Monday Music Appreciation #19 -- Handel's Messiah Amen

(Yeah, I know it's Tuesday, but I accidentally set the publication date incorrectly for this moodling to next Monday, oops! And didn't realize it until this morning.)

My wonderful Winspear ushering job means that I get to hear Handel's Messiah in December each year. I've always loved different parts of it -- the rousing Hallelujah chorus for its excitement, For Unto Us a Child is Born for its back and forth between duet choruses, Comfort Ye My People for its soaring tenor, and Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter of Zion for its amazing soprano aria, to name just a few. After this moodling, I think I'll go listen to it all again!

Of course, in the chamber, it's easy to feel that once the audience sits down after the Hallelujah chorus, it's all downhill from there. But is it?

Not exactly. What struck me most this week was the final Amen. In particular, the violin passages between the singing. The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra's violins played it with such incredible feeling this year that I sat up and took notice. They probably do that every year, but this year, it hit me!

I've listened to the Amen a few times since. Amen means we believe. A heartfelt Amen goes a long way in these very long winter nights. See if you don't agree.