Halifax Judas, The

The arranger of the Halifax score explores the dramatic potential offered by the additional wind and brass forces to great effect in choruses such as `Fall'n is the foe' (Part II) and `Lead on, lead on' (Part I), where the the full brass and wind complement creates a more dynamic, emphatic sound, focusing attention particularly on the opening vocal motive. Using the new wind and brass parts to reinforce the vocal entries proves very effective in, for example, `Hear us, Oh Lord, the closing chorus of Part I. At times he emulates the Viennese practice of doubling the alto, tenor, and bass choral parts with trombones, but less consistently than Mozart does in his Messiah arrangement. (The fact that this doubling is actually written into the score here suggests that the trombones may not have done this as a matter of course, as Mozart required them to do in his version of Messiah; although possibly this was simply due to the copyist having misinterpreted instructions in the source.) The trombones again come into their own at the close of Part II, in the fugal conclusion of `Oh! never bow we down', where they double the subject, lending appropriate ecclesiastical solemnity to the minims of `We worship God and God alone'.

In the chorus `Disdainful of danger' (Part I), we find a good example of the use of the extra wind and brass to articulate the ends of sections, and emphasise cadence points - an attempt to clarify for contemporary audiences the structural outlines of the Baroque oratorio. A similar principle probably motivated the changes Mozart made to `Why do the nations', for example, in his arrangement of Messiah.

Although the title page of the Halifax arrangement draws attention to the additional parts for 'Blasinstrumenten', it is not only wind and brass parts that have been added to Handel's scoring. As in Mozart's Messiah, new violin and viola lines can sometimes be heard, in, for example, string-- accompanied numbers such as the bass aria `The Lord worketh wonders' (Part II): as he often does elsewhere, the arranger has taken care to base these on ideas already in the source, for example in the added line for violin II which anticipates the violin I figure from bars 13-15 (ex.6). (We have already noted the addition of divisi violas in `Oh! never bow we down').

When viewed as a whole, the arranger's work has been extensive in the Halifax score. Mozart altered the instrumentation of around sixty per cent of Handel's Messiah, but for the Halifax score that figure is much higher. Only one solo number in the Halifax arrangement remains as it was printed in Wright's edition of the oratorio (dynamics excepted) - the soprano aria `Wise men, flatt'ring' (Part II). That this remains untouched is surely due to the unusual richness of Handel's scoring, so appropriate to the magical charms and seductive flattery described in Morell's text at this point.

When comparing the Halifax score with the 'Starzer' arrangement, the most notable difference is that the former includes the entire oratorio (as set down in Wright's edition), whereas in the 'Starzer' score it has been cut it by a third. This respect for the integrity of the source is consistent with Mozart's treatment of Messiah, although even Mozart was prepared to cut several numbers, including the penultimate number Of God be for us') and replace it with accompanied recitative something the Halifax arranger was not willing to do.25 Another point of difference between the 'Mozart' and 'Starzer' arrangements of Judas can be found at the beginning of Part III. In the `Starzer' version, we find a choral arrangement of `Father of Heav'n!' in place of the alto aria, whereas the Halifax version retains Handel's original conception of the movement. Whilst Handel accompanied the voice with strings only, however, `Mozart' adds phrases in flutes, clarinets, horns, and bassoons, setting off the elegant vocal lines to great effect and enhancing the Sarastro-like serenity of the piece (ex.7).