Handel's Messiah: Comfort for God's People
Stock No: WW865878
Handel's Messiah: Comfort for God's People  -     By: Calvin R. Stapert

Handel's Messiah: Comfort for God's People

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. / 2010 / Paperback

In Stock
Stock No: WW865878

Buy Item Our Price$19.35 Retail: $21.50 Save 10% ($2.15)
In Stock
Quantity:
Stock No: WW865878
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. / 2010 / Paperback
Quantity:

Add To Cart

or checkout with

Add To Wishlist
Quantity:


Add To Cart

or checkout with

Wishlist

Product Close-up | Editorial Reviews
This product is not available for expedited shipping.
* This product is available for shipment only to the USA.
Others Also Purchased (15)
Select this Item Product Title/Author Availability Price Quantity
$16.49
In Stock
Our Price$16.49
Retail: $21.00
Add To Cart
$16.49
$21.60
In Stock
Our Price$21.60
Retail: $24.00
Add To Cart
$21.60
$35.10
In Stock
Our Price$35.10
Retail: $39.00
Add To Cart
$35.10
$28.80
In Stock
Our Price$28.80
Retail: $32.00
Add To Cart
$28.80
$9.00
In Stock
Our Price$9.00
Retail: $10.00
Add To Cart
$9.00
$17.99
In Stock
Our Price$17.99
Retail: $19.99
Add To Cart
$17.99
$13.49
In Stock
Our Price$13.49
Retail: $18.99
Add To Cart
$13.49
$20.99
In Stock
Our Price$20.99
Retail: $29.95
Add To Cart
$20.99
$30.60
In Stock
Our Price$30.60
Retail: $34.00
Add To Cart
$30.60
$17.99
In Stock
Our Price$17.99
Retail: $19.99
Add To Cart
$17.99
$6.99
In Stock
Our Price$6.99
Retail: $8.00
Add To Cart
$6.99

Product Description

Handel's Messiah is a treasured masterpiece of musical composition admired by Christians around the world. With overwhelming beauty it explores the birth of Jesus Christ in an expression whose voice transcends mere words. It is enriching, it is meaningful, and it is powerful.

But, as with many great accomplishments, there remains an untold story. In Handel's Messiah: Comfort for God's People, Calvin Stapert fills in the historical gap and tells us the fascinating story of how one of the world's most revered musical masterpieces came into being. Many of us know Handel's Messiah by heart, and coming to a better understanding of the man who composed it, the world in which it was penned, as well as its reception and impact from Handel's day down to our own, only deepens our appreciation of the music and the power with which it reveals the story of the Christ to us.

In addition to the historic background, Stapert devotes much his book to a scene-by-scene musical and theological commentary on the entire score, demonstrating how the music of Messiah wonderfully and beautifully intertwines with and illuminates the biblical text. In doing so, Stapert reaches down into the theological depths of the Christmas message, and opens the biblical text and our minds and spirits to utter beauty of Handel's presentation of the gospel.

Product Information

Title: Handel's Messiah: Comfort for God's People
By: Calvin R. Stapert
Format: Paperback
Number of Pages: 144
Vendor: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Publication Date: 2010
Dimensions: 9.00 X 6.00 (inches)
Weight: 10 ounces
ISBN: 0802865879
ISBN-13: 9780802865878
Stock No: WW865878

Publisher's Description

Handel’s oratorio Messiah is a phenomenon with no parallel in music history. No other work of music has been so popular for so long. Yet familiarity can sometimes breed contempt — and also misunderstanding.

This book by music expert Calvin Stapert will greatly increase understanding and appreciation of Handel’s majestic Messiah, whether readers are old friends of this remarkable work or have only just discovered its magnificence.

Stapert provides fascinating historical background, tracing not only Messiah’s unlikely inception but also its amazing reception throughout history. The bulk of the book offers scene-by-scene musical and theological commentary on the whole work, focusing on the way Handel’s music beautifully interprets and illuminates the biblical text.

For anyone seeking to appreciate Handel’s Messiah more, this informed yet accessible guide is the book to have and read.

(Handel’s Messiah: Comfort for God’s People is the newest volume in the flourishing Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Liturgical Studies Series, edited by John D. Witvliet.)

Author Bio

Calvin R. Stapert is professor emeritus of music at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan. His previous books include My Only Comfort: Death, Deliverance, and Discipleship in the Music of Bach; Handel's Messiah: Comfort for God's People; and A New Song for an Old World: Musical Thought in the Early Church.

Endorsements

Masaaki Suzuki,
-Founder and director of Bach Collegium Japan
"Messiah is 'the classic,' not only in the West but even in Japan. I have been performing this magnificent work with Bach Collegium Japan every year in the past decade, but it still makes us exuberant each and every time we perform it. When it comes to Bach cantatas, we oftentimes cannot help but be earnest and vigilant performing them, but in Messiah we can pour our hearts out as we please! According to Reformer John Calvin, music can deliver words deeply into our hearts, as through a funnel wine is poured into a vessel. Messiah must be one of the best funnels distilling God's words to the depths of our hearts. In this book my friend Calvin Stapert helps us understand this masterwork from manifold points of view, pouring deeper appreciation for the work into our hearts through the funnel of his words. Thank you very much, Cal!"

Jeremy Begbie,
-Duke University
"A superb study of one of the most widely performed pieces of Western music. As we have come to expect from this author, the writing is profound and scholarly as well as lucid and accessible. This is destined to be a classic guide to a classic work."

John Buchanan,
-Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago
"Calvin Stapert observes that oratorio, like opera, was written to entertain. Messiah certainly does that. But it does more. It proclaims good news. This fascinating, informative book will enrich the hearing of one of the world’s musical masterpieces. It will also deepen and enhance appreciation of one of Christianity’s true treasures."

Robin A. Leaver
-Yale Institute of Sacred Music, Queen’s University Belfast,
"Although Handel's Messiah is known and loved by many, the composer's intentions and purpose in creating this unique work are either unknown or underappreciated. . . . In this book Calvin Stapert's aim is not merely to give his readers information about this remarkable oratorio; he wants them to understand it — an aim admirably achieved with clarity, conviction, and charm."

Stephen A. Crist,
-Emory University
"A superb general treatment of a cornerstone in Western cultural history, Stapert's book is a work of great intelligence and devotional warmth. Highly recommended."

Editorial Reviews

“Messiah is ‘the classic,’ not only in the West but even in Japan. I have been performing this magnificent work with Bach Collegium Japan every year in the past decade, but it still makes us exuberant each and every time we perform it. . . . In this book my friend Calvin Stapert helps us understand this masterwork from manifold points of view, pouring deeper appreciation for the work into our hearts through the funnel of his words. Thank you very much, Cal!”
— Masaaki Suzuki
founder and director of Bach Collegium Japan

“A superb study of one of the most widely performed pieces of Western music. As we have come to expect from this author, the writing is profound and scholarly as well as lucid and accessible. This is destined to be a classic guide to a classic work.”
— Jeremy Begbie
Duke University

“Calvin Stapert observes that oratorio, like opera, was written to entertain. Messiah certainly does that. But it does more. It proclaims good news. This fascinating, informative book will enrich the hearing of one of the world’s musical masterpieces. It will also deepen and enhance appreciation of one of Christianity’s true treasures.”
— John Buchanan
Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago

Ask a Question

Author/Artist Review