Presented by Los Cantantes del Lago
Timothy G. Ruff Welch, Director

with
Ensamble Filarmónica De Guadalajara

and

SOLOISTS

Andrew Krumbhaar, Tenor
Raul M. Villafranca G., Bass
Lupita Chavira, Contralto
Dolores Moreno Azpeitia, Soprano

December 16, 2003
Auditorio de la Ribera, Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico

A long time ago in a land far away a man named George set several biblical texts to music -- Messiah. It was truly a favorite of Handel himself. He suggested it was the product of an inspiration of sorts when he said, "Whether I was in my body or out of my body as I wrote it, I  know not. God knows. I did think I did see all Heaven before me and the great God himself."

In 1741, during a low spot in Handel's career in England, a friend, Charles Jennens convinced Handel to compose an oratorio based upon a compilation of Scriptures Jennens had recently arranged. Rather than return to Germany, Handel was convinced and began work on the oratorio. The entire work was written in a twenty-four day spurt from August 22 until September 14, in 1741. Messiah was performed for the first time in Dublin, April 13, 1742.

As with all oratorios, Messiah, is divided into three parts. In Messiah, the three parts represent Christ's birth, death and resurrection; each part breaking down  into a series of arias and choruses, with a Biblical passage as their basis. Tonight we will perform Part I (birth) and three selections from Part III (resurrection).

Through the years, Messiah has taken many turns and for a while lay dormant. It was rediscovered in the 1820s in Handel's hometown, London, when oratorios became the vogue musical form. Choruses were taught to school children and large scale public performances became the norm. In 1834 a performance in Westminster Abbey included 644 performers. Messiah reached its zenith later in the decade at the Crystal Palace with 3,000 plus performers and tens of thousands in attendance.

Despite all of the popular attention bestowed upon oratorios, Messiah especially, the religious foundation of the music was not lost. The profits from most of the festivals were donated to charity as is this performance donated to the Chapala Red Cross.

Tonight's performance is on a smaller scale and closer in number of performers to the original Handel score. We are attempting to perform the music in a consistent Baroque style and eliminate the romanticism that is often applied to Messiah since the 1820s. I will conduct from the harpsichord, another typical Baroque style.

And here we are several centuries later in a land far away and where another language is spoken. The genius of this man George still opens our blind eyes and causes our tongues to sing.

-- Timothy G. Ruff Welch