Kicking off my Christmas Countdown of 10 favourite Christmas songs and hymns (shared in no particular order), I’m delighted to present Handel’s magnificent “Hallelujah Chorus” from Messiah. This festive journey will carry us right up to Christmas Eve.
Hallelujah has become a centrepiece of Christmas celebrations, even though Messiah was originally intended for the Lenten season. Its jubilant music, soaring choral harmonies, and triumphant message have led to its association with the holiday. There are two versions I have forwarded at the bottom of this post:
– The first one is a ‘Christmas Food Court Flash Mob‘ where on Nov.13 2010 ordinary folk were eating lunch in a bustling food court decorated for the holiday season, (situated in Seaway Mall near Niagara Falls) when all of a sudden an alto in blue jeans stands up with a cellphone to her ear: “Hallelujah,” she sings, kicking off the famous chorus of Handel’s Messiah.
– The second is a version from last year’s Melbourne ‘Carol’s by Candlelight’. This event is televised every Christmas Eve in Australia. A lot of families tune into it after enjoying their Christmas Eve dinner and letting off Christmas Crackers (Bonbons).
The Messiah by George Frideric Handel is an English-language oratorio which premiered in Dublin on 13 April 1742. In case you were wondering, an oratorio is a grand musical composition designed for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Unlike opera, which is a form of musical theater, an oratorio is purely a concert piece.
The text was compiled from the King James Bible and the Coverdale Psalter by Charles Jennens. Jennens’s text is an extended reflection on Jesus as the Messiah called Christ. The text begins in Part I with prophecies by Isaiah and others, and moves to the annunciation to the shepherds, the only “scene” taken from the Gospels. In Part II, Handel concentrates on the Passion of Jesus and ends with the Hallelujah chorus. In Part III he covers Paul’s teachings on the resurrection of the dead and Christ’s glorification in heaven.
References:
1. Messiah (Handel) – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
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