recognized as having likely been the first public art exhibition anywhere in England.<\/span><\/p>\n

[9]<\/a>\u00a0 \u201cThe London Foundling Hospital by Joseph Dyer. Handel & Haydn Magazine, <\/em>volume II, no. 1 (Fall 1982).\u00a0 Pages unnumbered.<\/span><\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> \u00a0These and other performance aspects were recounted by Mann in \u201cA new Messiah,\u201d Eastman Notes, <\/em>volume 15, no. 2 (March 1982), pages 2-3.\u00a0 Further aspects were noted in the two press items cited immediately following. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> \u00a0\u201cThe Messiah: <\/em>A new interpretation\u201d by Dave Stearns. Rochester Times-Union, <\/em>December 4, 1981.<\/span><\/p>\n

[12]<\/a>\u00a0 Ibid.<\/span><\/p>\n

[13]<\/a> \u201cOld World touch of Alfred Mann reshapes Handel\u201d by Stephen Wigler. Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, <\/em>December 7, 1981.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[14]<\/a>\u00a0 Of particular importance in this regard was his monograph Handel\u2019s Messiah<\/strong>: Origins, Compositions, Sources<\/em> (W. W. Norton, 1957)A second edition appeared in 1972 and a further new edition in 1989.\u00a0 Alfred Mann provided a tribute to Jens Peter Larsen for the book\u2019s second edition.\u00a0 The book\u2019s introduction (translated into English by Alfred Mann) posed, perhaps somewhat provocatively, the leading question \u201cIs there a definitive version of Messiah?\u201d <\/em>\u00a0and is well worth reading on its own.<\/span><\/p>\n

[15]<\/a> \u00a0Faculty member.\u00a0 Mr. McCoy (1928-1997) served from 1982 until he took leave due to ill health.<\/span><\/p>\n

[16]<\/a> \u00a0Faculty member.\u00a0 Mr. Paul served as a visiting faculty member in 1972-73, and then permanently on the faculty from 1973 until his retirement in 2000.<\/span><\/p>\n

[17]<\/a>\u00a0 Faculty member.\u00a0 Ms. Baldwin (1936-2016) served from 1981 until her retirement in 1995.<\/span><\/p>\n

[18]<\/a>\u00a0 Faculty member.\u00a0 Ms. DeGaetani (1933-1989) served from 1973 until her death in 1989.<\/span><\/p>\n

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On the evenings of Friday, December 7th, 1981 and Friday, December 9th, 1983, the Eastman Chorale performed the George Frederic Handel\u2019s beloved oratorio Messiah<\/i> under conductor Donald Neuen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":276,"featured_media":15805,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[22],"coauthors":[3],"class_list":["post-15761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-this-week-at-eastman","tag-december"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/276"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15761"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22508,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15761\/revisions\/22508"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15761"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esm.rochester.edu\/sibley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=15761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}