The Messiah: Part I

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'Tis the season, after all

also the Hallelujah chorus is in part II, aka "the only thing in part II ppl remember aside from the chorus about sheep love", so it does not appear in this poll

Poll Results

Option	Votes
12. For unto us a child is born (chorus)	2
14a. There were shepherds abiding in the fields (soprano)	1
13. Pifa ("pastoral symphony": instrumental)	0
14b. And lo, the angel of the Lord (soprano)	0
15. And the angel said unto them (soprano)	0
16. And suddenly there was with the angel (soprano)	0
17. Glory to God in the highest (chorus)	0
18. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion (soprano)	0
19. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened (soprano or alto)	0
20. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd (alto and/or soprano)	0
1. Sinfony (instrumental)	0
11. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light (bass)	0
2. Comfort ye my people (tenor)	0
3. Ev'ry valley shall be exalted (tenor)	0
4. And the glory of the Lord (chorus)	0
5. Thus saith the Lord of hosts (bass)	0
6. But who may abide the day of His coming (soprano, alto or bass)	0
7. And he shall purify the sons of Levi (chorus)	0
8. Behold, a virgin shall conceive (alto)	0
9. O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion (alto and chorus)	0
10. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth (bass)	0
21. His yoke is easy (chorus)	0

― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Monday, 22 December 2014 16:02 (ten years ago)

I have to vote for For Unto Us a Child is Born. I'm born close to christmas, from choir-singer parents. My mom says she sang that one to me the night after birth.

― Frederik B, Monday, 22 December 2014 17:04 (ten years ago)

For Unto Us is the best of the choruses, definitely. For the solos I feel like it's a tossup between Ev'ry valley and Rejoice greatly

― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Monday, 22 December 2014 17:45 (ten years ago)

guilty confession: because this is so ubiquitous every year, I've never actually sat down and listened to it. And I know it's sublime, it's like a thing I have taken for granted my whole life.

― The Complainte of Ray Tabano, Monday, 22 December 2014 18:00 (ten years ago)

I have to admit, though, I'm more of a Christmas Oratorio kind of guy.

― Frederik B, Monday, 22 December 2014 18:03 (ten years ago)

I've been binge-listening to "For Behold"/"The People That Walked in Darkness" for a couple of weeks and I've come to two conclusions about Handel:

1. It's no surprise that this is his most famous work. Musically it's an astonishingly good balance of virtuosic showing off and tuneful accessibility.
2. There's about a 75% chance Handel didn't really understand how voices work, based on how some of these go.

― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Monday, 22 December 2014 18:18 (ten years ago)

Lol. Dunno, I never really got good a coloratura singing, but I always thoroughly enjoyed singing Händel.

― Frederik B, Monday, 22 December 2014 18:24 (ten years ago)

Some of the phrases, especially in the solo pieces where you can't hide your catch breaths, are inhumanely long in addition to the rampant coloratura.

― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Monday, 22 December 2014 18:34 (ten years ago)

Yeah, definitely. Always been particularly bad at singing those long phrases, taking a whole lot of pauses.

― Frederik B, Monday, 22 December 2014 18:51 (ten years ago)

people didn't smoke as much back then

― The Complainte of Ray Tabano, Monday, 22 December 2014 19:39 (ten years ago)

crooked straight

rough places plain

― mookieproof, Monday, 22 December 2014 19:42 (ten years ago)

people didn't smoke as much back then

well no, they had giant fireplaces that delivered tar directly to the lungs, thus obviating the need to smoke

― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Monday, 22 December 2014 21:48 (ten years ago)

Messiah is childsplay, though. Sang in Copenhagen Boys Choir when we had 75 jubilee, and they decided to celebrate by doing Israel in Egypt as the yearly oratorio concert - though only the two-part version. Still, that's a lot of coloratura-filled chorusses for a bunch of kids aged 11-14.

― Frederik B, Monday, 22 December 2014 22:02 (ten years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

― System, Thursday, 25 December 2014 00:01 (ten years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

― System, Friday, 26 December 2014 00:01 (ten years ago)

and
the govern
ment
shall be
upon
his shouou
oulder

― mookieproof, Friday, 26 December 2014 03:04 (ten years ago)

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