What is it about Handel’s Messiah that makes it such an amazing masterpiece year after year? At first blush, performing the same piece each season could become repetitive and less interesting, but it doesn’t. How can a piece of music feel different each time you perform it, even though nothing on the page has changed for almost 300 years!
The key to this is how the people participating as performers and audience have evolved over time. What makes the changes even more obvious is that the Messiah stays constant. We are dancing around a masterpiece, and our gait adjusts as we do.
Let me explain.
Each year when I meet with the choir to prepare for our annual undertaking, I begin as usual. I chose a movement and let them sing. I listen intensely and in short order I begin to respond to what I hear. In Baroque music each movement is focused on one “affect” at a time. An affect is an emotional value creating a mood. A movement may feel desperate or elated, subdued or gregarious, etc. In striving to reach the purist understanding of that affect, and the most effective way to communicate it, I start addressing one detail after another. Soon the chorus begins to get the idea. They respond to my sculpting the sounds. I can hear it and feel it. I sense their excitement as their confidence grows.
At this point, I turn into my father. (I am lying on my couch to write this paragraph!) As a child my father was very demanding. No matter how well I did, there was always an expectation that it could be better. I have many memories of wishing for pure praise, and receiving a “That was great, but…”instead. What I didn’t understand until many years later was that the only reason that he did that to me, or for me, was because he could see my potential. He sensed that which I did not know was possible. Now I instinctively seek that in the musicians with which I work. In fact, that is probably the most important aspect of what I do.
Returning to the Boise Philharmonic Master Chorale recently in our performance of the Messiah, I realized that in rehearsal I became my father. I can hear, feel and see the space that the singers can grow into. I see them striving for greatness, and it inspires me. When we get to the performance they open up and sing their hearts out. Their intentions are clear, Handel’s affects are being communicated convincingly, and I can sense the breathlessness of the audience as they hear “For Unto Us a Child is Born,” or the great final “Amen Chorus.” Somehow it feels new and fresh to them.
You see, the piece doesn’t change…we do. We become more aware as we evolve. Even when we are performing at our best, we are striving to improve. We can see the ground beneath us as we sore through the music. We are flying high. Then it dawns on us to look up, and we realize that the sky above us is limitless. This is what performing the Messiah every year “feels” like.
Happy Holidays!
From Robert Franz’s blog Building Bridges with Music. CLICK HERE to read more of his posts.
The Houston Symphony performs Handel’s Messiah December 21, 22, 23, 2012. CLICK HERE for ticket information.
