Early Music City’s Oratorio Festival: Hallelujah!
As part of the two-day Music City Oratorio Festival, Early Music City hosted two very different, but equally engaging events: a panel discussion and a singalong. For the discussion, I was grateful to step back into my role as early music specialist, moderating a lively “Lunch and Learn” panel on Handel’s Messiah. Streamed live at noon on Saturday November 15, the participants included guest conductor Dr. Marcus J. Ruff, associate director of choral activities at Arkansas State-Jonesboro and Mr. William G. Crimm, director of music at Nashville’s St. Vincent de Paul Church and adjunct professor of voice at Tennessee State.
Both these professors have long and varied experience with this famed piece, but before the discussion got started, I was able to dispel some myths about arguably the most well-known choral piece in history. Briefly,
- Though often called “The Messiah,” it’s actually just Messiah
- Though typically performed at Christmas, this three-part work (Birth, Resurrection, Redemption) was intended and, in fact, premiered during Lent
- Though typically performed in sacred spaces, it premiered in a secular space requiring admission fees
- Though Handel was German, English is indeed Messiah‘s original language
- Though it is now typical to perform Hallelujah Chorus last, it actually ends Part II, as 39 of 48 pieces
- Though called an oratorio, Handel, who wrote several oratorios, initially called it an “Entertainment,” but when calling it an oratorio caught on with the English public, Handel went with the flow, using that term for subsequent editions and performances
What’s the difference between an oratorio and an entertainment, you might ask? An oratorio is an unstaged opera with plot, dialogue, narrative. Messiah is a collection of prose and poetry from the Bible and other sources, with no dialogue. Technically? You be the judge.
Among topics we discussed were the place of this work in the worlds of church, academia, and the black community. Both experienced directors addressed Messiah‘s profound spirituality, its technical challenges, and it was clear both had considered the thorny issue of Handel having held shares in two slave ships. He used funding from these shares and from Messiah to fund his true love, his operas (see the film Farinelli for a fictional, but meaningful portrayal of Handel and his music).
For Professor Ruff, a former visiting choir director at TSU, the context of the past era in which the composer lived allows for current understanding and forgiveness, while for Professor Crimm, after whom the talented W. Crimm Singers are named, the spiritual message shines through the composer’s human flaws. The discussion clearly displayed the passion each of us has for this emblematic piece as I shared my ongoing goal to sing a few more notes in the alto runs each year.
The next day, at the lovely Christ Church Cathedral, Professor Ruff conducted the Early Music City [EMC] orchestra accompanying soloists from the Crimm Singers for the recitatives and arias, as well as the audience for the choral singalongs. In a clever audience warmup, EMC played a country music-infused intro for “Joy to the World,” another famous Handel chorus.
All the soloists had beautiful voices that worked well with the period, but soprano Siren Hightower who soared easily upwards and mezzo Nicole Simone who richly grounded us in “He Shall Feed His Flock” were standouts. The next step for both is developing the kind of original improvised ornamentation Handel expected.
There were noticeable ensemble glitches at cadences for some recitatives, yet the music inspired everyone to do their best. It was an excellent idea to augment the rather tentative audience singers with the skilled Crimm Singers directed by Early Music City co-founder and festival organizer, Professor Patrick R. Dailey, nationally known countertenor. However, the standing, moving, seating and re-seating of the choir as beautiful arias were ending was a distraction. In the future, perhaps dispersing the singers throughout the audience would be a better plan.
But overall, a good time was had by all and, yes, I got more notes in the alto runs. Quite a few more.
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Y Kendall is a Stanford-educated musicologist, specializing in dance history who recently earned an MFA in Creative Nonfiction at Columbia University, studying nonfiction writing with Ben Ratliff and Margo Jefferson. Kendall’s diverse works have been published in Alchemy: Journal of Translation, Columbia Journal, Mitos Magazín, The Hunger Mountain Review, and The Salt Collective, among others. Born and raised in Tennessee, Kendall now lives near Nashville, freelancing as a flutist and writer, while caregiving for relatives.
