Friday, December 10, 2004

Handel is the greatest composer who ever lived. - Ludwig van Beethoven

Tonight we were driving downtown to do some looking for Christmas gifts, listening to a small market distant prairie radio station on AM. They were playing a piece from Handel's Messiah.


Lauralea and I have sung the whole piece before, so we picked up the song like 20 years hadn't elapsed since we last sang it. I don't think the kids were impressed, but they don't know good music when they've had it butchered in front of them!


I remembered and commented to Lauralea that the last time we listened to the whole Messiah, was on a cold November night in London, the city Handel wrote it in. It was a magical evening in that large stone All Hallows Church, and we sat wearing our coats, listening to the New London Symphony and the HighGate Choral Society do the whole thing. I remember during intermission they served wine and cheese and I thought, hmm, the Church of England isn't so bad.


Music is one of those cool memory triggers. You hear a song and it reminds you of places and times and loves. Even over a static-y AM radio out in the middle of the prairies.


And I sometimes think Ludwig had it right.

14 comments:

  1. Handel's Messiah is one of my favorite things about Christmas! Did you ever hear the "Handel's Young Messiah" in the 90's?

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  2. The first time I heard the Messiah live was in Portland, OR in the Colleseum there. It was packed. I don't know how old I was - about 9 I guess. Too big to sit on my parents lap in any case since I remember sitting on the cement steps. I remember sitting on the steps and the fact that it was soooo long. The music has always remained some of the most awesome in my opinion. We always had a chance to sing it in the Congo at the end of the missionsary kids Christmas program. And the history of standing for the Hallelujah Chorus - I wonder if that will be lost as we listen to it mostly on CD or radio?

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  3. b.

    I think I may still have that old cassette somewhere in my junk! As I recall, I kinda liked it.



    l.

    Yeah, standing for the Chorus. That's a cool memory too. And what other song, besides a national anthem, do you stand for?

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  4. The entire Messiah gets played at least once each Christmas at our place. I've heard that the tradition of standing during the Hallelujah Chorus was because at the first London performance the king stood, so everyone else followed suit as a matter of protocol. Some say he stood because he was so moved by the music, or in recognition that his earthly kingdom was lower than God's kingdom, but others say he had nodded off and was startled by the loud music.

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  5. My first experience with Handel's Messiah live...my father took me to hear the London (ontario, not England) Symphony Orchestra. I remember wearing a black and white dress. I remember sitting far away from the stage in a balcony...the music was indescribable, I can remember, he only took me...and my sister, I believe, no one else, not even my mom. I remember sitting beside him. That memory will stick with me.

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  6. My first time hearing it was last night. Go figure. It was quite something. We took our grandparents for their Christmas gift, and they rather enjoyed it. Featuring: The Rosthern Station Singers and the Saskatchewan Chamber Orchestra.

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  7. There was a piece that would get played around the late 70s early 80's known as the 'young messiah' - basically the messiah rearranged to a funky beat. The keyboard player in our old church in London used to rant against it. Actually I though it was all in quite reasonable taste, and a lot more fun.



    By the way, did you know handel was a crank ;-)

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  8. Karen;



    I thought the Messiah was to be done in Rostern with those groups tonight, not yesterday night??





    Toni;



    Does crank mean something different there, or do you mean he was just a cranky fellow?!



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  9. Perhaps. They were at the Third Ave United Church in Saskatoon on Saturday night :) Busy folks, I can't imagine they would be too talkative during the day.

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  10. Handel is in the top 5. JS Bach is #1. Messiah is Handel at his best.

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  11. Sorry Randall - 2 peoples separated by a common language.



    A crank is also a handle: you might turn a handle to crank something round.



    I'll say it for you. D'oh.



    :D

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  12. The D'oh is also on me - I've just read Becky's post, although she's more than 10 years out on the time scale and that threw me (my excuse, and I'm sticking to it!)

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  13. Actually, while he composed the oratio at his home in London, it was first performed in Dublin, not London.



    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah_%28Handel%29

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