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Music Throwback Saturday: And the Glory of the Lord

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
(Isaiah 40: 5)

More Handel, and more soulful Messiah.

This track was arranged by George Duke, the late, great keyboard player. I didn’t know that he was a cousin of jazz singer Dianne Reeves until recently.

In 1993, the various recording artists participating in the project were collectively nominated for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Gospel Artist.

Chart positions: Album, all for 1992
The Billboard 200, #82
Top Gospel Albums, #3
Top R&B Albums, #11
Top Contemporary Christian Albums, #13

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
(Isaiah 40: 5)

And the Glory of the Lord – London Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir
And the Glory of the Lord – Dianne Reeves

Music Throwback Saturday: Every Valley Shall Be Exalted

Ev’ry valley shall be exalted, and ev’ry mountain and hill made low; the crooked straight and the rough places plain.
(Isaiah 40: 4)

Handel’s Messiah is surely An Unexpected Easter Masterpiece. But I’ve sung it often enough during Advent – that period before Christmas that we’re now in – to associate it more with this season, even though it was first performed in April 1742, to an audience of 700, “as ladies had heeded pleas by management to wear dresses ‘without Hoops’ in order to make ‘Room for more company.'”

Some 250 years later, Mervyn Warren begat Handel’s Messiah: A Soulful Celebration, a “critically acclaimed gospel album by various artists. [It] has been widely praised for its use of multiple genres of African-American music, including spirituals, blues, ragtime, big band, jazz fusion, R&B and hip hop.

“The album received the 1992 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album, as well as the 1992 Dove Award for Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year.”

Overture – London Philharmonic Orchestra
Overture: A Partial History of Black Music – Mervyn Warren, Janice Chandler Eteme, Dwayne Adell, Cedric Dent, Joe Hogue

Ev’ry valley shall be exalted, and ev’ry mountain and hill made low; the crooked straight and the rough places plain.
(Isaiah 40: 4)

Every Valley Shall Be Exalted – London Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus
“Every Valley Shall Be Exalted” Lizz Lee and Chris Willis (with Mike E.)

Lenten music Friday: Handel Messiah, Part II (continued)

Hey, this year is the 430th anniversary of Georg Friedrich Händel’s birthday. He was born on February 23, 1685, in Halle, Germany.

All of the text of the next part of Messiah by Handel, Part II is from the book of the prophet Isaiah, mostly from chapter 53. Invariably, when any of the text of Messiah are part of the scripture reading during church, the musical iterations come rushing to mind.

(23) He was despised – air, alto
Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected of men: a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. . . Isaiah 50:6 [He]gave [His] back to the smiters, and [His] cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: [He] hid not [His] face from shame and spitting.

Performance by ORQUESTA Y CORO AD LIBITUM, Cristina Faus, contralto

(24) Surely He hath borne our griefs – chorus
Isaiah 53:4,5 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:the chastisement of our peace was upon him,
(25) And with His stripes we are healed
Isaiah 53:5b …and with His stripes we are healed
(26) All we like sheep have gone astray
Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Performance by ORQUESTA Y CORO AD LIBITUM

Usually, I’m used to the fuller sound of a large chorale, rather than the dozen singers, but this is surprisingly effective.

Compare with:
The Emek Hefer Chamber Choir.

Lenten music Friday: Behold the Lamb of God

John 1:29: “Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world.”

I have sung the choruses of Part I of Handel’s Messiah several times over the years. This is the section that is associated with “the prophecy of the Messiah and his virgin birth… rendered in words by Isaiah,” and of course is generally performed in that period before Christmas called Advent.

Part II, which I have performed far less often, except for the last movement, deals with the events leading to the death of Jesus, culminating with the triumphant resurrection.

The first movement of Part II is a chorus piece from the Gospel according to John, chapter 1, verse 29: “Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world.”

Here are performances by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus and by the Emek Hefer Chamber Choir.

The score.

An album I own and enjoy is called Handel’s Messiah: A Soulful Celebration, with this piece being reinterpreted as a jazz instrumental by a group called the Yellowjackets. I can’t find that online, but I did discover a cover version featuring Rich Christie on bass, Dave Sylvester on sax, Chris Williams on Drums, and Kenneth Reese on keyboards.

Fridays in Lent: Handel Messiah, Part 2

I’ve performed Part 2 of Handel’s Messiah, which is the Passion/Resurrection section, far less frequently than Part 1.

One year for Christmas, I gave my sister the score of the entire Messiah, we sang from it so much in high school. Since then I’ve sung much of Part 1, the section associated with Advent/Christmastime, at least a half dozen times. I’ve performed Part 2, which is the Passion/Resurrection section, far less frequently, except, of course, the Hallelujah, which I sing every Easter Sunday.

Read the Wikipedia piece.

LISTEN to the live performance.