Sunday 2 December 2012

A life in letters: Messiah

Oratorio composed by George Frederick Handel in 1741, using a text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James version of the Bible. The work focuses on Jesus Christ - his coming as prophesied in the Old Testament; his birth, life, death and resurrection; and the prophecies of his future coming as Lord. The music of Messiah has been a constant companion  from my teenage years onwards. Quite apart from the significance of the subject, there is a beauty in the score which I have always found brings a sense of healing and wholeness.  I only have to hear one of the verses Handel set repeated in a sermon, and his incomparable setting of the words floods my mind.
However, there are bitter-sweet memories of Messiah.  In my teens and early 20s, Sunday afternoons were spent sitting with my parents in the living room  while they read various missionary magazines and spiritual books. By my own choice, Sunday after Sunday I played Handel’s Messiah on the record player, all six long-playing sides of it which neatly filled the gap between drying the lunch dishes and sitting down for tea. Moved by what I was hearing  I swayed backwards and forwards on the rocking chair. Messiah is sublime, but this was no way for a young man to spend his Sunday afternoons.

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