Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/Messiah (Handel)

Messiah (Handel)
This nomination predates the introduction in April 2014 of article-specific subpages for nominations and has been created from the edit history of Today's featured article/requests.


 * This is the archived discussion of the TFAR nomination for the article below. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests). Please do not modify this page. 

The result was: scheduled for Today's featured article/March 23, 2013 by BencherliteTalk 13:54, 4 March 2013‎ (UTC)



Messiah (HWV 56) is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible, and from the Book of Common Prayer for several psalms. Messiah was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742 in a charity concert, and received its London premiere the following year. After an initially modest public reception, the oratorio gained in popularity, becoming one of the most frequently performed choral works in Western music. Handel's reputation in England, where he had lived since 1713, had been established for Italian opera. He turned to English oratorio in the 1730s, in response to changes in public taste; Messiah was his sixth work in this genre. Although its structure resembles that of opera, it is not in dramatic form, but a reflection on Jesus Christ as Messiah. Handel begins Part I with prophecies by Isaiah and others, and shows the annunciation to the shepherds as the only scene from a Gospel. In Part II he concentrates on the Passion and ends with the Hallelujah Chorus. In Part III he covers the resurrection of the dead and Christ's glorification in heaven. Handel wrote Messiah for modest vocal and instrumental forces. After his death, the work was adapted for performance with giant orchestras and choirs. Its orchestration was revised and amplified by (among others) Mozart. Since the late 20th century, the trend has been towards authenticity.

270th anniversary of London performance, widely covered, 2 points, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:40, 16 February 2013 (UTC)
 * Actually 7 points: vital article (4), multiple-of-10 date relevance (2), FA for over 1 year (1). BencherliteTalk 13:04, 21 February 2013 (UTC)


 * If ever there was a time for a sound in the blurb, this is it. I'd suggest the Hallelujah chorus. — Crisco 1492 (talk) 00:34, 17 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Support A monumental choral work.  Sarnold17 (talk) 00:34, 17 February 2013 (UTC)
 * Support&mdash;a bit concerned about all the music FAs that have been being scheduled recently ("Single Ladies", Highway 61), but since this is classical, not contemporary and it's an important date, I'm OK! — WP: PENGUIN  · [ TALK ]  00:51, 17 February 2013 (UTC)
 * If anything, we haven't had enough music-related articles recently - nothing in January, for instance (U2 3D was the closest, but classified as a film). See User:Bencherlite/TFA notepad for one way of looking at the TFA possibilities. BencherliteTalk 09:29, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
 * This one would also be good any time during Lent, especially Palm Sunday (perhaps someone could find out the date of Easter in 1742, year of premiere?). --Gerda Arendt (talk) 10:35, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
 * I concur with Bencherlite. Besides, this one is planned for at least a month away, so the time gap is significant enough. But at the same time, I wouldn't mind an Easter scheduling, since I think more would understand the date relevance. Either way, you still have my support for March 23. — WP: PENGUIN  · [ TALK ]  19:34, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
 * Easter has been discussed before the nomination, - the resurrection is only a short Old Testament recitative, whereas the Passion is covered in 9 movements, including He was despised, and the premiere was a Lenten concert, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:57, 18 February 2013 (UTC)
 * That would work too, perhaps better. Let's see how this TFAR goes. — WP: PENGUIN  · [ TALK ]  13:27, 23 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Support not concerned about too much music...Casliber (talk · contribs) 21:58, 20 February 2013 (UTC)
 * Please would someone deal with the deadlinks shown here? The Gramophone archive has changed to a subscription service, so the links either need to be updated to the new website with subscription indicators, rescued from the Internet Archive, or changed to print-based references.  This happened with English National Opera earlier in February and Tim riley handled it then. Thanks. BencherliteTalk 00:16, 21 February 2013 (UTC)
 * There is only one actual dead link, on ref 137. I am referring this to Tim, since he wrote this bit of the text. I have added subscription indicators to all the Gramophone archive links, which now go to the archive information page. Brianboulton (talk) 13:23, 23 February 2013 (UTC)
 * Dead link now removed. Brianboulton (talk) 12:44, 24 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Comment: in the blurb, I changed the following passage, that describes text and doctrine more than music, by more specific links to Handel's work, please discuss (and prune), "Jennens's text is a reflection on Jesus Christ as Messiah, moving from the prophetic phrases of Isaiah and others and Incarnation, Passion and Resurrection to his glorification in heaven." - I guess we have to mention the Hallelujah Chorus ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:59, 24 February 2013 (UTC)
 * Support Important piece. Johnbod (talk) 12:46, 25 February 2013 (UTC)
 * Support but "Handel wrote Messiah for modest vocal and instrumental forces" doesn't make much sense to me. KJ Bible and Book of Common Prayer should both be italicised. --Dweller (talk) 13:49, 25 February 2013 (UTC)
 * What would you say? Handel asked for a small choir, oboes mostly to go along with them, trumpets in very selected movements, - I think "modest forces" is a good summary. - Italics for the books added, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:42, 2 March 2013 (UTC)


 * Support - yes this is nice for Good Friday, especially with the relevant anniversary. Truthkeeper (talk) 20:31, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Good Friday is 29th March; were you thinking of Crucifixion and Last Judgement diptych (as I was) for then? BencherliteTalk 21:30, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Oops, I'm off a week. I won't be around to tend the van Eyck, but that's up to you re scheduling. Truthkeeper (talk) 21:35, 2 March 2013 (UTC)
 * If the anniversary day doesn't matter, Palm Sunday would also be good for Messiah, or the following days in the Holy Week, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:42, 2 March 2013 (UTC)