CHORUS

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed. And all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

The orchestra introduces the chorus’s opening theme, which consists of two musical phrases presenting the first sentence of text. The chorus alto section is the first to report the “glory of the Lord.” The full chorus echoes, then the musical phrases are separated, and each becomes the object of various treatments in one or two voices at a time. [Excerpt 7] It takes a while for the glory of God to appear in its entirety in the combined chorus and orchestra. “And all flesh shall see it together” receives similar treatment. However, as this text passage comes toward its close, basses and tenors, in unison, declaim “for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it” on a pedal tone beneath the sopranos and altos. [Excerpt 8] In this moment the declamation is not particularly overwhelming, but it sets the precedent for what will happen as the movement progresses.
           
Repetitions of the first two ideas next occur in both chordal and contrapuntal manner. Fragments of “and all flesh” occur sequentially in the three lower voices; one wonders if this speaks to the lower condition of humanity which will finally see the Lord’s glory. Full choral statements of “the glory of the Lord” increasingly come “together.” The declaimed text, “for the mouth of the Lord...”, begins to appear in each of the choral parts in company with the other parts revealing the “glory.” In the final section, the sopranos present the opening melody in its highest range, so the “glory of the Lord” rises to its utmost glowing peak on a high A. By now the chorus is involved as a whole. The last moments combine simultaneous fast and slow statements of the declamation and, after a pause, a grand adagio plagal (“amen”) cadence: “hath spoken it.”[Excerpt 9]

[Set 2: Bass accompanied recitative, alto air (D minor), chorus (G minor);
the purification of the people of God]
[Jennens: The prophecy of the coming of Messiah and the question...of what this may
portend for the world.]

ACCOMPANIED RECITATIVE (BASS)

Thus saith the Lord of Hosts: Yet once, a little while, and I will shake
the heav’ns and the earth, the sea and the dry land, and I will shake all nations;
and the desire of all nations shall come. The Lord, whom ye seek shall suddenly
come to his temple; e’en the messenger of the Covenant, whom ye delight in:
behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts.

A loud dotted-rhythm fanfare rises in the solo strings, a regal preparation for the word of the Lord. It’s in the minor; it portends some serious event–as it should, since this is the beginning of a purification of God’s people. At the fanfare’s culmination, the bass sings the imposing announcement using the downward form of the fanfare, declaiming an imperious statement from God. God’s intent to shake all of creation appears in a rising flurry of sixteenth notes. Although the “heav’ns” are higher than the “earth”, the sea is also higher than the dry land–a tsunami of sorts. The shaking idea rattles throughout recitative either in the vocal line or in the accompaniment. The “desire” of the nations trembles upward to its arrival point. [Excerpt 10] The last long sentence is more openly declaimed by the voice with only reduced accompaniment punctuation, which  preserves the regal dotted rhythm of the opening string fanfare.

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