One extreme with caution shunning,
To another blindly running.
Kindly teach how blest are they
Who nature’s equal rules obey,
Who safely steer two rocks between,
And prudent keep the golden mean.”
Thus Mr. Jennens’s mild philosophy goes on, one of his verses, “As steals the Morn upon the Night,” set to a brilliant tenor and soprano duet, followed by the closing chorus, “Thy Pleasures, Moderation, give,” in full, broad, rich harmony. There needs no other proof of Handel’s genius, than that he could link such Tupperisms to his grand measures.
[27] Jennens was an amateur poet of the period, descended from a manufacturing family of Birmingham, from whom he inherited a large fortune. He lived on terms of close intimacy with Handel, and was mentioned in his will. He died Nov. 20, 1773.
[28] I was lucky enough to meet with the approbation of Mr. Bates in the recitative of “Deeper and deeper still;” my next song was the laughing one. Mr. Harrison, my predecessor at those concerts, was a charming singer: his singing “Oft on a plat of rising ground,” his “Lord, remember David,” and “O come let us worship and fall down,” breathed pure religion. No divine from the pulpit, though gifted with the greatest eloquence, could have inspired his auditors with a more perfect sense of duty to their Maker than Harrison did by his melodious tones and chaste style; indeed, it was faultless: but in the animated songs of Handel he was very deficient. I heard him sing the laughing song without moving a muscle, and determined, though it was a great risk, to sing it my own way, and the effect produced justified the experiment; instead of singing it with the serious tameness of Harrison, I laughed all through it, as I conceived it ought to be sung, and as must have been the intention of the composer. The infection ran; and their Majesties, and the whole audience, as well as the orchestra, were in a roar of laughter, and a signal was given from the royal box to repeat it, and I sang it again with increased effect.—Michael Kelly’s Reminiscences, 1789.
