I have had a long love affair with Handel's Messiah. Going to see it performed during the holidays is a standard objective every year. Typically it is an objective I meet, but for the last two years I have fallen short and unless something happens very soon I am about to miss it for the third year and it makes me very sad to go that long without having a chance to lift my untrained voice with the trained ones and rejoice aloud in an explosion of gratitude for being alive and in good health.
I am fascinated by the effect of the music. There is nothing else that so resonates with me the purest form of communion with God. I set aside all of my religious prejudices and attitudes for the chance to achieve an unparalleled harmony that lifts me into a heightened awareness of the remarkable gift of life.
It is not a surprise to me that Handel composed the Messiah in 24 days. If he felt what I do listening to it, when he was writing it, the sheer force of ecstasy would have consumed him if it had been a long, drawn out process.
I had an opportunity, that is a story all by itself, to sit with The Mormon Tabernacle Choir when they performed The Messiah a long time ago. I was not a member of the choir but they told me to sing if I wished and believe me, I did. I can't imagine how you could avoid singing under such circumstances. I will never forget that. So, I suppose that may explain some of my enthusiasm for the music.
I do wish all of you a Merry Christmas. This is a magical time. Give and receive gifts generously and give thanks often. Enjoy! Thank you, Herr Handel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_VARtvgGBY&feature=related
Herb Ratliff, December 23, 2011, All Rights Reserved
I remember the first year of the Messiah Sing-In in Salt Lake. I was still involved in church in those days and was directing our little church choir. We had prepared several numbers from the Messiah to sing in our own program and upon hearing about the Sing-In, I organized our group and many of us attended. it was in symphony hall and they had some wonderful professional soloists, you had to bring your own score. As you said, it was thrilling to lift your voice with thousands of others in the familiar and some not so familiar pieces. With no rehearsal, it was an amazing event.
ReplyDeleteOver the years it became so popular, they began requiring advance ticketing. And then they started selling the tickets. And little by little I lost interest in what had originally felt like a "flash mob" sort of Messiah, evolved into something commercial and restricted.
But I have an excellent recording that I drag out and play every year. I still have my score, and I sing along where I can, though the fast phrases and the higher passages leave me behind. And sometimes I just listen because the music is simply some of the most beautiful I've ever heard.