Listening this evening to Paul McCreesh's powerful version of Handel's Messiah. What makes Handel the greatest composer of secular vocal music in my view is the level of sheer humanistic emotion instilled in his operas and oratorios. St. Paul believed that the greatest of human virtues were faith, hope and love. Not far behind in my opinion is compassion, empathy and tolerance. If a man's character is indeed his fate, then the Handelian heroic character is defined by and lit from within by these noblest of human virtues and which are given gloriously inspiriting voice by Handel's incomparable music. When we listen to Handel's greatest works, we are deeply moved by the very human nature of the struggles that his protagonists face, both personal and public crises of the profoundest magnitude. Handel saw it as an indictment of the modern world that these most human values were often viewed with the most callous disregard and ultimately contributed to his heroic characters' tragic downfall. I can think of no more powerful example of this than one of his greatest arias, He Was Despised:
"He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted of grief.
He gave his back to the smiters and His cheeks to them that plucked off His hair.
He hid not his face from shame and spitting."
Gryphon Diablo 300, dCS Rossini (with matching clock), Kharma Exquisite Mini, Ansuz C2, Finite Elemente Master Reference.
