Handel’s Messiah

I ‘ll always remember this Christmas season as the one in which I learned Handel’s Messiah.  By that I don’t mean that I sang it in a choir.  I do mean that this was the first time I sat down and listened carefully to it in order to understand it.

If you ‘re interested in doing so, I would recommend two things as essential: a good performance (either live or recorded) and a program that lists all of the words.  I have never been to a live performance, so I do not know if it is customary for them to provide detailed programs.  I put one together that you can access here if you would like.

You can find additional help in understanding the Messiah by reading this recent book by Calvin R. Stapert (audiobook free until 12/31 but this is a harder book to listen to) and/or reading his interviews with Justin Taylor and Al Mohler.  Daniel Block’s article is also helpful.  [True story: I ordered Stapert’s book from Amazon in the morning and it was on my doorstep that afternoon. And that was with free shipping.]

Stapert says about Messiah:

The Messiah phenomenon has no parallel in music history. No work of music has survived, let alone thrived, on so many performances, good, bad, and indifferent, by and for so many people, year after year, for such a long time.

I came up with a few questions by which you can test your knowledge about this extraordinary work. 

• What does Hallelujah chorus rejoice over?
• What is last song of Messiah?
• What aspect of Jesus’s life is Messiah primarily about?
• What percentage of Messiah comes from verses in the Bible?
• Which book of the Bible is quoted the most in Messiah?
• Did Handel write the music, the words, or both?
• How many times is the word Messiah used in the oratorio?

The answers are here (pdf).