In spirit of the holiday, I’ve changed all f-bombs to ‘candycanes.’
Why are candycanin’ radio stations playing Handel’s Hallelujah chorus over and over all week? Is candycanin’ Clearchannel not aware that we’re celebrating Christ’s birth tomorrow, not his resurrection?
Why do so many candycanin’ people think this particular piece from Handel’s “Messiah” is about Christmas? It’s candycanin’ not. I think “For unto us a Child is Born” would be a bit more appropriate.
Candycane-A.
Sounds like fairly generic Jesus-praising to me, not particularly about his birth or his resurrection, just his general being-the-son-of-God, no? What did I miss?
While “The Hallelujah Chorus” may not be appropriate Christmas music, “See the Conquering Hero Come” from Judas Maccabaeus is a terrific Hannukah. song. They should play that. There are even alternate Hebrew lyrics!
For unto us a child is born;
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,
Almighty God, the everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace.*
That’s definitely a birthday song, yo.
Anyone else ever tempted to sing “S’Wonderful … S’Marvelous!” at this point? Just me, huh?
Yeah, that’s not the Hallelujah chorus though. See, I’ve got no problem with “Messiah” per se, but radio stations that play the Hallelujah chorus as a Christmas song kinda irk me.
“For Unto Us A Child is Born” is the more appropriate song from the “Messiah” for this time of year.
As someone who has sung in choirs for years, I can tell you that the blasted Messiah is always performed at Christmas now. In Ottawa, the three major choirs used to rotate for the NAC yearly performance…
… lovely music. Personally, I’m sick of it
St. Matthew Passion, however, ne’er get tired of THAT one around Easter time…
My church choir did this piece as our cantata last week.
The last song is called “The Wonder of it All”. It starts with
“For unto us a child is born;
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor,
Almighty God, the everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace.”
and finishes with the traditional King of Kings - Hallelujah chorus. The congregation of 600 was on their feet and erupted in thunderous applause as the final note echoed and decayed into the night.
Guess they didn’t realize how innapropriate they were being. What a bunch of rubes, huh? :rolleyes:
It’s a great piece of music most people hear only a few times a year, and which is uplifting and helps them get into the spirit of the season.
My guess is someone is not getting enough “Chirstmas” hugs. Lighten up and enjoy a great tune.
I’m an atheist and I like the Hallelujah chorus too. I haven’t heard it for at least 20 years, so I guess I’ve been living under a rock. One of these years I should probably tune in to…where ever it is I would tune in to to hear it again. It is very pretty.
But since the Hallelujah Chorus is part of the Messiah, which obviously has strong ties to Christmas, why not? Was it normal practice for composers to create a work where parts were appropriate for a season while others weren’t? When would such works BE appropriate to perform in its entirety, in that case, since by your argument, playing the entire work during Easter would be equally inappropriate?
I don’t listen to the Water Music while on a barge, either–but it’s still great music.
Our church does a do it yourself Messiah every year–it’s great, if not exactly the Mormon Tabernacle!
I think you’re fighting a losing battle on this one.
