"Messiah", Handel

[BluesPreacher]

During the Christmas season, I listened to Messiah--a LOT--and thought that a few of the pieces would be nice on mando family instruments.

So I bought the Schirmer score from Amazon.

I've been working on the "Pastoral Symphony", a well as the Overture and a couple of the airs. I've been working on the soprano/1st violin line on mando and the alto line on tenor.

Fun! And pretty! Maybe I'll record myself and post what I come up with.

[billhay4]

Maybe I'll record myself and post what I come up with.

Do that. It's my favorite piece of music.
Bill

[darrylicshon]

It would be nice to hear you play it. I played it back in 8th grade on 2nd violin in orchestra. I have been working on Vivaldi Concerto for Mandolin, classical music is fun to play

[bratsche]

A search of the forum shows a lot of previous discussion of Handel's Messiah. Some forum members have played in mandolin orchestras that have performed it, and I always envy them and wish I could participate in one, having played it countless times in regular orchestras.

bratsche

[mrmando]

The Seattle Mandolin Orchestra has performed "Mandolin Messiah" for the past five years. It's a cut-down version of the oratorio: most of the first part (the "Christmas section") plus the Hallelujah Chorus. We use only four vocalists and we've been fortunate to have the same quartet come back to perform with us each year.

[BluesPreacher]

It would be nice to hear you play it. I played it back in 8th grade on 2nd violin in orchestra. I have been working on Vivaldi Concerto for Mandolin, classical music is fun to play

Thanks. I need a decent recorder, but someday.... I have my mando and my tenor, and a bouzouki. And a classical guitar and an acoustic bass. No problem there.

[BluesPreacher]

WONDERFUL!! That is REALLY GOOD!! Sheesh! I need to move to Seattle!! Thank you for posting that!

[billhay4]

Sheesh! I need to move to Seattle!!

But Seattle doesn't need you to move to Seattle. It's bursting at the seams.
Bill

[Beanzy]

A good few members on the cafe did his Fireworks music in StPauls Covent Garden in a combined LMO/MOoD orchestra for the London mandolin Festival (complete with theorbo and harpsichord) I was surprised at how well it worked given it's normally so 'brassy'. Similarly for something like this if it's done playing with the original instrumentation in the players mind and each section adopting their roles it can really work well.

[BluesPreacher]

But Seattle doesn't need you to move to Seattle. It's bursting at the seams.
Bill

Good to know.

Tell ya what: I'll keep trying to put together a mando ensemble in my neck of the woods and play our own classics, and I'll visit Seattle when there's a mandolin orchestra concert. And...I've always wanted to visit Bruce Lee's grave.

[mrmando]

Tell ya what: I'll keep trying to put together a mando ensemble in my neck of the woods and play our own classics, and I'll visit Seattle when there's a mandolin orchestra concert. And...I've always wanted to visit Bruce Lee's grave.

Keep an eye on seattlemandoiln.org. We usually do Mandoiln Messiah the first weekend in December.

[EdHanrahan]

Seattle Mandolin Orchestra with vocalists ... WHOAA! That's most impressive!

But I'm a bit confused as to why the audience felt a need to stand during the performance; it's not like it's part of defined religious ceremony. Especially considering that most players are seated just a step above the normal floor level, the folks up front seem to be primarily cutting off the view, and much of the sound, for those in the rows further back. Or is there some historical convention that causes folks to stand during this particular piece?

I first thought it might be another case of "smartphone video-itis", except that the front row is among the last to stand. So yeah, I'm confused!

[billhay4]

BP,
I was kinda kidding. Seattle is a lovely city, but it is very crowded and expensive now. Traffic approaches that in Northern Virginia, even worse in some places. But there is a lively art scene as you can see from this thread. I'm an hour south and we're very crowded here. Same an hour north of Seattle.
An orchestra where you live, now that's a great idea.
Bill

[bratsche]

But I'm a bit confused as to why the audience felt a need to stand during the performance; it's not like it's part of defined religious ceremony.

Tradition. According to popular legend, King George II stood up for the duration of the Hallelujah Chorus, and fellow audience members followed his lead out of custom or courtesy. Look it up - there's a lot written about this matter! I didn't realize there was contention over it, but I guess as with everything else, there are strong differences of opinion among the camps who choose to stand or remain seated - e.g., does such standing honor God? Handel? King George II?

I have played Messiah hundreds of times, and in the particular venues I've performed it in, FWIW, the "Hallelujah standers" have vastly outnumbered the non-standers.

bratsche

[BluesPreacher]

BP,
I was kinda kidding. Seattle is a lovely city, but it is very crowded and expensive now. Traffic approaches that in Northern Virginia, even worse in some places. But there is a lively art scene as you can see from this thread. I'm an hour south and we're very crowded here. Same an hour north of Seattle.
An orchestra where you live, now that's a great idea.
Bill

No worries. I kinda knew you were kinda kidding. OTOH, I don't do crowded very well, at least not for an extended time. I've grown accustomed to the pace and space of NW Illinois. One of the downsides is, as I've suggested, there aren't the kind of art and culture opportunities around here that I would find in Seattle, Chicago, Madison.... Poetry readings, writers' clubs, folk jams, a community-college symphony orchestra (they're not half-bad) and even a ukulele club (about 45 min. away--went to my first meeting/jam last Saturday; had about the most fun a person can have and still be legal), but things like mando orchestras, not yet.

I'll keep working on that mando ensemble/orchestra thing.