On Sat, 26 May 2001, Tako Oda wrote:
> Karen Mercedes <dalila@R...> wrote:
> Karen Mercedes <dalila@R...> wrote:
>
> The tricky thing is that what the original psalm means may be
> different from 1) what a Jewish scholar would think, 2) what a
> Christian theologist would think 3) what Handel's librettist thought
> it meant, at least for the purposes of "Messiah" 4) how Handel chose
> to interpret it (which in some cases did not match the librettists
> ideas - the librettist was not perfectly happy with Handel's handling
> of the words)
>
> I think for 2-4, "Thou" is Jesus, whose "gifts" were those of heaven
> for his disciples. He went up on "high" as in to 7th prayer meditation
> plane and God (metaphorically), or to heaven as in where people go
> when they die (literally). In both cases, they would be the keys to
> the salvation of his people. As for 1), a Jewish scholar would clearly
> have a different opinion on the text than a Christian one! :-)
>
> I would go with what the librettist/composer took the text to
> mean...It's basically part of the larger "Easter" section of Messiah.
> IMO, the alto part is the most Marian perspective of all the soloists.
> Deeply grateful and tragic, with muted joy. FWIW...
>
> Tako
>
I've decided to make life easy for myself and use St Paul's interpretation
of the text as my guide. I've also persuaded myself that the librettist's
mistranslation of the word as "enemies" - when all other translations,
including the King James, which would have been the "in vogue" version in
England at the time - translate the word as "rebels" - was meaningfully
intentional, and the enemies refer to Satan and his minions, the
latter who, once Christ has freed mankind from the captivity (evil) of sin
and death, go with him as willing captives themselves, on whom he bestows
the "spoils" of his victory, i.e., eternal life, the Word (as preached by
his apostles, who are the gifts from men that he receives, then sends out
again as gifts *to* men).
I figure it's really just about the joy of the Resurrection, which is what
the MUSIC says, even if the words don't, exactly.
KM
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ I sing hymns with my spirit, +
+ but I also sing hymns with my mind. +
+ - 1 Corinthians 14:15 +
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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