The choral section from the Nativity cycle of Handel’s work never ceases to move me each time I listen to Isaiah’s prophecy set to glorious music: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6) Those marvelous words are taken from the prophet Isaiah and the first reading that we hear proclaimed each year at Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.
Immediately preceding Chapter 9, Isaiah’s testimony has built up a frightening picture of the darkness and distress about to descend upon both Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel. But that darkness and distress were not the prophet’s final words. Precisely upon this land has shined a great light. The opening line of Chapter 9 forms a transition from the darkness of the previous chapter. “But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness — on them light has shined” (9:1-2).
The great light that comes decisively into this profound darkness tears people away from their confusion and emptiness, from the violence and tyranny of the oppressor. On the inhabitants of a country in the shadow dark as death, light has blazed forth! The symbols of the Assyrian oppression: the yoke of their burden, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, shall be broken. The garments of war shall feed the flames. The destruction of warlike equipment heralds an age of peace.
An interesting side note not mentioned in the article is that Handel also wrote an oratorio on Judas Maccabaeus, whose story is the basis for Hanukkah:
[blockquote]Judas Maccabaeus – G F Handel (1685 – 1759)
The oratorio was written in 1746, five year after ‘Messiah’, when Handel was 61, and was first performed in London at the Covent Garden Theatre the following year. It owes its inception to the victory of William, Duke of Cumberland over Charles Edward Stuart the Pretender at the battle of Culloden on 16th April, 1746, and was planned as a compliment to the Duke upon his victorious return from Scotland.
The oratorio relates to the period 170-160BC when Judea was under occupation by the Seleucids (a dynasty of Hellenistic kings ruling throughout Asia Minor, Syria and Persia). In 167BC the new Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV, set about the destruction of the Jewish religion, Worship of Zeus took place in the Temple, and observance of the Sabbath and adherence to Jewish laws was forbidden. Every settlement was ordered to worship Zeus and other foreign deities. While some Jews refused to abandon their faith, the threat of persecution meant that inevitably many obeyed the new laws. In the town of Modein, within 20 miles of Jerusalem, an old priest, Mattathias, became so any at seeing a Jew about to obey an order to offer pagan sacrifice, that he killed him, together with the official which had been sent to the town to ensure that the sacrifices were being carried out. Mattathias then had the pagan altar pulled down. This action led to the priest and his family taking to the hills where they gathered together others who were willing to fight for their faith.
Handel’s oratorio is in three parts and describes the changing moods of the people as the fortunes of the Jews vary, feeling sometimes dejected, sometimes jubilant. [/blockquote]