by Fred Moleck
Advent Lessons and Carols
Scanning last Sunday’s New York Times and Pittsburgh’s Post Gazette, I was hard-pressed to find where the next Messiah would be performed.There were performances by the Pittsburgh Symphony and the New York Philharmonic as part of their concert schedule, but I couldn’t locate any semiprofessional Messiahs.
There had been a time when Handel’s oratorio would be performed in three or four places before Christmas in a city of medium size.
The Advent-Christmas section plus the “Hallelujah Chorus” would be the centerpiece of a town’s Christmas musical life.
If there were two gas stations in a town, I knew I could find one community chorus or expanded church choir with three paid soloists doing an acceptable job.
Much of the Christian populace of the United States grew up thinking that Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without Handel’s Messiah.
The repertory is changing. More and more some type of a service of readings from Scripture with music by choir and congregation is held during these four weeks of Advent.
I see that as a healthy sign of a growing sensitivity to the whole ethos of Advent with its roots in waiting for the Messiah to come.
To hear the Isaiah prophecies and to sing “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” in the context of a worship experience that is not Mass makes it possible to savor the stories and language of what our ancestors constructed, who waited for centuries in prayer and hope.
In some places the Anglican form of this service would not be appropriate because the story of the birth of Jesus is used. (The word lessons is the traditional term for readings.)
That’s easily remedied by replacing the Christmas reading by another Old Testament one. It is possible to restrict the readings to the ones by Isaiah that Handel used in the construction of the Messiah.
You know: Comfort ye, my people; Every valley shall be exalted; And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed; Behold! A virgin shall conceive; O Thou that tallest good tidings to Zion; The people that walked in darkness; For unto us a child is born; Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened; He shall feed his flock like a shepherd—all found in part I.
Each item is a sentence or two. It would take a little ingenuity space them throughout the service with the music interpolated between them.
A good source for repertory and structure appeared in the GIA Quarterly, summer 2008, volume 19, number 4, pages 20–21.
Designed by Ed Kaczuk, it is a scheme for Advent prayer that lists approachable choral repertory you probably already have in your library.
I understand full well that this type of service demands weeks, if not months of preparation.
Because of the flexibility of the service, however, it could be scaled up or down to provide a quiet moment in the life of a parish or a community.
It also provides for you a less-elaborate prayer form that is as complicated as you make it to be.
No matter what most “church” music publications imply, a C instrument and a descant are not required by canon law.
Simple, quiet prayer . . . what a concept.
You can reach Fred Moleck via email at fmoleck@comcast.net