I grew up in
industrial Lancashire, just outside a small cotton town, and every year, as
Christmas approached, posters would go up in shop windows and on notice-boards,
advertising performances of Messiah by
this choral society or that chapel or church or school choir. For very many people Christmas would not have
been Christmas without attending a performance of Messiah.
The grammar school
that I and my sisters attended always held its performance just before the end
of the autumn term. Year after year I longed to sing in it, but was told I was
needed to play violin in the school orchestra which accompanied the singers. It
was only after I had left school that I was welcomed back at the end of my
first term at university to sing soprano in the chorus and hear my next-to-youngest
sister sing the contralto solos.
The tender beauty
of the solos, the rousing grandeur of the choruses and the Baroque
intricacies of the music form part of the essential background to Advent
and Christmas for me even now. So, in the spirit of this tradition, here are the
two aria inspired by the readings I heard in church this morning.
Such
glory, such faith.
Thankyou for these Perpetua. A wonderful reminder of the very greatest choral work (I think).
ReplyDeleteI have sung in at least 20 performances of this in previous years and thoroughly enjoyed sitting at the computer singing along with these two.
I actually prefer "and who may abide" to be sung by an alto or a bass, but it was a lovely chance to sing along.X
So do I normally, Ray and this is what I set out to find on YouTube. But I stumbled upon this performance by one of my very favourite sopranos and thought I would be untraditional for once. :-) Emma Kirkby's voice is so glorious that I seize on everything I can find by her.
DeleteI don't have enough voice these days for a full performance of 'Messiah', but like you I still enjoy singing along.....
I have sung Messiah numerous times, but not in the last 25 years. Though I no longer attend church services, this oratorio never fails to move me.
ReplyDeleteIt is such a wonderful work, Linda, with an appeal far beyond the confines of the church. It's hard to imagine someone not being moved by it in some way. I'd love to sing it again, but don't think my voice would hold out now.
DeleteOne of the few things I enjoyed while attending the Baptist church I grew up in. Nowadays they have all these sing alongs but I just love sitting and listening to a choir sing it.
ReplyDeleteMe too, Rubye, though there'd a place for the sing-alongs as well. It's some time since I sang along with an entire performance, but I never fail to listen to my CD of Messiah at some point over the Christmas season.
DeleteWonderful, Perpetua - I love Emma Kirkby's voice and, like you, need a Messiah at Christmas for all to feel just right. We used to sing it at home when my grandparents were alive - one soprano, three altos, one (loud) tenor and a bass/pianist. It was intimate and not for public consumption but great fun. Axxx
ReplyDeleteIsn't she wonderful, Annie? I must confess to having discovered her rather late, but now I can't get enough of her singing. I love the thought of your family performance of Messiah - true chamber music, really. :-) Our home singing was confined to carols, but we always attended the school performance.
DeleteBeautiful inspiring music - thank you for posting Perpetua
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome, Molly. Two wonderful performances, I think.
DeleteOh gorgeous! When I had a voice (ie when I was 20 and many more years younger and had undamaged vocal chords!), I sang the soprano solos in the Messiah several times, and the chorus parts more often than I care to remember, but still never tire of hearing them - and I can't hear the Bible passages without wanting to sing them again (probably the tenor parts now!) But these days I preach on them sometimes - this morning based on the Malachi passage (including fuller's soap and the refiner's fire, but not 'hell fire and brimstone - I'm not a 'pulpit thumper'!!)
ReplyDeleteEmma Kirkby has been my favourite soprano of all time - not a trace of vibrato or 'hooded' tone (hooting), and such wonderful control and diction, and a voice as clear as a bell.
I do wish I'd known you back then, Helva, and could have heard your performances. Even though you were getting ready to preach, I bet you still had the music of these arias running through your head as you listened to the readings today.
DeleteAs I said above to Annie, I came late to Emma Kirkby, but am gradually acquiring more and more of her recordings. I agree that she has the purest voice imaginable, not a trace of shrillness and a marvellous lack of vibrato. She is a joy to listen to whatever the music she is singing.
Sitting through a complete performance of Handel’s Messiah is a totally uplifting experience. The last time I heard it 'live' was in Gloucester Cathedral, a perfect auditorium.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that Christmas is not Christmas without the Messiah, and on Christmas Eve - the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King's College, Cambridge.
That must have been an unforgettable experience, Rosemary, this glorious music in such a wonderful setting. I'm with you too on the necessity of the Festivals of Nine Lessons and Carols - the full version on Radio 3 on Christmas Eve - which I listen to in the kitchen while making mince pies. :-)
DeleteOooo Emma Kirkby. An angel descended to earth.
ReplyDeleteHi Tenon Saw (great name) and welcome to my blog. I so agree - her voice is truly sublime.
DeleteI so love the way you tell the story of how this masterpiece has blessed your life, Perpetua. It is a glorious work to listen to, and I have also had the extreme pleasure of singing in a choir of voices, and being so exhilarated I almost couldn't contain myself. Just beautiful! oxo
ReplyDeleteDebra, that is just how singing in a performance of Messiah makes one feel - as though one's feet have almost left the earth. :-) Just thinking about it makes me want to sing it again. It truly was part of the fabric of life at Christmas in the north of England, and probably everywhere else in the country, but the north was what I knew.
DeleteIt is Monday here, Perpetua, and I'm just beginning my day with these amazing performances. We were unable to attend The Messiah last night at our church, so, I am doubly grateful for your posting now. Thank you so very much for this.
ReplyDeletePenny, I'm so glad to have partially filled the gap left by your not being able to attend your church's performance. what a pity you couldn't make it. There are so many wonderful excerpts available on YouTube that you could almost listen to the whole work that way. :-)
DeleteThank you for the uplifting music. My childhood memories of Christmas music that still stay with me are from different church traditions, especially Methodist and Anglican and carols played by Salvation Army bands or sung by choristers. There's something special about hearing a chorister singing the first verse of Once in Royal David's City in the darkness during the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols before the candles are lit in the church.
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome, Linda. My childhood memories are of performances of Handel's Messiah and carols at school, chapel and round the Christmas tree at home. I don't remember ever hearing the now essential Nine Lessons service from King's until I was an adult with children of my own. You're absolutely right about that unaccompanied first verse - truly a tingle-factor moment.
DeleteVery much enjoyed, Perpetua. I find that I don't often have time during the yuletide season to listen to music that I love -- except in church and through blogging. A church I belonged to in Munich did a wonderful thing at Christmas and Easter -- they had the choir take the lead and invited all members of the congregation to join them singing the passages appropriate to the season. Fortunately for me our church has a strong musical tradition and I am able to get a good musical fix with the Advent Carol Service and 9 Lessons and Carols in addition to the usual Christmas services. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you found time to listen to them, Broad. Life in the run-up to Christmas with a boy in the house again must be beyond hectic.:-) Your Advent Carol Service sounds wonderful and to have a Nine Lessons and Carols as well is even better. We're having a deanery Advent Carol Service on Sunday with a visiting choir and I'm looking forward to it immensely.
DeleteIt is always amazing.... and having now spent years in Yorkshire...not too far from your Lancashire roots, I regard The Messiah as a vital part of my Christmas. It is some years since I sang with the Todmorden Choral Society, but being part of that tradition, where they had sung in the town hall every year since 1870 something or other, was very powerful. Thanks for this Perpetua. Jx
ReplyDeleteEee by gum, tha's a northerner now, Janice. :-) It's lovely to see you back in blogdom.
DeleteThe tradition of local choral societies is so strong in the north and it has always ensured some truly splendid performances almost everywhere each year. What fun to sing with the omne in Todmorden.
Dear Perpetua, the genius of Handel. I could feel my spirits, my soul, my whole self being exalted as the singer's voice rose into the realms of hope and joy. Thank you for this Advent gift. Peace.
ReplyDeleteIt was my pleasure, Dee. Handel's Messiah is so extraordinary in its range and power of emotion that it always seems new when I hear it again. Now I'm singing these arias in my head as I type.....
DeleteSuch beauty. Every time I hear this, I get goosebumps, a lump in my throat.
ReplyDeleteIf proof is needed of beauty and divinity, it may be found in this piece.
Pearl
Beautifully put, Pearl, and absolutely true. Thins is what inspiration really means - to create something so sublime and eternal.
DeleteLike you Perpetua, I could not help but be reminded of Handel's Messiah when hearing the Malachi passage read last Sunday morning even when read with a strong Texan accent :-) And I had great difficulty in not 'singing the Gospel' rather than just reading it!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you & many of your followers who have left comments here, might enjoy this recent performance of 'Messiah', by a Czech choir & orchestra, sung in English & recorded by a French TV company!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQaww_NMDy0
It lasts a full two hours & seventeen minutes so do give yourself plenty of time to sit down & listen to it.
Yet again great minds think alike, Ricky. :-) The association between those passages and the arias is so strong that it would be hard to hear or read them without making it.
DeleteThanks so much for the link and I do hope it will be followed up. Sadly it won't by me as our poor broadband connection barely lets me listen to an aria, let along a complete oratorio. Sigh....
Oh dear Perpetua - I didn't realise you were still having problems with your broadband. That is such a shame as I'm sure you would thoroughly enjoy the performance.
DeleteBeing two miles up a hill from the exchange with a noisy line means that we're very lucky to reach 2MB per second and it's usually much less. As for contention - when the children get home from school and the adults from work it can sometimes be not much better than dial-up. Sigh....
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