Eerdmans
Eerdmans
Eerdmans
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Handel’s Messiah<br />
Comfort for God’s People<br />
Calvin R. Stapert<br />
Must-have guide that fosters deeper, richer understanding<br />
of a beloved musical masterpiece<br />
George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Messiah is a phenomenon with no parallel in music history.<br />
No other work of music has been so popular for so long. Yet familiarity can sometimes breed<br />
indifference — and even misunderstanding.<br />
This book by music expert Calvin Stapert will greatly increase listeners’ understanding<br />
and appreciation of Handel’s majestic Messiah, whether<br />
readers are old friends of this remarkable work or have<br />
only just discovered its magnificence.<br />
Stapert first provides the fascinating background<br />
that led to this oratorio written in eighteenth-century<br />
Protestant England by a German composer who began<br />
his career writing Italian opera — an unlikely but true<br />
story. Handel went on to write many other acclaimed<br />
oratorios, including Samson and Judas Maccabaeus, but<br />
none so enduringly beloved as Messiah. Stapert traces<br />
not only Messiah’s inception but also its increasingly<br />
warm reception from Handel’s day to our own.<br />
Most of the book is devoted to scene-by-scene musical<br />
and theological commentary on the whole work. Stapert<br />
focuses especially on the way Handel’s music interprets<br />
and illuminates the biblical text. For anyone seeking to<br />
appreciate Handel’s Messiah more deeply, this informed<br />
yet accessible guide is the book to read.<br />
Key selling points<br />
• Insightful treatment of a popular and much-loved<br />
musical work<br />
• Sure to enhance enjoyment of Christmastime<br />
Messiah performances<br />
Calvin R. Stapert is professor emeritus of music at<br />
Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he<br />
taught for thirty-eight years. His other books include<br />
the “History Makers” illustrated biography of J. S. Bach<br />
(Lion Hudson, 2009).<br />
Music<br />
October / 978-0-8028-6587-8<br />
6″ × 9″ paperback<br />
15 b&w illustrations<br />
176 pages / $14.99 [£10.99]<br />
Also by Calvin Stapert<br />
A New Song for an Old<br />
World: Musical Thought<br />
in the Early Church<br />
978-0-8028-3219-1<br />
My Only Comfort:<br />
Death, Deliverance,<br />
and Discipleship in<br />
the Music of Bach<br />
978-0-8028-4472-9<br />
www.eerdmans.com toll free 800 253 7521 3
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