I have to vote for For Unto Us a Child is Born. I'm born close to christmas, from choir-singer parents. My mom says she sang that one to me the night after birth.
― Frederik B, Monday, 22 December 2014 17:04 (nine years ago) link
For Unto Us is the best of the choruses, definitely. For the solos I feel like it's a tossup between Ev'ry valley and Rejoice greatly
― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Monday, 22 December 2014 17:45 (nine years ago) link
guilty confession: because this is so ubiquitous every year, I've never actually sat down and listened to it. And I know it's sublime, it's like a thing I have taken for granted my whole life.
― The Complainte of Ray Tabano, Monday, 22 December 2014 18:00 (nine years ago) link
I have to admit, though, I'm more of a Christmas Oratorio kind of guy.
― Frederik B, Monday, 22 December 2014 18:03 (nine years ago) link
I've been binge-listening to "For Behold"/"The People That Walked in Darkness" for a couple of weeks and I've come to two conclusions about Handel:
1. It's no surprise that this is his most famous work. Musically it's an astonishingly good balance of virtuosic showing off and tuneful accessibility.2. There's about a 75% chance Handel didn't really understand how voices work, based on how some of these go.
― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Monday, 22 December 2014 18:18 (nine years ago) link
Lol. Dunno, I never really got good a coloratura singing, but I always thoroughly enjoyed singing Händel.
― Frederik B, Monday, 22 December 2014 18:24 (nine years ago) link
Some of the phrases, especially in the solo pieces where you can't hide your catch breaths, are inhumanely long in addition to the rampant coloratura.
― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Monday, 22 December 2014 18:34 (nine years ago) link
Yeah, definitely. Always been particularly bad at singing those long phrases, taking a whole lot of pauses.
― Frederik B, Monday, 22 December 2014 18:51 (nine years ago) link
people didn't smoke as much back then
― The Complainte of Ray Tabano, Monday, 22 December 2014 19:39 (nine years ago) link
crooked straight
rough places plain
― mookieproof, Monday, 22 December 2014 19:42 (nine years ago) link
well no, they had giant fireplaces that delivered tar directly to the lungs, thus obviating the need to smoke
― the farakhan of gg (DJP), Monday, 22 December 2014 21:48 (nine years ago) link
Messiah is childsplay, though. Sang in Copenhagen Boys Choir when we had 75 jubilee, and they decided to celebrate by doing Israel in Egypt as the yearly oratorio concert - though only the two-part version. Still, that's a lot of coloratura-filled chorusses for a bunch of kids aged 11-14.
― Frederik B, Monday, 22 December 2014 22:02 (nine years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Thursday, 25 December 2014 00:01 (nine years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Friday, 26 December 2014 00:01 (nine years ago) link
andthe governmentshall beuponhis shouououlder
― mookieproof, Friday, 26 December 2014 03:04 (nine years ago) link