Hallelujah!

December 22, 2009 2:44 PM

For many, this time of year brings to mind George Frideric Handel's masterpiece "Messiah" - a three part oratorio for orchestra, chorus and soloists. For many, the holiday season has not begun until the local Messiah Sing-Along. (Need a score to sing along? It's always a good idea to check the Choral Public Domain Library! And before you go, make sure you're ready with a handy - and hilarious - quiz!) But the Messiah narrative has much less to do with that omnipresent, tacit, eponymous character and much more to do with the shared and often painful condition of the human family and our attempts to understand and commune with the universe. Director Claus Guth has staged the oratorio using a setting that mirrors that experience: a funeral. [Clips of that performance within.]

Part I
Overture
Comfort ye
Evry valley
And the glory of the Lord
But who may abide
For he is like a refiner's fire
And he shall purify.
O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion
The people that walked in darkness
For unto us a child is born
Rejoice greatly o daughter of Zion
He shall feed his flock
His yoke is easy

Part II
He was despised (Part 1) (Part 2)
Surely He hath borne our griefs
And with his stripes we are healed
All we like sheep
All they that see him laugh him to scorn
He trusted in God
Thy rebuke hath broken his heart
Behold and see
But thou didst not leave his soul in hell.
Lift up your head, o ye gates
Thou art gone up on high
How beautiful are the feet of them
Their sound is gone out into all lands
Why do the nations furiously rage together
Let us break their bonds asunder
He that dwelleth in heaven
Thou shalt break them
Hallelujah!

Part III
I know that my redeemer liveth
Since by man came death
The trumpet shall sound
O death where is thy sting?
If God be with us
Worthy is the lamb
Amen.

posted by greekphilosophy (19 comments total)

the Messiah narrative has much less to do with that omnipresent, tacit, eponymous character and much more to do with the shared and often painful condition of the human family

Yeah, no. It's about Jesus. It's right in the title and everything.
posted by Sidhedevil at 2:51 PM on December 22, 2009 [2 favorites]

Massey Hall, the Toronto venue for the Sing Along Messiah seats about 2700 and it is always full. I have been in the past and it is always fun, a mix of expert, accomplished, amateur and non-singers. It's nerdy but how often do you get to sing with 2,699 others?
posted by typewriter at 2:51 PM on December 22, 2009

My high school choir had a tradition to end all of our winter concerts with the "Hallelujiah Chorus", and to invite the alumni up onto the stage to join in. They've cancelled the choir program altogether in recent years, which is kind of a shame...
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:03 PM on December 22, 2009

The Messiah: does what it says on the tin. Saves the world, and stuff. *Now 20% savior!*
posted by greekphilosophy at 3:10 PM on December 22, 2009 [2 favorites]

I'll bet Handel would be very surprised that these Messiah sings are still being performed all over the country. The country of America, that is. Every year. And that the annual Messiah performances make up more than 60% of the Handel & Haydn society's annual budget. Or that there even is a Handel & Haydn society, in Boston.
posted by Melismata at 3:20 PM on December 22, 2009

Have you people watched this ridiculous performance? It's the Messiah with Eurotrash staging. Oh well, I supposed they've burned through Handel's major operas. They may as well lift their leg on the Messiah, too.
posted by Faze at 3:33 PM on December 22, 2009

My roommate sings in our city's Symphony Chorus, and he reported that the audience at all three performances of the Messiah stood up and clapped after the Hallelujah chorus. They all seemed pretty dismayed to find out there was more, apparently. For my part, having gone to a Messiah singalong once, I think I've just about had my fill.

Yeah, no. It's about Jesus. It's right in the title and everything.

Your Christmas cheer is infectious. I think it gave me athlete's foot.
posted by invitapriore at 3:34 PM on December 22, 2009

One of my music professors in college liked to talk about how Messiah was "assembled, rather than composed," meaning that Handel had stolen a lot of the melodies from various popular tunes (moreso than was common in the day).

I remember that the campy love song on which "I know that my redeemer liveth" is based was delightful. I just tried to find it (unsuccessfully) but instead found this HTML trainwreck, which calls "I know that my redeemer liveth" 'one of the most beautiful airs in all music'. Lol!
posted by coolguymichael at 4:10 PM on December 22, 2009

Your Christmas cheer is infectious. I think it gave me athlete's foot.

I live to serve! Ask me what I think about It's a Wonderful Life--you might get malaria.
posted by Sidhedevil at 4:25 PM on December 22, 2009

A few nights ago, we witnessed a few hundred people sing Hallelujah! along with a full orchestra at the American Pavilion in Epcot. With the wind coming off the lake and the holiday lighting, it was truly a magical experience.

They began the concert with Oh, Holy Night, and really belted out the "Fall on your knees!" line, so I didn't know how they were going to top it.

It's too bad the night had a bit of dischordia when our celebrity narrator, Abigail Breslin, reminded us of how "like, it's an honor to be here, and, like, who doesn't like Christmas, right?"
posted by thanotopsis at 5:34 PM on December 22, 2009

We did our first Messiah sing-along this year. Man, it's really hard.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:33 PM on December 22, 2009

The unsettling history of that joyous 'Hallelujah'
posted by LooseFilter at 7:07 PM on December 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

As a tenor, I always found it hard to belt out those high A's during the Hallelujah Chorus ... 'And he shall reign for ever and ever' ... but the overall effect and ramp up to the final Hallelujahs gave me goosebumps. There is no finer choral piece of music for the amateur.
posted by birdwatcher at 7:11 PM on December 22, 2009

I've sung Hallelujah many times and consider listening to Messiah the best part of Christmas music. This video is really something else. I just finished watching And He Shall Purify, and the emotional reactions of the singers left me confused. I guess I need to watch several in order and see if that helps, but at first viewing I'm not sure the whole funeral thing really adds anything to the musical presentation.
posted by irisclara at 8:36 PM on December 22, 2009

Faze, the Messiah staging is by English National Opera, whereas the subject of your link is the Royal Opera.

For those who want to avoid Daily Mail links, the headline is "Opera Singer Performs Topless," with a photo from the Royal Opera's production of Handel's Orlando. (I actually saw that production, and she was a dancer, not a singer. And the toplessness totally worked, in context.)
posted by Pallas Athena at 9:50 PM on December 22, 2009

Hallelujah Chorus performed by silent monks.
posted by CCBC at 12:37 AM on December 23, 2009

I really enjoyed following the youtube videos. thanks.
posted by theora55 at 7:33 AM on December 23, 2009

A few years ago, the Bottom Line club in NYC used to do a concert called "The Downtown Messiah" where an assortment of music artists each brought their own style to parts of the piece. It included Richard Barone, Jane Siberry, David Johansen, Terre Roche, a bunch of others. It's got jazz, folk, rock, a little of everything.

I dug around and there are still online streams of it available on this page.

Downtown Messiah 2001

Downtown Messiah 2002

"Best of" part 1

"Best of" part 2

I always wished a real CD album of that would have come out. It's great stuff.
posted by dnash at 12:08 PM on December 23, 2009 [1 favorite]

dnash, I'll be checking out those links. I sent the youtube links from this post out to a bunch of friends, and got many happy responses.
posted by theora55 at 9:32 AM on December 24, 2009