But this speed causes problems for performers. Given the piece’s formidable length, this means he basically had no time to do anything rather than write it down straight out of his head. Handel famously wrote “Messiah” at lightning speed, finishing the entire score in under three weeks. There are few expressions of faith as noble and convincing as the soprano aria “I know that my redeemer liveth.” I’m reminded of my grandmother singing it as she prepared for Christmas, baking mince pies. The third part celebrates mankind’s redemption and the confidence of salvation. In the aria “He was despised, rejected … a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief,” we can almost feel the weight of the world on his shoulders. Handel’s music is so vivid and personal that we often sense Christ’s humanity as much as his deity. The second part outlines Christ’s life, passion and death.
There are few moments in music as magical as Handel’s depiction of the heavens opening above a field of lowly shepherds, with angels suddenly singing “Glory to God in the highest.” It’s one of the many times we’re reminded that Handel was first and foremost a composer of opera and drama.
The first tells the story of Christ’s Advent and birth. More: Jacksonville Symphony supports community through programming, education More: Guide: Holiday events in Jacksonville, St. During my years at graduate school, I conducted it so many times that I used to joke that Handel paid my rent in December! Despite that early immersion, I haven’t conducted it for 16 years, so the preparation for this season’s performances has been special, in many ways seeing the piece anew. I first sang many of its choruses in choirs as a boy, before taking part in whole performances with the Ulster Orchestra as a teenager. As with many British musicians, it’s been a regular fixture of my musical life since childhood.
No other piece of music says Christmastime quite like “Messiah,” despite it being conceived and first performed at Easter. At the Jacksonville Symphony we will be presenting our beloved Holiday Pops concerts and our annual First Coast Nutcracker performances and, for the first time during my tenure here, I’ll be conducting Handel’s “Messiah” on Dec. The holiday season is upon us, for many “the most wonderful time of the year,” and for musicians, certainly the busiest.
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