Der Messias - Copyist Manuscript, ca. 1840

Full score copyist manuscript of Handel's Messiah, ca. 1840, in an unknown hand, from the collection of the German musicologist Franz Commer. The handsomely copied manuscript contains the complete work with parallel texts in German and English, including an extensive appendix with the alternate or additional numbers "But who may abide," "Rejoice greatly" (4/4 version), "Thou art gone up on high" (2 alternate versions for alto and bass), "How beautiful are the feet," "Ihr Schall ging aus" (chorus), "Wie lieblich ist der Boten Schritt" (duet), "How beautiful are the feet" (alto version), "Ihr Schall ging aus" (tenor), and "O death, where is thy sting" (duet). Ownership stamp of F. Commer to the title page. 103; 101; 52; [52] pp. Later three-quarter brown leather binding with marbled paper sides and endpapers, raised bands and gold lettering to spine, and gilt edges. Very slight rubbing to two small areas of spine; otherwise in very fine condition overall.

An interesting German manuscript from the middle of the 19th century, a period which saw a widening shift in approaches to Handel's music, with Germany emerging as a major center of Handel studies.  In Leipzig in 1856, the musicologist Friedrich Chrysander and the literary historian Georg Gottfried Gervinus founded the Deutsche Händel-Gesellschaft with the aim of publishing authentic editions of all Handel's works.  This was partly in reaction to the increasing trend in continental Europe of performances of Messiah departing from Handel's practices in various ways, including drastic reorchestrations of the score to suit contemporary tastes.  At the same time, performances in Britain and the United States moved further away from Handel's performance practice with increasingly grandiose renditions with Messiah being presented in New York in 1853 with a chorus of 300 and in Boston in 1865 with more than 600, while in Britain a "Great Handel Festival" was held at the Crystal Palace in 1857, performing Messiah and other Handel oratorios, with a chorus of 2,000 singers and an orchestra of 500.

The German church musician and musicologist Franz Commer was one of the co-founders of the Berliner Tonkünstler-Verein and served as the music director at the Berlin Hedwigskirche. In 1868 he founded the Gesellschaft für Musikforschung. He is best-known as the publisher of the 28-volume series Musica Sacra, of which the first volume appeared in 1839. He was honored with a gold medal for the arts by Friedrich Wilhelm III for the achievement of this publication. (15176)

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Manuscript Music

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Classical Music

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