From the Director:
Handel’s Messiah has taken on a life of it’s own. What started out as a “fund raiser” in Dublin, Ireland in 1742 has become a mainstay of choral literature, particularly during the Christmas season. It is not difficult to find performances ranging from those of the highest professional caliber to sing-alongs presented in concert halls, churches, and gyms.
In deciding what repertoire to present in the Detroit Lutheran Singers Christmas concert, I wanted to include some of the Messiah, but did not want to do it exclusively. So our concert this season includes four of the most popular choruses plus a number of other works which either substitute for or elaborate on the original material of the Messiah.
In the Christmas portion of the original Messiah, the first 13 sections deal only with the prophesy of the coming Messiah. After the Pastoral Symphony there is only one chorus and 4 brief recitatives dealing with the nativity; so the second half of our concert includes music related to shepherds, the mystery of God coming among us, and Mary being amazed at being the mother of Jesus — all parts of the Christmas story.
I hope your Christmas season is now off to a great start and that thismusic reminds us all of God’s great love given to us in a manger.