Onward to the Hallelujah Chorus

In case I forget to tell you, I did purchase one Christmas gift this month. I can't tell you anything about it though, because the person I got it for reads this blog! I am beginning to feel a little pressured. I am only about half-way through my Christmas gift list and there are only 87 days 'till Christmas!

There are also only 17 more songs before the Hallelujah Chorus. But take heart. Only nine of them are used regularly in a Christmas Messiah concert. Of those total 18, eight are written for the tenor soloist. Of those eight, only four are usually used. Poor tenor!

Here are the words. We'll start with the tenor. "Thy rebuke hath broken His heart; He is full of heaviness. He looked for some to have pity on Him, but there was no man; neihter found He any to comfort Him." Those words are from Psalm 69:20. The tenor continues with his aria, "Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto His sorrow." (Lamantations 1:12)

The chorus next sings, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is the King of glory? The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of glory." (Psalm 24: 9-10)

Now in my opinion that song would make a lot more sense if we had let the tenor sing his preceeding recitative and aria. What we missed was, "He was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of Thy people was He stricken." (Isaiah 53:8) "But Thou didst not leave His soul in hell; nor didst Thou suffer Thy Holy One to see corruption. (Psalm 16:10) See what I mean? Jesus had to die before he could be resurrected.

The next four songs are usually omitted. So onward we gallop. The soprano sings, "How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things. (Isaiah 52:7 and quoted in Romans 10:15)

Another chorus is omitted and then the bass sings one of my two favorite bass solos in the oratorio. Here comes the drama of the end times: "Why do the nations so furiously rage together? (and) why do the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers take counsel against the Lord, and against His Anointed." (Psalm 2:1-2) The chorus answers, "Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their yokes from us." (Psalm 2:3) Then the tenor agrees, "He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn; the Lord shall have them in derision." (Psalm 2:4) "Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." (Psalm 2:9)

Now comes the resounding, "Hallelujah! for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever. King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, Hallelujah!" (Revelation 19: 6 and 16)

Well, as the song says, "You may think that this is the end. Well it..."
I have to think about this. The oratorio continues, but I may want to save the last part for next year's blog, A Year of Easter.
Merry Christmas,
Paulita