BobbyC
19th December 2007, 04:09
Ah, the Messiah sing-along!
Imagine playing a round at Augusta National with Eldrick "Tiger" Woods. Imagine driving around Darlington Raceway in a Chevrolet Impala with Jimmie Kenneth Johnson as your spotter. Imagine playing basketball with Shaquille O'Neal as your coach (a reference to a friend from high school; she was one of Shaq's teachers in San Antonio). Imagine shadowing George W. Bush as the Leader of the Free World continues to march through the Bull Market, attacking Usama bin Laden and his heathens, in the continuing battle of Good and Evil.
Those thoughts were in my head as I headed to Monday's Washington Street United Methodist Church Händel's Messiah Sing-Along. When the soprano soloist is your very own voice teacher, the alto is her dear friend, and there are some choral society members that also have your voice teacher as their teacher, something was clearly there.
One of the world's most important pieces of music, and also a masterpiece about the life of Christ Himself, Georg Fredreich Händel's Messiah debuted 265 years ago on Easter to a crowd enthralled about the oratorio intended to celebrate the Saviour from His Birth, His Life, His Passion, and The Resurrection.
Millions have sung this piece, and many more have attended performances since the 1742 debut. A popular community event is the sing-along of selections of this masterwork during the Christmas season, and that is what I had attended one of these locally is the sing-along that features the first part and the final selections from both the second and third part for which I have now attended for three years, especially since I usually find friends attending each year, whether it has been my pianist or other friends. I attempted to invite friends from my home church this year.
I cannot fathom in a few short sentences the feeling of being led by the choir leader of my voice teacher's church, the awe of a chamber orchestra, or having the sopranos and altos in the front pews since the tenors and basses already fit the choir loft. When you are at home and the choir loft has many empty seats since the past two music leaders have virtually emptied the choir with mindless theology-free and sappy secularised music (not sacred) in the choir with karaoke replacing the organ, something will only soothe the senses like your voice teacher and friends.
To hear the first part of Messiah sung with the beauty of your voice teacher's voice through "Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of Zion" or to hear her (and mine too) friend Brittnee lead us from "O Thou That Tellest Good Tiding to Zion" is enough to lull you into sweet music. I knew when I heard the overture I was excited to finally sing along with my very own teacher after many years. Her voice easily resonated into my heart, but I enjoyed the power of the tenor and the bass each. All four vocalists easily made clarity through, but many in the audience had problems with some selections ("And He Shall Purify," "Amen") because the audience was not seated as requested (sopranos on one side, altos on another, tenors on a third, bass on a fourth); they seated in various places that it confused tenors when they had to go, since many times tenors were sining around altos (and not other tenors).
Last year when a friend invited me to sing at their church as a guest choral member, I sat with the tenors and easily understood every note because I was around them always; but it seemed to be different when choirs are mixed so the vocal parts are bouncing around and you cannot hear your part. Sometimes I was relegated to seeing when the leader would point for tenors to go.
But this experience, my third sing-along, keeps being better. Having your own friends lead was just the icing on the cake.
I enjoy watching the Fox News Channel, and John Gibson has frequently discussed the War on Christmas, and Bill O'Reilly warns about the secularisation of America. I ask has the secularisation of the Christmas season gone one step too many with the absurd winter songs that appear on the radio, and the continuous winter themes that have infiltrated our culture. When a college friend is in Australia (and too Junior), and it's clearly summer there, there is an obvious reason after meeting her to reject things that are "winter holiday". I cannot stand the bombardment of these "fake" Christmas "songs" on the air because they run the importance of Christmas for what it truly means -- the Birth of the Saviour.
Have we secularised Christmas to the point that at schools and churches, we permit Elmo and Patsy sing "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer", we let any type of bogus vocalist perform "Frosty the Snowman," or other winter music tunes of snow replace songs such as "Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of Zion" (as sung last night by The Mississippi Squirrel (a nickname for my voice teacher, who is from the same hometown as Leontyne Price, Jason Campbell, Clinton Portis, and Ed Hinton), or the Brittnee lead us in "O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion"?
Given a choice, I'll have my voice teacher and The Piece.
Imagine playing a round at Augusta National with Eldrick "Tiger" Woods. Imagine driving around Darlington Raceway in a Chevrolet Impala with Jimmie Kenneth Johnson as your spotter. Imagine playing basketball with Shaquille O'Neal as your coach (a reference to a friend from high school; she was one of Shaq's teachers in San Antonio). Imagine shadowing George W. Bush as the Leader of the Free World continues to march through the Bull Market, attacking Usama bin Laden and his heathens, in the continuing battle of Good and Evil.
Those thoughts were in my head as I headed to Monday's Washington Street United Methodist Church Händel's Messiah Sing-Along. When the soprano soloist is your very own voice teacher, the alto is her dear friend, and there are some choral society members that also have your voice teacher as their teacher, something was clearly there.
One of the world's most important pieces of music, and also a masterpiece about the life of Christ Himself, Georg Fredreich Händel's Messiah debuted 265 years ago on Easter to a crowd enthralled about the oratorio intended to celebrate the Saviour from His Birth, His Life, His Passion, and The Resurrection.
Millions have sung this piece, and many more have attended performances since the 1742 debut. A popular community event is the sing-along of selections of this masterwork during the Christmas season, and that is what I had attended one of these locally is the sing-along that features the first part and the final selections from both the second and third part for which I have now attended for three years, especially since I usually find friends attending each year, whether it has been my pianist or other friends. I attempted to invite friends from my home church this year.
I cannot fathom in a few short sentences the feeling of being led by the choir leader of my voice teacher's church, the awe of a chamber orchestra, or having the sopranos and altos in the front pews since the tenors and basses already fit the choir loft. When you are at home and the choir loft has many empty seats since the past two music leaders have virtually emptied the choir with mindless theology-free and sappy secularised music (not sacred) in the choir with karaoke replacing the organ, something will only soothe the senses like your voice teacher and friends.
To hear the first part of Messiah sung with the beauty of your voice teacher's voice through "Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of Zion" or to hear her (and mine too) friend Brittnee lead us from "O Thou That Tellest Good Tiding to Zion" is enough to lull you into sweet music. I knew when I heard the overture I was excited to finally sing along with my very own teacher after many years. Her voice easily resonated into my heart, but I enjoyed the power of the tenor and the bass each. All four vocalists easily made clarity through, but many in the audience had problems with some selections ("And He Shall Purify," "Amen") because the audience was not seated as requested (sopranos on one side, altos on another, tenors on a third, bass on a fourth); they seated in various places that it confused tenors when they had to go, since many times tenors were sining around altos (and not other tenors).
Last year when a friend invited me to sing at their church as a guest choral member, I sat with the tenors and easily understood every note because I was around them always; but it seemed to be different when choirs are mixed so the vocal parts are bouncing around and you cannot hear your part. Sometimes I was relegated to seeing when the leader would point for tenors to go.
But this experience, my third sing-along, keeps being better. Having your own friends lead was just the icing on the cake.
I enjoy watching the Fox News Channel, and John Gibson has frequently discussed the War on Christmas, and Bill O'Reilly warns about the secularisation of America. I ask has the secularisation of the Christmas season gone one step too many with the absurd winter songs that appear on the radio, and the continuous winter themes that have infiltrated our culture. When a college friend is in Australia (and too Junior), and it's clearly summer there, there is an obvious reason after meeting her to reject things that are "winter holiday". I cannot stand the bombardment of these "fake" Christmas "songs" on the air because they run the importance of Christmas for what it truly means -- the Birth of the Saviour.
Have we secularised Christmas to the point that at schools and churches, we permit Elmo and Patsy sing "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer", we let any type of bogus vocalist perform "Frosty the Snowman," or other winter music tunes of snow replace songs such as "Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of Zion" (as sung last night by The Mississippi Squirrel (a nickname for my voice teacher, who is from the same hometown as Leontyne Price, Jason Campbell, Clinton Portis, and Ed Hinton), or the Brittnee lead us in "O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion"?
Given a choice, I'll have my voice teacher and The Piece.