Debating Handel’s anti-Semitism

June 13, 2007

Academics often get worked up about things that would surprise the general population. For example, did it ever occur to you that the Baroque composer George Frideric Handel may have been anti-Semitic? Or that his great oratorio, Messiah, and especially its famous Hallelujah Chorus, were intended to repudiate Judaism? That’s the contention of one scholar who spoke recently at the American Handel Festival 2007. He was passionately opposed by another scholar, who happens herself to be Jewish (so you’d think she’d know), as well as many of the audience members. For my part, it’s hard to reconcile that charge with the composer who also gave us the oratorio Israel in Egypt, a moving account of the Biblical story behind Passover. But I’m hardly a music scholar. And it would be naïve to suggest that the 18th century was anything other than a bigoted era, whatever enlightened image its music may enjoy in our own time. The fact is, it was an age when you were at a distinct disadvantage unless you were white, Christian and male (it would be even better if you were part of the aristocracy, or could at least work for them, as Handel did). So it’s interesting to consider the debate, as well as the larger question of the role this music plays in our own culture. Is it possible to appreciate this music from a purely aesthetic perspective (as we contend here at WDAV)? Or do we tacitly endorse the values of its creators when we play it? (You can access an article about the American Handel Festival debate at the New York Times archive for a fee.)