Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Literature, Art and Human Development (ICLAHD 2025)

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The Artistic Characterization of Handel’s Hallelujah

Authors
Jingwen Ruan1, *
1Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China
*Corresponding author. Email: 110012022054@student.fjnu.edu.cn
Corresponding Author
Jingwen Ruan
Available Online 31 December 2025.
DOI
10.2991/978-2-38476-511-9_15How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Handel; Polyphony; Chorus; Hallelujah
Abstract

Handel’s oratorio Messiah is an important musical work in the Baroque period, in which the use of tonal music, the first English lyrics and a strong secular character is a milestone in the development of British oratorio. The work consists of chorus, soloists and repetition, and the chorus is the essence of the work. Hallelujah is one of the most influential and widely sung chorales. This paper analyzes the harmonic and melodic direction of the score, as well as combines relevant literature to explore the emotional expression, stylistic characteristics and other artistic features of Hallelujah. It is found that the baroque style of Hallelujah is one of the reasons for the popularity of Hallelujah, as well as the dramatic and massive musical structure, the integration of the homophony and polyphony, and the symmetry and integrity of the chorus, which make the choral aesthetics appear in the early stage. This study will be useful for contemporary music writing and harmonic composition and will help contemporary performers to have a more accurate interpretation and performance of the chorus.

Copyright
© 2025 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Literature, Art and Human Development (ICLAHD 2025)
Series
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research
Publication Date
31 December 2025
ISBN
978-2-38476-511-9
ISSN
2352-5398
DOI
10.2991/978-2-38476-511-9_15How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2025 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Jingwen Ruan
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/31
TI  - The Artistic Characterization of Handel’s Hallelujah
BT  - Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Literature, Art and Human Development (ICLAHD 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 137
EP  - 147
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-511-9_15
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-511-9_15
ID  - Ruan2025
ER  -