This Christmas was my second year singing Handel’s Messiah with a large choir and orchestra. If you aren’t familiar with The Messiah, it’s an oratorio (similar to an opera but without the theatrics), written in 1741 by a composer named George Friderik Handel. It tells the story of the coming of Christ through some of the most beautifully written music you’ll ever hear. You probably know at least one of the songs– the Hallelujah Chorus. Not only is the music awe inspiring, but the lyrics are all taken directly from the Bible. What’s fascinating is that The Messiah is so respected as a great musical composition that people today are still performing it. It’s been performed all over the world who knows how many times throughout the last two centuries, particularly at Christmas.
The performance was a fundraiser for a local children’s charity, and there was a moderate sized crowd in attendance. Both the choir and the crowd were made up of mostly middle aged to older people. I’ve noticed that a good many people think the music is boring. They enjoy perhaps a small sampling of the music, but wouldn’t dream of sitting through a 90 minute performance. Afterall, the music is very opera-like, full of long vocal runs and complex symphonic compositions. There’s no light show, fog machine, driving bass guitar, or fast-paced drums that we’ve come to associate with “entertainment.” This is baroque music afterall, and who wants to listen to that except maybe to fall asleep?
Looking around at our current culture, it’s obvious that our tastes and preferences have changed when it comes to the arts and entertainment. That’s to be expected, I’m sure. Our definition of beauty, truth, and goodness has also changed. We are no longer building ornate, stained glass cathedrals or structures adorned with gargoyles and scroll topped pillars. Our cities are “canyons of steel” (a line from Frank Sinatra’s “Autumn in New York”) filled with flat-faced utilitarian buildings of metal and concrete. And our music…it seems it takes more of a pretty face and flashy lifestyle to make music than it does actual talent. So many of the melodies produced today use the same three or four chords and are put together with very simple and predictable patterns.
I know that many papers and books have been written on this subject, as sociologists propose reasons for why a culture produces certain types of art (be it visual art, music, dance, etc). Why have we settled for–in fact expect and enjoy–such mediocrity? I would humbly suggest that our decline in what passes for truth, beauty, and goodness is directly related to our decline in morality and decorum in civilization. We used to dress in a more formal, sophisticated couture; now people wear pajamas to the store. We used to restrain ourselves from using foul language, at least in public or around women and children; now the f word is everywhere. We used to compose sentences with a graceful nuance and descriptiveness that required a broad vocabulary; now we shorten our words, use acronyms and send emojis via text as though we’re too lazy to think of better words. Newton’s second law of thermodynamics (entropy) is seen throughout the universe, right down to our very lives. We tend toward disorder. God created a perfect and beautiful universe; He brought order out of the chaos. And yet the sin that corrupts us right down to our DNA propels us away from Him and back toward dark, ugly chaos.
Now, I admit, I don’t listen to a lot of classical music myself. I don’t have Bach or Handel on my playlists. But when I stand in the choir loft and the music of The Messiah surrounds me, I’m nearly brought to tears by an overwhelming sense of beauty. I know some of that has to do with the words we’re singing, but it’s also a feeling of being in the midst of something holy, intensely beautiful, and other-wordly. The way Handel used every note to paint a picture and to communicate the message of the lyrics is so profoundly creative. Hearing that music performed live is like being in the presence of greatness. Maybe this all sounds dramatic and over-stated, but I’ve yet to find words to match the feelings I have when the symphony and the choir launch into The Hallelujah Chorus.
Most people know the repetitive lines of the Hallelujah Chorus, but may not know the lines that say, “The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ. And He shall reign forever and ever.” I love that part, and I think it may explain why I love the music so much. When Christ came to earth the first time, He established His kingdom here on earth. As believers, we get to participate in the kingdom, but the fullness and greatness of the kingdom will not be fully realized until Christ returns. (Hebrews 2:8-9) It’s what some people refer to as the “already, not yet.” In my opinion, most of the Christian music today just does not seem worthy of a King who reigns forever and ever. It’s just not grand enough, not majestic enough.
Please don’t misunderstand; I know many talented artists who make beautiful music that absolutely points me to Christ and is crafted as a worshipful offering to Him. I don’t mean to minimize their gifts. There are many excellent painters; there aren’t many Michelangelos. Each of us has valuable gifts because they were given to us by our Creator, and as such, our gifts are of immeasurable value. But for me, there’s just something magnificent about Handel’s Messiah, as well as much of the music and visual arts produced in that time period. It makes me sad that as a society, our overall preferences have changed. It’s like we’re satisfied with a hot dog instead of a steak, or we’d rather have a vending machine twinkie instead of a homemade Italian cream cake.
Where am I going with this? I’m not sure. I suppose I’m just lamenting the fact that truth, beauty and goodness are escaping us. It’s not that they’re not there, it’s that we don’t see them. Both years, after that first rehearsal of the Messiah in the fall, I’ve thought to myself, “Wow, I consume a lot of junk!” Junk on tv, junk on the radio, junk on my tablet….it all seems like junk when put up against the beauty of The Messiah.
And there it is– the beauty of the Messiah. I just typed it and didn’t even plan it. It all seems like junk when compared to the beauty of Jesus Christ. Lord, turn my eyes (and my heart) from worthless things. (Psalm 119:37)
If you’d like to watch our performance of The Messiah, you can do so here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzG5QXMefwc
And here is a wonderful performance of The Hallelujah Chorus by The Tabernacle Choir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBZ7AfZR9xs&list=PLXPFet_zDHiosSnOCgi4HiyOLYMEoKPB9&index=13