I went to see the Messiah by Handel performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Chorus a few weeks ago. I’ve been to a few performances of this piece before.
There is a curious tradition observed by some members of the audience whereby they stand during the Hallelujah Chorus. There is a legend behind this tradition. The Messiah was first performed in Dublin in 1742. It was next performed in London a few weeks later with Handel conducting and the King (George II) attending. The King stood up during the Hallelujah Chorus. No one knows why; perhaps he had an itchy rear end! Anyway, protocol demands that when the King stands no one sits (Just like the President of the USA as any West Wing fan could tell you), so all of the audience stood up and the tradition holds to this day.
I told a Facebook friend from the USA about this and one of her friends commented that she would not participate as this was clearly a Christian tradition and she is Jewish. Not a bit of it. I am an agnostic and I’m happy to do it and I am a republican (American friends note the lower case here) and don’t care about the supposedly Royal origin.
On the way to the concert my wife Elizabeth asked how many were likely to stand. I said in my experience probably between 10 and 30% of the audience. She said that she would only stand if others did so (not just me!) as she didn’t want to be embarrassed. Her resolve on this was strengthened when she found we were in the second row of the stalls at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall or as she so eloquently put it,
“We were sat there looking right up the soprano’s nose.”
As the instrumental opening of the Chorus started I was quite nervous. No one seemed to be stirring. Even I thought maybe it’ll be best to stay seated. Just then the guy next to me uncrossed his legs and I thought, oh to hang with it, let’s just do it. We both stood up. I couldn’t see anyone lese but they were all behind me. Just then I heard an almighty noise and realised this was the sound of all the seats going back as people stood up (including Elizabeth). The gap between us standing and the majority of the audience seemed like hours. In reality it was probably less than a second.
I looked around the audience. Out of the 2,000 there, only about 20 remained in their seats and I reckoned most of those were disabled (some raised their arms to show they were joining in with the spirit of things). I felt enormously proud of Glasgow. Not only does it have this magnificent orchestra but also the best audience on the planet; truly a class act.
We did not stand because we were Christians or because we were Royalists. I like to think we stood in tribute to the genius of Handel and to thank the performers. I did notice that the soloists stood during this, although they normally sat during choruses. However, they did not stand until the audience did.
All of us standing together gave me a great sense of community spirit and greatly enhanced my enjoyment of a truly magnificent work brilliantly performed. It was an exhilarating experience, like watching your favourite sports team win in the last minute!
If you ever get the chance go hear Handel’s Messiah. It is a truly uplifting experience for those of all faiths and none. Oh, and when you hear the Chorus stand up; you won’t be sorry.
I went to see the Messiah by Handel performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Chorus a few weeks ago. I’ve been to a few performances of this piece before.
ReplyDeleteThere is a curious tradition observed by some members of the audience whereby they stand during the Hallelujah Chorus. There is a legend behind this tradition. The Messiah was first performed in Dublin in 1742. It was next performed in London a few weeks later with Handel conducting and the King (George II) attending. The King stood up during the Hallelujah Chorus. No one knows why; perhaps he had an itchy rear end! Anyway, protocol demands that when the King stands no one sits (Just like the President of the USA as any West Wing fan could tell you), so all of the audience stood up and the tradition holds to this day.
I told a Facebook friend from the USA about this and one of her friends commented that she would not participate as this was clearly a Christian tradition and she is Jewish. Not a bit of it. I am an agnostic and I’m happy to do it and I am a republican (American friends note the lower case here) and don’t care about the supposedly Royal origin.
On the way to the concert my wife Elizabeth asked how many were likely to stand. I said in my experience probably between 10 and 30% of the audience. She said that she would only stand if others did so (not just me!) as she didn’t want to be embarrassed. Her resolve on this was strengthened when she found we were in the second row of the stalls at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall or as she so eloquently put it,
“We were sat there looking right up the soprano’s nose.”
As the instrumental opening of the Chorus started I was quite nervous. No one seemed to be stirring. Even I thought maybe it’ll be best to stay seated. Just then the guy next to me uncrossed his legs and I thought, oh to hang with it, let’s just do it. We both stood up. I couldn’t see anyone lese but they were all behind me. Just then I heard an almighty noise and realised this was the sound of all the seats going back as people stood up (including Elizabeth). The gap between us standing and the majority of the audience seemed like hours. In reality it was probably less than a second.
I looked around the audience. Out of the 2,000 there, only about 20 remained in their seats and I reckoned most of those were disabled (some raised their arms to show they were joining in with the spirit of things). I felt enormously proud of Glasgow. Not only does it have this magnificent orchestra but also the best audience on the planet; truly a class act.
We did not stand because we were Christians or because we were Royalists. I like to think we stood in tribute to the genius of Handel and to thank the performers. I did notice that the soloists stood during this, although they normally sat during choruses. However, they did not stand until the audience did.
All of us standing together gave me a great sense of community spirit and greatly enhanced my enjoyment of a truly magnificent work brilliantly performed. It was an exhilarating experience, like watching your favourite sports team win in the last minute!
If you ever get the chance go hear Handel’s Messiah. It is a truly uplifting experience for those of all faiths and none. Oh, and when you hear the Chorus stand up; you won’t be sorry.