Handel's Bagpipes
'Tis the season to saturate the airwaves with Christmas music and, since I'm a certifiable old curmudgeon, 'tis also the season to complain about poor performances and bad Christmas music. There is, of course, plenty of very nice music and remarkable performances that I've heard occasionally, but this post isn't about that.
Mostly it's about Handel's oratorio Messiah, surely the most performed and least understood of the seasonal favorites. I say "seasonal" advisedly since, as insiders and prissy others know, it is really an Easter work, not a Christmas work.
Now, I am not complaining about Messiah itself, which surely is a masterpiece of Western music. Despite a few foibles* it's a beautiful and inspiring piece, even if we mostly only hear the "Christmas portions". But there's a complaint: surely the work was never meant to be heard two dozen times in one month, perhaps even in one lifetime.
Before I forget, what I was going to complain about was the typical interpretation of the "Pastoral Symphony" movement, that odd little instrumental movement that appears just before the herald angel brings word of the imminent birth of the Messiah to the shepherds abiding in their fields.
"Pastoral" and "shepherds" certainly go together as ideas, but Handel was more explicit in his musical painting. For one thing, the pastorale is the traditional Italian Christmas sound, a dance written in compound meter, typically 6/8 or 12/8.% The pastorale became associated with Christmas through this image of shepherds in their fields, playing traditional dances on their bagpipes known as piffaro; the players themselves were pifferari.
Now, the "Pastoral Symphony" in Messiah is also marked "Pifa", to emphasize the fact that it is a pastorale in the Italian sense, and that it is imitating the piffaro of the shepherds. It's a miniature tone painting setting the scene for the shepherds to receive the news from the angel. Such a vivid scene!
If you listen to the music with this in mind, you will hear that the lyrical melody of the "Pifa" is played over droning fifths in the bass, played by 'celli and basses. Those drones are the basis of the imitation of the shepherds bagpipes, or piffaro. Also, there's that little trill in the melody in the third bar, a charming imitation of the characteristic little twiddle that pipers will play in their tunes. It's a stunning effect, brilliant in conception, and plays a pivotal role in preparing one emotionally for the birth of the Messiah.
Unless, of course, the conductor totally misses the point and either overlooks or tries to hide the bagpipe effect. Who would try to hide it? Far too many interpreters, I'm afraid. If they don't appreciate the bagpipe imitation of the movement they will usually try to "soften" the sound,** emphasize the melody, make the drone entirely too legato, and play the entire piece much, much too slowly, to make it more "beautiful" and "meaningful".#
So, for full sonic effect and proper emotional preparation, know what it is that you're hearing and insist on the full, bagpipe effect! You will be amazed if you've only heard the slow, pretty, "pastoral" versions before.
Forget all the performances you find on YouTube as examples, but I did manage to locate one version that I found satisfying. It's an older recording (that I own and enjoy) performed by Christopher Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music. Visit this Amazon link and listen to the sample from "Disk 1: Track 9: Pifa". While you're there you might want to follow-on with the next section in which the shepherds receive the news, and see whether you don't feel more involved after listening to the shepherds play their pipes.
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* For instance, Handel never quite understood the rhythm of English very well, and it shows in the way the accents land on odd syllables in some of the choruses.
% This is what gives Arcangelo Corelli's "Chistmas Concerto" its Christmas sound: every movement is in a compound meter.
** Far too many conductors seem afraid of the music that they're conducting and try to pretty it up. If I had a dime for every conductor who seemed to think Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" needed to have its corners smoothed off….
# Those who know us will know that "meaningful" is really a codeword around our house for something really icky.
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To thwart spam, comments by new people are held for moderation; give me a bit of time and your comment will show up.
I welcome comments -- even dissent -- but I will delete without notice irrelevant, rude, psychotic, or incomprehensible comments, particularly those that I deem homophobic, unless they are amusing. The same goes for commercial comments and trackbacks. Sorry, but it's my blog and my decisions are final.
on Saturday, 22 December 2007 at 23.13
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Renaissance man is alive and well, and blogging on a splendid variety of things. Informatively and in interesting ways, to boot.
on Saturday, 22 December 2007 at 23.20
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That is what happens when I hear a particularly tepid performance, or a bad piece of music, on the radio while I'm sitting here in front of the computer. But, in this case, it reminded me of how electrifying it was when I first made the bagpipe connection the "Messiah", and how brilliant I thought it was.
Don't you just love a "splendid variety of things" though? I still can't understand the commonly held viewpoint that a "good" blog must be about a single topic. What fun is that? I guess I'm willing to set aside all hope of being "good" to escape vapid boredom.
on Sunday, 23 December 2007 at 15.06
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That's brilliant. I didn't know about the bagpipe connection, but on listening to your link I understand what you mean. It's amazing — now I feel much smarter.
on Tuesday, 25 December 2007 at 00.25
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I'm very pleased to hear that, Melanie. Nothing leaves me more chuffed than helping other people feel smarter!