Rejoicing Greatly

Last night was the Messiah Sing-In for which I was singing the "There were Shepherds" recits that precede the "Glory to God" chorus and the "Rejoice Greatly". I was a little worried since we had very limited rehearsal time with the orchestra. On Sunday, they were all sight reading the work (unless they'd played The Messiah before elsewhere), and we barely even got to run the full "Rejoice Greatly" piece. The violin part in that is especially difficult, and they were having trouble keeping it moving. It's very hard for a coloratura soprano if it doesn't move because your coloratura has a natural tempo at which it likes to move. For me, that's around quarter note = 100 or so in this piece.

Last night, we got one more run through with the orchestra right before people started to arrive at the church. Happily, my conductor very kindly told the violins that we needed to take a faster tempo, and we all settled on a wonderful tempo. They sounded fantastic!

In case you've never been to a Messiah Sing-In, let me tell you a little about how they work. Around the country in December, various musical groups will hold these events. People in the community love it because they can come and sing the choruses in a work they enjoy hearing around the holidays. Sometimes, as it was last night, these are used as fundraisers; people can pay about $5 or so to rent a Messiah score once they get there. Soloists are usually auditioned to sing the parts, and there may be just a soprano, alto, tenor, bass, or there may be lots of different soloists. There may also be more than one conductor. The orchestra is usually volunteer - sometimes just meeting there that night to play for the first time together.

Last night, the fundraiser was for our local chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. There were 14 different conductors, all students and all having their own little group of pieces. It was a great chance for them to get some more conducting experience in this famous work. Some of them were also soloists. We had 10 soloists in all. Probably 100-150 people showed up to sing the choruses. Not a large gathering, but definitely an enthusiastic one.

First up, we had a tenor who sang, "Comfort ye, my people" and "Ev'ry valley". He's a grad student, and he has a lovely, rich tenor voice. Perfect for a comforting voice. The congregation came in on "And the Glory of the Lord" to finish this group.

Next was a bass who did "Thus saith the Lord" and "But who may abide/Refiner's fire". These are some of my favorite pieces in the whole work. It really requires a voice with presence and agility plus richness. And this guy had it! Unbelievable. He put a fabulous "k" on "shake", so it really sounded like the booming voice of God declaring that, "I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land!" He gave us a wonderful preface to the "And He Shall Purify" chorus. At this point, the congregation was really starting to swing into it.

Another treat, a gorgeous mezzo, came next to sing "Behold a virgin shall conceive" and "O Thou that tellest good tidings to Zion." She has a rich voice but a large voice too that carries and has clarity throughout. Very wonderfully proclamatory for this piece. It was just beautiful. Her piece flows right into a chorus echo, and I think we all wished she would keep singing.

"For Unto Us a Child is Born" came next, and I was starting to prep myself for my parts. At the final chord, I walked across to the front of the sanctuary with my conductor for the recits. He conducted a lovely Pastoral Symphony, and then the congregation stood since my recits lead right into "Glory to God."

Instead of an organ, they were using a keyboard set on some organ-like instrumentation, and it was very hard to hear. I think the speaker was turned away from me or something. Perhaps it was also the rather muted instrumentation. The organist hit my first chord, and I did my best with "There were shepherds", but I have no idea whether that was in tune. (The keyboard was a surprise to me since we didn't rehearse the recits in the church before last night's performance.) Luckily, the violins come in after that first line for "And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them". Got through the recits, and the chorus came in. And then it was time for Rejoice.

My other conductor came up and started the tempo for Rejoice perfectly. I was thrilled! My runs just flowed, and it was so much fun!! I'm still working on how to sing the slow middle section better - I try to get a more tender quality there, but I'm still not happy with it. But the fast runs which start and end the piece feel really good. Yay! It's really exciting when you figure out what your niche is, what your voice just loves to sing. For me, that's definitely this piece.

Afterwards, I sat in the congregation behind two lovely people from my regular chorus commitment who had come to hear me and to record the performance for my family. Together, we got to hear a gorgeous "He Shall Feed His Flock" and a soaring "Come Unto Him". What's really neat about this is that it's like the conductors could pick the ideal voice for each part. The Messiah has some arias that just seem best suited to different voices, even if they're all labeled "Soprano" or "Alto". And at a Messiah Sing-In, you can get all those different voice types. Very cool.

"His Yoke is Easy" and "Behold the Lamb of God" were the next two choral parts. And then a red-headed mezzo sang "He was despised." She has an incredible presence and a voice that I really want to have on CD since it's one of those that you can just listen to for hours. She's playing Cherubino in the spring production of Figaro, and I'm so excited to see her!

"Surely he hath borne our griefs" and "All we like sheep" came next. All the soloists found out last night that we were supposed to sing to support the congregation after we had done our solos, and I had a lot of fun doing these choruses that I haven't done since college. Some of the melismas (fast little notes/runs) weren't quite in muscle memory anymore, but it was fun to see them and attempt them again.

Next was another chorus "He trusted in God", which isn't typically done to my knowledge. I know I'd never sung it before. Another great thing about a Messiah Sing-In is that you can take the opportunity to do pieces that may not otherwise be frequently performed. Usually choruses/ensembles performing the work will pick selectively from it rather than attempting it in its entirety. Over the years, certain pieces have become commonly cut. And this, while beautiful, happens to be one of them. For me, it was like discovering an unknown Handellian work. There are bits that I knew how they'd go because the style is like the rest of the Messiah. And there were bits that surprised me. Very cool.

A lovely clear-as-a-bell tenor came next to sing "Thy rebuke hath broken his heart" and "Behold and see if there be any sorrow." A plaintive color to his voice made these pieces so expressive and lovely.

Then the chorus did another new one to me -- "Lift up your heads" and the old favorite, the "Hallelujah" chorus. I think of this as the typical ending for a Messiah Sing for some reason, but last night, we went on to "Part the Third." I'm so glad we did because a gorgeous, dark soprano voice sang "I know that my Redeemer liveth". She had such spinning long notes. I think her voice may be more of a Slavic soprano.

Chorus again -- "Since by man came death". Then a baritone doing the joyful "Behold, I tell you a mystery" and "The trumpet shall sound." He has a ringing "ah" vowel that was really terrific in "shall" from "The trumpet shall sound". The rest of the vowels were good too :)

Finally, we closed all together with "Worthy is the Lamb" and the "Amen" chorus. Overall, a very lovely evening. I'm incredibly happy that it went well!

The two friends from chorus who came were just dear and brought me flowers, which you can see in the picture below:

(Yes, those are my cheesy Hallmark snowman-and-dog that sing Jingle Bells. Much to e's chagrin, I love that kind of humor. :) )

Even if you're not near a Messiah Sing this December, I hope you take the time to listen to at least one song from it. Go to iTunes and download the Hallelujah chorus. And be joyful :)

~Hope