Discover the Timeless Beauty of Handel's The Messiah on Kids' Classical Hour

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

My favorite radio station plays a thing called Kids' Classical Hour every Saturday morning at 9:00. It's on right now, and I never fail to learn something myself. Today is about Handel and his fabulous The Messiah. You can listen right hear. It's part of a satillite feed out of Boston - you may have it locally, too.Part of the legend of The Messiah is that the king was so taken by the Hallelujah Chorus that he stood to listen to it - and of course, the rest of the audience stood because the king did so. To this day, every audience stands when the Hallelujah Chorus is performed.

 

[thechefofnorthbend]

being a music theory major, I love learning the obsucre facts and stories behind our music. In college, my senior year, I was graced with the opportunity to perform Handels Messiah. Difficult, but beautiful (especially for the mezzo soprano's which I am one of). We sang at the beautiful Berekely Theatre in California with the San Francisco Symphony accompaniment. I think it was my most memorable performences (next to Carmen Burana).

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Tip o' my hat to you, Darby. I had considered majoring in music when I was enrolling in college, and had one day hoped to play professionally. One day, I came to the sad realization that playing professionally requires a certain level of talent, and you either have it, or you don't. I didn't. My brother and my nephew are professionals - well, actually, my brother is a rocket scientist and plays weekends, and my nephew is a music major at Memphis. When they talk music (and you could join right in with them, I'm sure) I have no clue what they're talking about.But I know what I like - Beethoven, Mendolssohn, Tchaikovsky, Handel and Mozart (in about that order) are my favorites. I fear that if I had majored in music and dissected all those works, I might not enjoy them as much as I do today. I could be wrong, but I don't care. I just listen and enjoy. (I love to listen to Beethoven's echos and Tchaikovski's arpeggios that roll throughout the orchestra.)Oh, two more favorites of mine - Carl Stalling and Dr. Peter Schickele. You really have to be into it to know who those are. Oh, one more interesting thing about Handel - although German by birth, he emmigrated to England and became an English citizen. It was the King of England who stood for the Hallalujah Chorus, and Handel was so well respected for his works that he is buried in Westminster Abby.

 

[thechefofnorthbend]

Ah, Mr. Stalling...dbdbdbdb dbdbdbdb dbdbdb That's all folks'...yes, truly a genius!

Dr. Peter Schickele, I believe is the composer on my Aesops Fables album from the 60's (the cover has the book attached to it so you read the story and you listen to the vinyl, the only way to enjoy real music, I say )

I believe my all time favorite aria is Schuberts Ave Maria, and yes I love the version that was performed in Disneys Fantasia, although in all my research, I canot find the name of the woman who performed it. I was able to sing this at my Gradmammas funeral, by the grace of God, I made it through without crying...until I walked off the alter steps...

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

I do prefer Schickele's alter ego, myself. It's all in the archives at the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople.Stalling's greatest works have titles like Dinner Music for a Tribe of Hungry Cannibals, Marching Pink Elephants, Flea-ridden Sheepdog, Mouse-taken Identity and Frazzled Cayote.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

I believe my all time favorite aria is Schuberts Ave Maria, and yes I love the version that was performed in Disneys Fantasia, although in all my research, I canot find the name of the woman who performed it. I was able to sing this at my Gradmammas funeral, by the grace of God, I made it through without crying...until I walked off the alter steps...

It was Julietta Novis.

She also played a character called "Leading Lady" in the 1940 Rita Hayworth movie, Music In My Heart but I can find nothing else about her.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

More on Julietta Novis...She appears in the credits on Judy Garland's "soundtrack" of the Wizard of Oz/Pinocchio. She is also credited as a background singer in some Bing Crosby recordings, and by reading between the lines, I suspect she was a background singer under contract to Disney.Ave Maria was probably the magnum opus of her career, not a bad way to be remembered, I suppose.Cliff Edwards was also a Disney contract singer, best known as the voice of Jiminy Cricket. His brilliant When You Wish Upon A Star is his best known work, too, but if it wasn't for Edwards, as Jiminy Cricket, I probably wouldn't be able to spell encyclopedia.Note: Soundtracks were unheard of in 1939, and Judy Garland was under contract to Decca as well as MGM. They made an album of songs from The Wizard of Oz, but Judy Garland was the only artist on the album that appeared in the actual movie. Soundtrack recordings, as we know them, did not really appear until the 1950's.

 

[sillylittlechef]

very interesting.

 

[janetupnorth]

Tip o' my hat to you, Darby. I had considered majoring in music when I was enrolling in college, and had one day hoped to play professionally. One day, I came to the sad realization that playing professionally requires a certain level of talent, and you either have it, or you don't. I didn't.

What instrument(s) do you play KG?

 

[pamperedharriet]

I just can't get over all of the talent and wisdom on CS!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

What instrument(s) do you play KG?

Now I just play the radio and the shoehorn.

In high school, I played clarinet in the concert band, baritone sax in the stage band and musical orchestra pit, and bass drum in the marching band.

With no teeth in front anymore, I have no embusure left with which to play the reed instruments.

 

[thechefofnorthbend]

I tried really hard as a chile to learn the piano, but it always seemed I was following the vocal composition instead of the instumental, therefore, I began to sing.

I was trained classically (opera, believe it or not) under Barbara Mervine and studied under Ralph Hughes (Master Singers) and also with Donald Kendrick. I was honored to perform with the male choral group Chanticleer, and the gospel group Take 5. During High School I perfomed in my honor choir The Madrigals, and we were recorded, That was cool!

I miss singing immensely and it seems I only do so in my chuch worship group, and their music is really contemporary. Someday I vow to start again and will, by god, perform at The Metropolitan or The Covent Garden. But we all have our dreams...

 

[janetupnorth]

Now I just play the radio and the shoehorn.

In high school, I played clarinet in the concert band, baritone sax in the stage band and musical orchestra pit, and bass drum in the marching band.

With no teeth in front anymore, I have no embusure left with which to play the reed instruments.

(radio) That's what my dad always said...

...laughing on the reed instruments...you could still play the drums...

 

[janetupnorth]

I tried really hard as a chile to learn the piano, but it always seemed I was following the vocal composition instead of the instumental, therefore, I began to sing.

I was trained classically (opera, believe it or not) under Barbara Mervine and studied under Ralph Hughes (Master Singers) and also with Donald Kendrick. I was honored to perform with the male choral group Chanticleer, and the gospel group Take 5. During High School I perfomed in my honor choir The Madrigals, and we were recorded, That was cool!

I miss singing immensely and it seems I only do so in my chuch worship group, and their music is really contemporary. Someday I vow to start again and will, by god, perform at The Metropolitan or The Covent Garden. But we all have our dreams...

Wow - that was quite some work for you!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

I tried really hard as a chile to learn the piano, but it always seemed I was following the vocal composition instead of the instumental, therefore, I began to sing.

I was trained classically (opera, believe it or not) under Barbara Mervine and studied under Ralph Hughes (Master Singers) and also with Donald Kendrick. I was honored to perform with the male choral group Chanticleer, and the gospel group Take 5. During High School I perfomed in my honor choir The Madrigals, and we were recorded, That was cool!

I miss singing immensely and it seems I only do so in my chuch worship group, and their music is really contemporary. Someday I vow to start again and will, by god, perform at The Metropolitan or The Covent Garden. But we all have our dreams...

Get yourself one of these...
http://www.nashmet.com/graphics/57met.jpg
and sing while you're driving - that way, you can tell all your friends that you sing at the Met.

I can hear you now:

While riding in my Cadillac,
What to my surprise.
A little Nash Rambler was following me
About one third my size.
The guy musta wanted to pass me up
As he kept on tooting his horn. [Sound BEEP BEEP]
I'll show him that a Cadillac is not a car to scorn.
Beep, beep [Sound BEEP BEEP]
Beep, beep [Sound BEEP BEEP]
His horn went beep beep beep.

Hey, Darby, when you DO get to the REAL Met, introduce me to Renée Fleming, will you? I'm so in love with her.

 

[thechefofnorthbend]

I pushed my foot down to the floor
To give the guy the shake
But the little Nash Rambler stayed right behind
He still had on his brake
He musta thought his car had more guts
As he kept on tooting his horn (beep beep)
I'll show him that a Cadillac is not a car to scorn
Beep beep beep beep
His horn went beep beep beep

My car went into passing gear
And we took off with gust (whoosh)
Soon we were going ninety
Musta left him in the dust
When I peeked in the mirror of my car
I couldn't believe my eyes
The little Nash Rambler was right behind
You'd think that guy could fly
Beep beep beep beep
His horn went beep beep beep

Now we were doing a hundred and ten
This certainly was a race
For a Rambler to pass a Caddy
Would be a big disgrace
The guy musta wanted to pass me up
As he kept on tooting his horn (beep beep)
I'll show him that a Cadillac is not a car to scorn
Beep beep beep beep
His horn went beep beep beep

Now we're going a hundred twenty
As fast as I can go
The Rambler pulled along side of me
As if we were going slow
The fella rolled down his window
And yelled for me to hear
"Hey buddy how do I get this car outa second gear?"

Loved this song when I was a kid!!!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

So did I! The BEEP BEEP sound was made on a guitar by dragging the pick across the strings below the bridge.

 

[pamperedharriet]

Me, too! I guess I am still a kid at 50!

 

[thechefofnorthbend]

A little off beat humor...for the music buffs.

Remember the song that was whistled by the kids on detention in The Breakfast Club? That song was actually from a movie called The Bridge Over The River Kwai, and named The Colonel Bogey March, written about a two note interval (a descending minor third) that a golfer sang in place of the phrase "Fore!". The song, made popular by the soldiers of The British Royal Army, was a satire with added lyrics that played against the reign of Hitler, a sort of rib of the Nazi Leaders. Here are the lyrics the soldiers added to the tune:

Göring has only got one ball
Hitler's are also very small
Himmler's so very similar
And Goebbels has no balls at all!

OR

Hitler has only got one ball,
The other is in the Albert Hall
His mother, the dirty bugger,
Cut it off when he was small.
OR

Hitler has only got one ball
The other is at the Albert Hall,
Swimming With Naked Women,
The Dirty Bugger Is At It Again.

There were added second verses that poked fun of his (hitler's) Mother:

She threw it over Germany,
It landed in the deep blue sea,
The fishes got out their dishes,
And had scallops and bollocks for tea

OR

She took it out to Coventry
Where the army they shot it out to see
The fishes all very suspicious
Had scallops and bollocks for tea

See the fun things you learn in music classes????

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

That golfer, Darby, was the enigmatic Colonel Bogey, for whom the march was named. It wasn't his real name, but a nickname that a firey colonel that was an association of one Leftenant F.J.. Ricketts, the Director of Music for the Royal Marines at Plymouth. Since military men were not allowed to have a life outside of the army, he published the march under the pen name Kenneth Alford.

 

[thechefofnorthbend]

Thats right, I forgot to add that into my lesson...

Here is an interesting story:

'Colonel Bogey' is arguably the most famous march ever written. It is certainly the most profitable. First published in 1914 - a portentious year for marches if ever there was one - it quickly made the best-seller sheet music lists. By the early Thirties it had sold well over a million copies, had been recorded innumerable times and had already begun clocking up useful performing rights from the BBC. Even better, in 1958 it was chosen as the theme tune for the splendid film The Bridge on the River Kwai - and the mind boggles over the financial implications of that.

It is of course a fine march whose opening has proved totally irresistible for the best part of a century. Its composer was Lieutenant F J Ricketts (1881-1945), a military bandmaster who was Director of Music for the Royal Marines at Plymouth. Because at that time Service personnel were not encouraged to have professional lives in the great big world outside, Ricketts published 'Colonel Bogey' and his other compositions under the pseudonym Kenneth Alford.

So much for the composer -- but who in fact was Colonel Bogey? The story goes that this was a nickname by which a certain fiery colonel was known just before the 1914 War when Ricketts was stationed at Fort George near Inverness in Scotland. One of the composer's recreations was playing golf and it was on the local course that he sometimes encountered the eccentric colonel. One of the latter's peculiarities was that instead of shouting 'Fore' to warn of an impending drive, he preferred to whistle a descending minor third. This little musical tag stayed and germinated in the mind of the receptive Ricketts -- and so the opening of a memorable march was born.

One wonders if the two men ever met again. If so, let us hope that the composer at least stood the Colonel a generous double at the Nineteenth Hole.

Ahhh...the world wide web. What a wonderous wehicle...er, uh, vehicle (hey, had to continue with the rhyme...)

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Always avoid annoying alliteration.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Mitch Miller made the march memorable.

 

[thechefofnorthbend]

My My Mr. Miller. Many millions march miles more meaningful. Might my marching mean much?

 

[cmdtrgd]

The big black bug bit the big black bear made the big black bear bleed blue blood.Try saying that one five times fast!Tongue twisters for drama and singing!

 

[chefann]

Hey, Darby- I think you meant "Carmina Burana," not "Carmen Burana." LOVE LOVE LOVE that piece. We sang parts of it in college (the two-piano and percussion arrangement), and a few movements in the semi-professional choir I sang in for a few years. Then we did the whole darn thing with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra for a summer concert. I HATE it when they use the very beginning and very end of "O Fortuna" in commercials and trailers, and you can hear a lousy edit. bleah...I was a music major in college, too. B. Mus., major in K-12 general music ed. I tip my hat to you, as a theory major. Phew! That's a hard one. We had 6 theory classes required for majors, and there were 3 of us in #6 the year I took it. That was Sophomore year, and I had 3 classes that year with 3 people in them: Theory 6, Conducting, and Vocal Diction.==
I heard that the Hallelujah Chorus story about standing was a legend. hmmm.... I'll have to try to remember where I read that and find it again. Every year my alma mater hosts a "Messiah Sing-Along" before Christmas. Anyone who wants to participate shows up for a rehearsal of the choruses at Noon, then there's a performance at 3:00 of the Christmas section (plus the Hallelujah Chorus). It's fun! I did it two years that I was there.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Ya know, Darby, if the guy had been a better golfer, it might have been the Colonel Par, or even Colonel Birdie March.

 

[raebates]

A wealth of knowledge, a lot of humor, and oodles of trivia. I love CS!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Some of us are just walking compendiums of useless information.Someone asked me why I don't try out for Jeopardy. It's simple, really, they never have my category. I can hear it now, "Alex, I'll take Useless Crap for $100."

 

[thechefofnorthbend]

Hey, Darby- I think you meant "Carmina Burana," not "Carmen Burana."

That would be my world class spelling at work. Hey, I said I was a music major, not an english major...lol

I HATE it when they use the very beginning and very end of "O Fortuna" in commercials and trailers, and you can hear a lousy edit. bleah...

You and me both! If they insist on putting that piece in modern advertisements, you would think they would choose a more appropriate product. In the United Kingdom in a long running TV advertising campaign for Old Spice aftershave?

I was a music major in college, too. B. Mus., major in K-12 general music ed. I tip my hat to you, as a theory major. Phew! That's a hard one. We had 6 theory classes required for majors, and there were 3 of us in #6 the year I took it. That was Sophomore year, and I had 3 classes that year with 3 people in them: Theory 6, Conducting, and Vocal Diction.

I intended to continue on and take the requiring classes for general music education at the high school level, but I remembered just what kind of teenage I was, and thought, "eh..." I really enjoyed classes in the performance, theory, and history of Western art, Introduction to Improvisation, Music Perception and Cognition and for fun...Jazz Theory and Performance. There were many more classes, but these tend to stick out in my memory. I believe because they were the most challenging. made me think and use what little brain I had in there to use!

 

[thechefofnorthbend]

Some of us are just walking compendiums of useless information.

Someone asked me why I don't try out for Jeopardy. It's simple, really, they never have my category. I can hear it now, "Alex, I'll take Useless Crap for $100."

I would be a MILLIONARE!!!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

You and Ann and I could be the battle of the champions if Useless Crap was the only category!

 

[thechefofnorthbend]

At college we had a group of Philosophical Study students, who at the time of their graduations, would hold an open forum and contest on Useless Information, and would award the winner an encyclopedia (yes just one and it was for the letter of the winners choice...). I, proudly, took that honor my sophmore year! And I picked Q, why? Because I was weird.

 

[janetupnorth]

At college we had a group of Philosophical Study students, who at the time of their graduations, would hold an open forum and contest on Useless Information, and would award the winner an encyclopedia (yes just one and it was for the letter of the winners choice...). I, proudly, took that honor my sophmore year! And I picked Q, why? Because I was weird.

I always LOVED picking the Q in scrabble...

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

I thought maybe you took Q because you were first in line?Or you wanted to be in the British Secret Service?

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

I always LOVED picking the Q in scrabble...

U wood.

Beaverdamed minimum message length.

 

[janetupnorth]

U wood.

Beaverdamed minimum message length.

<GROAN> That one was good!

 

[janetupnorth]

Oh, and nice way to get the message length - LOL! Nice color choice.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

I heard that the Hallelujah Chorus story about standing was a legend. hmmm.... I'll have to try to remember where I read that and find it again.

As is often the case with traditions, the origins seem to be lost in history. The Christamas season is full of traditions that have lost their origins and are also prone to mythological tales of origin, such as the Christmas tree itself, the image of Santa Claus as a red-suited elf (let alone, the origin of Santa Claus himself!) lights on the tree and what they represent and why the date for Christmas was fixed to the Winter solstice. (Who is Murray and why did he carry Frankenstein to Bethlehem?)

I can't find anything that talks about the origin of the tradition of standing for the Hallelujah Chorus tradition being a myth, at least, anymore than most of us already know. (I did read somewhere that this tradition is far more prevalent in the English speaking world than the rest of the world.) I did find this article, published in the newspaper from a Wyoming college. The music department was to perform The Messiah and the paper published these versions of the tradition:

Jan Kliewer, an assistant professor of choral music at Northwest College, will direct the combined choir in both performances. He said the “Messiah” and its performance history is “an unprecedented musical tradition that has lasted for 250 years.”

The work’s enduring popularity is enhanced, in part, by a tradition that accompanies its most well-known segment, the “Hallelujah” chorus. Kliewer said when the work was first performed, George II, the less-than-sophisticated Hanoveren monarch mistook the rousing chorus for the English national anthem and stood in a show of patriotism. With their visiting sovereign on his feet, audience members were also obligated to rise from their seats. And so a tradition was begun that is observed even today – the audience stands for the entirety of the “Hallelujah” chorus.

A popular myth regarding the “Hallelujah” tradition is that the monarch was so moved by the music he felt compelled to stand. Most scholars discard that idea, Kliewer said, preferring to credit the standing tradition to the monarch’s unfamiliarity with the English language and customs rather than an emotional response to the music.

This is http://www.northwestcollege.edu/news/details.aspx?Entry=111 if you wish to see the source.

I like the line about "...scholars discard that idea..." like scholars (or anyone else) would never lightly dismiss anything they can't prove or claim as their own.

Whether or not the source of the tradition is a myth or not, it's a tradition that I particularly like, right up there with kissing under the mistletoe. (Why DO we do that, anyway?) Why do I like that tradition? It's the one time of the year I can get away with sexual harrassment.

 

[thechefofnorthbend]

More of my UI...Christmas Tree origins-
Traditionally, Christmas trees (originated in German Tradition) were not brought in and decorated until Christmas Eve and then removed the day after twelfth night, about January 6th. An angel is often placed at the top of the tree (this is a WHOLE OTHER STORY all in itself...). To have a tree up before or after these dates was considered bad luck. The modern commercialization of Christmas has resulted in trees being put up much earlier in shops often as early as late October, which has spawned the phrase "Happy Hallowthanksmas".

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

"Santa, where would you like me to put this Christmas tree?"

 

[thechefofnorthbend]

LOL...I think THAT is my favorite Christmas Story of all time. Now if they would just make a major motion picture...

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

You'll shoot your eye out, Kid.

 

[thechefofnorthbend]

Ok, I take that back...THAT is the BEST Christmas Story, ever!

FRAGILE "Fra-gee-lei...must be Italian..."

 

[raebates]

My husband claims to hate this movie. However, he came into the room while I was watching it. It was during the scene when Ralphie beats the tar out of the bully. He stood there, mesmerized, with a grin on his face.He still claims to hate the movie. He says he just has a heightened sense of justice.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Now, you're talking about my favorite writer, Jean Shepherd. Shep was mostly a radio talker in New York before anyone knew what talk radio was. He spent 45 straight minutes spinning yarns on the air, many of which wound up as short stories in Playboy, Car and Driver or later in his books. A Christmas Story is based (on what is called) his novel, In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash. It isn't really a novel, it's a collection of his short stories that appear as chapters, are tied together with little vignettes of Ralph Parker, coming home to Holman and sharing old times with bar owner, Flick. While Shep claimed all of the stories are works of fiction, he also admitted that he had friends named Schwartz and Flick. (I went to college with a guy named Flick, too, so maybe that signals hope for my writing career.)In A Christmas Story, several of those short stories from the book are expertly woven together into a contiguous plot line, although you can easily see the boundaries between the separate stories, such as the Orphan Annie Decoder Ring (The Counterfeit Secret Circle Member Gets The Message, or The Asp Strikes Again,) the Old Man as a furnace fighter and an Oldsmobile man, Grover Dill (Grover Dill And The Tazmanian Devil,) the Bumpkus dogs, the Major Award (My Old Man And The Lacivious Special Award That Heralded The Birth of Pop Art,) and, of course, The Duel In The Snow, or Red Ryder Nails The Cleveland Street Kid, including the infamous Genuine Red Ryder Carbine Action Two Hundred Shot Lightning Loader Range Model Air Rifle. (Daisy never made such a gun, however, they did make three for the movie.) Some of the other stories were made into specials for PBS, several of them appeared in a story called The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters. Once again, stories from In God We Trust were the basis of the drama, woven together into one story. My two favorites in that special are The Endless Streetcar Ride Into the Night and The Tinfoil Noose, and Ludlow Kissel and the Dago Bomb That Struck Back.No one turned a phrase or wrote a metaphor the way Shep did - one of my favorite lines is how he describes his hometown, the fictional Hohman, Indiana. "Hohman, Indiana is located in the extreme Northwestern corner of the state, where the state line ends abruptly in the icy, detergent-filled waters of that queen of the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan. It clings precariously to the underbody of Chicago like a barnacle clings to the rotting hulk of a tramp steamer."No one else writes like that. I miss him.

 

[thechefofnorthbend]

My goal, however small this may be to others, is to visit the home in which the movie was filmed. It is a museam now, almost recreated to the T of what the movie house is. The original home (the exterior shots) was of a house that was a duplex, not a full house. The owner has just about gotten everything down pat about the inside and outside of this house finished, except the width of the stairwell is slightly smaller and he has yet rigged the black smoke to roll out of the vents from the basement furnace. This, folks, is my greatist wish (next to watching a real live cubby's game at Wrigley Field with Harry Caray singing "Take me out to the ball game" during the 7th inning stretch, although sadly, with the later part, his ship has sailed, my friends...).

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Remember, the inside shots were done on a Hollywood sound stage, but he has tried to duplicate the sets as best he can.A Christmas Story House

 

[raebates]

Jean Shepherd's book is great. I often re-read it after each year's first viewing of A Christmas Story.I didn't realize a replica of the house was available for tours.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

It's not a replica - it's THE house. (Where all the outside shots we taken, as well as Ralphie's fantasy of saving the family from the bad guys.)