Sunday, November 26, 2017

Georg Frederick Handel - Hallelujah Chorus in D Major (from The Messiah)

And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
- Revelation 11:15  
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
- Revelation 19:6

The biggest mistake that Classical Music (as commonly understood) can make is to divorce itself from its audience.  This divorce explains almost all of why modern Classical Music is such a wasteland of ugliness.  In earlier days, Classical composers were Rock Stars, and the audience treated them as such.  That flame, while flickering, is still burning and even showing signs of roaring back.  Handel's "Messiah" shows that.

Image via Wikipedia
It's a myth that everyone stands for the Hallelujah Chorus because the King was so overwhelmed when he heard it that he lept to his feet.  The rest of the audience of course would have scrambled to theirs as well - nobody sat while the King stood, Back In The Day.  It seems that the story isn't true but I must say that the hair on the back of my neck stood up when the audience rose en masse the first time I performed this.  They also sang along to us, claiming this small portion of Handel's master work as theirs.

That continues to this day with the wonderful new tradition of Classical Music "Flash Mobs".  Essentially, this is music swooping down on people who, unsuspecting, are simply living out an ordinary day of their lives.  The People always rise to this occasion, joining with delight the sudden and seemingly random outbreak of culture.  Here's one example, from a shopping mall in Philadelphia, accompanied by the world's largest pipe organ:



Sure, the camera work is bad (it's mostly caught from within the audience), and the sound quality is amateurish (same problem).  Watch the people - caught without practice, or even a script, they join in the singing.  They take a stuffy Symphony Hall performance and make it their own.  They understand - everyone involved understands - that this is our culture.  The result is a performance done for the joy of the doing by both professionals and audience.  I cannot put into words how beautiful I see these social acts of culture.

And although I have not sung this for twenty years, to this day I could do a creditable job on the baritone part from memory - and could do it justice if I had not gotten rid of the script in the move from Camp Borepatch.

This is Classical Music, as it was understood back in the days when composers were Rock Stars.  And quite frankly, some composers - notably Handel - are still rock stars.  Just watch the people there when the organ kicks off and the chorus unloads the first line.  The audience entirely gets what's going on and joins in, with delight.

This is a meditation on the upcoming holiday.  The Lord Messiah was not sent for a small elite, he was sent for everyone, even shopping mall patrons.  I post a lot of Christmas music during the season, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous.  The music of this coming holiday is one that everyone is invited to join in.

7 comments:

Old NFO said...

It took me a minute to pick up on it, but the ones with the buttons are members of the Opera. Well done! :-D

libertyman said...

That would be a wonderful experience to be there!

And who knew you could sing? Geez, you think you know a guy...

LindaG said...

It has been a lot longer than 20 years since I sang it, but it brings back memories.
Thank you for this.

Ruth said...

I sang alto on a huge number of "classical" pieces. Hated most of them with a passion. But the Hallelujah Chorus was always a blast to perform. At least partially because yes, you could always see the audience light up.

LSP said...

Excellent post! Well said.

Tom in NC said...

Thanks a lot for this post - In my singing days way long ago, our choir did the entire Messiah. I also think I could do a decent job on the baritone part, but that's probably a big overestimate of my current ability. I'd probably find the room to be very dusty and only squeaks would come out of my mouth! As it is, I still get goosebumps when I hear the Chorus, especially hearing it done in person.

As to not knowing a guy, I had a colleague who was a damn fine baritone/bass, but no one in the company knew it until he decided to serenade us at his retirement dinner. The sound of jaws dropping to the floor was deafening ...

Finding those hidden talents in people you know is always interesting, in one way or another ...

Rick T said...

That's not a shopping mall, that is the old John Wanamaker's (now Macys') flagship store in downtown Philly. The large eagle you see at the beginning and at the end is a major landmark, you frequently hear "let's meet at the Eagle in John Wanamaker's at noon"