As we gear up toward the Holiday season, we at Opera Columbus will ring in the month of December with a familiar classic in Sing-Along version. That piece is none other than George Frideric Handel’s MESSIAH.
Handel, a Baroque German composer, was known in his time (born 1685- died 1759) for 40+ Italian operas. While they were successful, he made a complete 180 in 1737 to choral works. Handel wrote this massive work back in 1741. I suppose we would call it a VERY golden oldie! He used verses from the King James Version of the Bible as well as the Coverdale Bible, which was the first complete translation into a Modern English Bible. He wrote the full work in EIGHTEEN DAYS (I’ve taken longer to write 100 Christmas Cards…).
In the Messiah, we have three separate parts, (acts, if you will) that take the listener from the anticipated coming of Christ, through his Resurrection, and finally the ultimate return of Christ and the end of sin and death. Some of his “top hits” from this will lay familiar in our heads “And He Shall Purify,” “O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion,” “For Unto Us a Child is Born” and of course “HALLELUJAH”.
Fun fact, Handel never intended this to be a holiday-performed work, it was actually intended for the Lenten Season. But so many are drawn to the Old Testament words that tell of the coming of the Messiah. We sing these songs at this time of year in our own anticipation of the Holiday Season.
Be sure to join us in December for the MESSIAH SING-ALONG. We will be releasing locations and times to you soon (before the general public)! We look forward to your voice joining in (don’t worry, we will help you!). In the meantime, get your vocal runs ready for “For Unto Us a Child is Booooooooooooooooooorn” (it’s a lot of notes).
Save the dates: December 1, 3, + 6!
