Two (new) Choruses from Messiah
SATB and Soli Quartet
In 2010 and 2024, respectively, I was commissioned by the fine professional choir, The Singers - Minnesota Choral Artists, to sort of “deconstruct” two solo movements from Handel’s Messiah. The first was an encounter with the virtuosic “Rejoice greatly” aria for soprano which I ended up titling Daughter Ecstatic and, fourteen years later, came a choral version of the “Comfort ye” recitative for tenor.
When paired together in the traditional recitative - aria manner—and with the recit transposed down a half step to E-flat—they make a compelling set which breathes some new life into an old choral warhorse (which, frankly, doesn’t need it at all).
Scores can be ordered separately by clicking the links above.
Bonus
And, just to prove my choral cred a bit, below are some pictures I took during a 2022 trip to Dublin where I made a brief pilgrimage to Fishamble Street to visit the former sit of the Great Music Hall, where Handel premiered Messiah in 1742 in order to benefit The Charitable and Musical Society for the Release of Imprisoned Debtors. By 2015, the only remaining structure was the two-story entrance arch which, at the time, was being used as a gateway to the courtyard of an apartment complex.
Performed by The Singers - Minnesota Choral Artists
(Dr. Matthew Culloton, conductor),