155  Handel's Messiah - selection from parts 2 and 3

 

Behold the Lamb of God; He was despised; Surely, surely; All they that see Him; He trusted in God; Thy rebuke hath broken His heart; Behold and see; He was cut off; But Thou didst not leave His soul in hell; I know that my redeemer liveth; Since by man came death; Behold, I tell you a mystery; The trumpet shall sound; Hallelujah!

 

Each year there was an Easter Concert, usually in St. Wilfrid's Church. Penitential choral music was the mainstay, and in 1981 we performed movements from parts 2 and 3 of Messiah, with orchestra.

 

Everyone knows Messiah, don't they? That's a problem for a conductor though. Choirs know it well and I've prepared it for many performances. But I can honestly say that this performance came closer to what I imagined Handel wanted than any other I've conducted. Why? Because these young, flexible voices were probably coming to the work for the first time. They had no preconceptions about how Messiah should be sung: they were willing to be moulded. They did things no other choir has done - phrasing, word-painting, tempo and shape. Thank you, all of you.

 

This recording and track 157 (Britten) exist on 7" reel to reel tapes needing a tape recorder with 7.5 ips playback speed. I managed to find my recorder but it had sat unused for 30 years. It didn't work. But it eventually yielded to my manipulation and chemicals, and gradually the pulleys loosened up and the tape ran grudgingly through the heads. Great to hear the sound again!

 

The moral is, we're all getting older and need exercise, otherwise we'll seize up completely and be useful to nobody.