[Handel, George Frederic. (1685–1759)] Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. (1756–1791) Händel's Oratorium Der Messias nach W. A. Mozart's Bearbeitung.

[Handel, George Frederic. (1685–1759)] Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. (1756–1791)

Händel's Oratorium Der Messias nach W. A. Mozart's Bearbeitung.

Leipzig: Breitkopf & Hartel. [1803]. First printing. Three parts bound as one: Erster Theil (108 pp); Zweyter Theil (96 pp); Dritter Theil (48 pp). Oblong quarto. Contemporary marbled boards, front hinge weak. Internally in very fine condition, ownernship signature on title. First edition of the full score of Mozart's re-orchestration of Handel's Messiah, fully engraved. Köchel 572.

"In 1789, at the request of Baron Gottfried van Swieten, Mozart, by all accounts a profound admirer of Handel, also re-orchestrated Messiah. It is often said that the subject of the re-orchestration was to compensate for the absence of an organ in the hall, but this is not borne out by what Mozart does, which seems more of a translation into terms suggested by the ordinary forces for these concerts; these included flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns and trombones. The trumpets were demoted from melodic to harmonic instruments. 'The trumpet shall sound' and 'If God be for us,' which van Swieten called the 'cold aria,' were rewritten, the latter as a recitative" (Luckett, Handel's Messiah: A Celebration, 214). (11135)

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