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Musical Journals

George Frideric Handel is the composer of the oratorio, Messiah that premiered in Dublin on April 13th of 1742. Trumpets are the main instruments used in the piece, with the addition of other instruments that characterize the orchestra such as violins, viola, bass, and cello have been used. The tonality of the piece ‘Hallelujah’ derived from the Messiah uses a D-major scale of the church scale, while the melody uses motifs which are repeated rhythms for the whole piece. The piece incorporates dynamics that are terraced developing loud and soft sounds. The piece as well has a strong sense of perfect cadence and as well uses the chordal patterns. The general texture of the piece is homophonic at the beginning, ending with a polyphonic texture.

J. S. Bach’s Cantata No. 140 Wachet Auf, on the other hand, is a cantata that was written in 1731. The excerpt sleepers awake Nos. 1 chorale fantasia uses instruments such as horns, trumpets and violins and incorporates soprano, tenor, alto, and bass. The melody of the piece consists of sopranos having a slow-moving chorale melody, and the rhythm comprises insistent dotted rhythm in the orchestra. The harmony consists of an uplifting E-flat major key while the form of the piece is the 3-part bar form consisting of (A-A-B). The texture involves alteration between the instrument groups which consist of complex imitative polyphony in lower voices.

The two pieces are similar in that they were both sacred music of the baroque era. The texture of the two is as well similar in that it consists of a polyphonic texture, while similar instruments such as bass, trumpets and violins.

Works Cited

G. F. Handel’s Messiah. Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/7YaGwI7GjlA?t=3J. S. Bach’s Cantata No. 140 Wachet Auf. Retrived from: https://youtu.be/Lz0FmmNrTck?t=97