The Messiah - Hum Drum

In her youth my mother was a semi-professional singer. Often was the occasion when excerpts from The Messiah would float from her vocal chords on the airwaves around our house, especially at this season. Sis and I were sporty but not musically inclined, so it was a general surprise that I opted this year to attend a local presentation of the Handel classic. This was a first for me, certainly a first of my own volition because undoubtedly when younger I was exposed to it at church. By the process of osmosis I had a good idea what to look for. A consistent hum from the chorale was a good sign, soloists breathing out from the belly and not self imploding while singing an arduous section, another. I awaited the pop hits “O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion,” and “For Unto Us a Child is Born” but I was unprepared for having to stand at the “Hallelujah Chorus.” It was worthy of an ovation by the Kop at a Liverpool home game. On the program I was perturbed to find no female contralto part, only alto and soprano parts. What’s with that and why am I so ignorant? Mum I know was a contralto. To boot I thought I had finally sat through and appreciated (with only periodic, minor fidgets) the whole work, but then to-day on CBC radio I found extra parts were sung that did not match the local performance. So the two and a quarter hour performance here in Orillia was only some of Handel’s full opus? Glad to say I heard the hum, but no drum, and amongst the musicians heard the trumpet but never could pick out the player(s) on stage owing to my constrained vantage point. Glad too that repetitious lyrics are not the sole purview of rock and roll. Since my outing I have now become enamored with another of Handel’s works, the “Largo from Xerxes.” Oh boy.