Jonathan Edgeton

Analysis Guidelines
THE POINT OF ANALYSIS IS TO CONSTRUCT AN INTERPRETATION AND TO PREPARE TO REHEARSE. Your analysis should contain the following: 1. Name of piece and composer; composers dates We Will Rejoice in Thy Salvation, George F. Handel (1684 1759) 2. General information about composer, composition, context of the piece Handel was an influential composer of the Baroque period who was famous for his operas, oratorios, and organ concertos. He is most credited to his success with his oratorio Messiah, premiering in the 1740s and including the famous Hallelujah chorus. This piece is from Handels oratorio Joseph and his Brethren, first performed in 1744. We Will Rejoice in Thy Salvation comes at the end of the oratorio for the big finish, much like the Hallelujah Chorus was the final song in the second act of Messiah. 3. Information about the text (author/source, meaning, translation) James Miller was an English minister, playwright, and librettist who helped Handel with the text in Joseph and his Brethren. The oratorio is based upon the story of Joseph and his brothers in the book of Genesis of the Bible. Miller left out a lot of the background information because the audience he was catering to already knew about the story of Joseph, making it harder to understand when just looking at the libretto. He took liberty with writing it in a more poetic form also for this reason. This was Millers last work, dying in the same year it was premiered. melody The melodic theme in this piece occurs at the beginning of phrases, stating alleluja using half notes and quarter notes. This is a solid, prominent line that is easy to pick out of the framework of the fugue. It moves with primarily jumps. The countersubject is a fast-moving ascending run that immediately happens after the subject (the pickup is usually within the same measure). This provides a very buoyant, uplifting affect that carries the piece along. rhythm Rhythmic motives are also prevalent throughout the piece in both the subject and countersubject. In the subject, there are three eighth notes followed by a rising sixteenth note run that varies in length. In the Countersubject, the slower moving line uses half notes and quarter notes. The slower moving line provides a strong, triumphant contrast to the faster, lighter subject. Challenges of this piece lie in the speed of the runs in the subject.

harmony The harmonic rhythm of this piece is fairly fast, progressing primarily every bar or two. There is a modulation at the beginning of the B section in measure 12-14 to A Major. The piece then modulates back to D Major at ms 21. It then stays in D Major until the end. There are dissonances throughout with the use of Handels contrapuntal work. They are used in order to build up intensity, eventually leading up to the big finish. timbre This piece is primarily bright because of the lightness created by the fast moving lines. Also, the relatively high tessitura in all the parts creates a more brilliant affect within the piece. This brings up the mood of the piece, reflecting the text in an appropriate manner. texture The piece is composed of alternating sections of polyphonic, fugal movement and homophonic segments of text emphasis. The texture often changes from polyphony at the beginning of a phrase to homophony at the end. This creates the affect of greater emphasis and excitement throughout each phrase, ultimately coming to a conclusive, cadential, homophonic ending expression There isnt a big change in dynamics in the piece, staying mostly in the mf and f range. The biggest change is at the codetta where it switches to ff. Articulation remains pretty much the same as well, requiring slight detachment of the notes. This creates a lighter feeling throughout the piece. The phrasing, once again, leads to text accents and eventual homophonic cadential conclusions.

Moments of tension are seen through the use of dissonance and contrapuntal movement. Handel also used different rhythmic values to create contrast between the subject and countersubject. Handel maintained interest through loud dynamics, contrapuntal polyphony, contrasting sections using texture and modulation, and a big loud finish. 4. What you could teach with this piece? I could use this piece to teach my students about the process and makeup of a fugue, as well as the concept of foreground/background. Also, the contrasting textures could be taught through the examples given within the work. The piece also requires a great amount of vocal agility and rhythmic accuracy, which could be worked on and built through vocalizations and attention to detail in rehearsal.