1. The Libretto
2. Pre-autograph Activity: Sketches
3. Pre-autograph Activity: Pre-existent Material
4. The Autograph: Method and Construction
5. Autograph Alterations
6. Later Revisions
7. General Conclusion
Appendix A: Libretto Sources
Appendix B: Sketches Pertaining to Messiah
Appendix C: Movements Based on Italian Duets
Appendix D: ‘Rejoice’ (Autograph Version, 14 September 1741)
Appendix E: Alternative Movement Settings
Bibliography
Biography
Amanda Babington is a lecturer at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, England, and executive officer for the Royal Musical Association. She has published several articles on Handel, and her edition for the Hallische Händel-Ausgabe of Handel’s Dettingen Te Deum and Dettingen Anthem was published by Bärenreiter in 2016. She is regularly invited to give talks at Göttingen International Handel Festival. Dr. Babington is also a musette player, baroque violinist, and recorder player, specialising in historically informed performance. As the artistic director of Baroque In The North, she has played and recorded with many of the leading British and European period-instrument ensembles. Her debut musette album, Music for French Kings, was well-received on its release in 2022, and featured on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show. She is also director of the University of Manchester Baroque Orchestra and has given masterclasses at various universities and conservatoires in the United Kingdom, and at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music in Riga, Latvia.
“This in-depth and copiously illustrated study investigates the musical and literary sources of Handel’s Messiah at every stage of the compositional process, from the composer’s earliest response to the text to his latest revisions. Different chapters consider the creative process of the libretto, the various sketches, Handel’s borrowings, the autograph score, and the many alterations and developments to which the work was subject after its original conception. Clearly structured with chapter previews, summaries, and discussion points, it brings new insights to the study of Handel’s most celebrated choral work, and will be of interest to scholars and performers alike.”
Prof. Cheryll Duncan
Royal Northern College of Music, UK
