For years and years our family has made Lynden Choral Society's presentation of Handel's "Messiah" a part of our Christmas traditions. This piece of music never fails to move me to tears with its combination of scripture and musical brilliance. And I love the story behind its composition. Ben Witherington says this on his blog: "The story of the composition of this most famous of all Christian musical works has been told variously. What we can say with certainty is that he composed the work in a short period of time during the summer of 1741, and when he got to the Hallelujah chorus, his assistant found him in tears saying, 'I did thing I saw heaven open, and saw the very face of God'. Handel certainly has managed to move our spirits!
Wally was out of town and I didn't make it north for this year's presentation, but a friend sent me a link to this wonderful, impromptu presentation of the Hallelujah Chorus!
"For the Lord God omnipotent reignith!"
Merry Christmas
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