I think Handel’s Messiah is great and is something that I have enjoyed listening to – or part of it, anyway. And I don’t listen to that much music. I have never even considered that I could sing it (apart from joining in, badly, probably wrongly, with any part, when playing it at home) as it is usually only sung by “good” choirs, where one has an audition and has to read music. There was never any chance of me joining a choir like that, so when Fiona said she had arranged it in a more accessible form, for 3 parts, it sounded interesting. The choirs performed the first part last year, see https://sites.google.com/site/bbstartpage/ and the videos at he bottom of that page. At that stage I didn’t have the confidence to join them (do I now?) but this year Fiona held a “Sing the Messiah” day – with parts I, II and III all in one day! So I went along.
We started by arriving at the church where it was being held and ……..
Don’t you think the cover is wonderful?
…..until Fiona was ready to start.
We started by singing a couple of the choruses from Part I, which many people knew. We then moved on to Part II. There was, of course, far too much to learn properly in a day so we were sight reading. Well, those who can sight read were doing so and the rest of us were following as best we could and doing as well as possible! I had chosen the second row on purpose, so as to have some better singers behind me, and that worked to a certain extent. I could follow most of it, sing bits of it (though some of the alto part is still too high for me to reach) and thought I was doing well if I turned the pages at the right times and hit the final note at the same time as everyone else!
We had a break some time after 11.0 and went down to buy coffee and possibly cake or scones, from the church volunteers who sell it every Saturday. I think an extra 100 or so people overwhelmed them a bit, but they coped.
Rob had arrived by the time we got back from coffee and he sang with the men, which made a considerable difference. With Fiona usually (but not always) singing with the sopranos and Rob with the men, guess which part got to struggle most?
Fiona did teach us a couple of the choruses in parts rather than just trying to sight read, so that was quite encouraging. She did make it clear that we wouldn’t have “got” it all and that we were just really getting an overview and seeing the sort of shape of the whole thing. One of my neighbours said that she hadn’t actually looked at Fiona conducting at all, as she was concentrating so much on the words and music, and that usually she was quite good at looking at both. When she said it, I realised that I had been doing the same – but didn’t feel so bad because I wasn’t the only one.
We had about an hour for lunch. Some people went into the town to one of the numerous cafes or coffee shops and others stayed where we were as they had brought sandwiches. I went out and got soup from a shop I use regularly and took it back to the church.
During that time I had a chance to catch up with one of my previous pupils, who had joined her mother (a member of “Babes and Ballads”) for the day. Although I knew her name immediately I would not have recognised her without being told. People change in 20+ years – as well as my memory not being perfect! She informed me that she is now older than I was when I taught her! She is (another) soprano and was in the elite “A cappella” choir when at school. She was also very intelligent and a good physics student. It was good to catch up with her.
After lunch we finished Parts II and III, leaving out a couple of the choruses – “The Lord gave the word” and one other, but I can’t remember which – the less well known ones did tend to blur into one when struggling to follow the part. We had a pianist, Colin, all day and that did help with the singing. I think he was good, because one hardly noticed him. He had obviously worked with Fiona quite a lot as he knew what she was expecting, and just got on with it.
Sometime around 4.0 p.m. Fiona went to make the tea, leaving Rob in charge ……..!!!!!!! Two or three of us went to help her put out the cakes and pour the tea and later others came and did the major job of clearing and washing up.
Rob also came down and helped, especially with the clearing up.
After tea we …….
…….. a sing through of everything that “we” (lets be realistic, Fiona, with a few hints from us) wanted to sing. Between choruses Rob, Fiona and Colin told “Messiah” stories, i.e. things that had happened in performances. Mostly funny, but I was not too happy about mocking a sermon given before/about “I know that my Redeemer liveth”. I think that is a glorious statement of faith (but surprising that it comes from Job as well as 1 Corinthians) and I tend to see it as the climax of a performance. Yes, I know everyone else puts the Hallelujah Chorus as the climax. I think maybe it’s a bit sad to sing it without believing it and perhaps so many times that it could become just words set to music. But I would love to hear Fiona sing it properly.
Another friend told me, next day, of a performance he had been in where there was a choir, an orchestra (in which he played) and an organ and the organ won, then the orchestra and then the choir – with quite a noticeable half a beat between them!
One treat we had was Rob and Fiona singing a duet that led into one of the choruses – it should have been tenor and alto (not either of their parts!). They caught each other’s eye part way through so started to laugh but, like the true professionals they are, kept going. One could be jealous of their voices……. Perhaps we sometimes need more treats, with Fiona and Rob singing properly, not just to (try to) teach us. But maybe their own parts?
After the last “Amen” it was time to….
I had a last chat with the girl (woman!) I used to teach and she insisted on a photograph of me and her together…….
So, was it a good day? Yeeees……… but hard work and tiring. I don’t think I have had to concentrate so hard and certainly not for so long, for years. Talking to other people, the main comment was that it had been tiring – more than we expected, I think.
Did I sing all of it – of course not! Some is too high, and lots I just couldn’t keep up with. The Amens at the end were the worst – I got totally lost. All the words are the same, so it was very hard to work out where we were (supposed to be), once I did get lost. Did I sing some parts of every chorus – yes! Would I do it again – probably, but hopefully it will be better when we try to learn it properly.
I think I did get what Fiona said she was aiming for – an better overview of the whole thing than I had before. Also a sense of achievement at getting through the whole day without going into despair at my failure to keep up or sing most of it. And catching up with my ex-pupil was an added bonus.
Many thanks to Fiona for her arrangement, giving us the possibility of singing The Messiah and for organising (with Rob’s help?) the whole day. I (we?) are grateful for the opportunity and for the time she gives us.