It’s been a very long time since I sang Messiah as a
choir boy at Ipswich School! It was no small undertaking for a school
to tackle a production of such epic proportion, and I remember
very many hours of rehearsal before performance day. Now,
several decades on I have enjoyed revisiting Messiah in the form of
this ‘book of reflections’ about the masterpiece composed by
Handel and based on scriptures selected by Jennens.
The book is engaging in the way its 30 contributors invite us on a
journey through Messiah, each providing their thoughts on the
historical meaning of Jennens chosen passages and how the
music shaped their interpretation. Contributors have quite
different backgrounds, and this helps to make each authored
section somewhat different in style and substance. Contributions
are relatively short and each can be read individually, much like a
series of short stories. You don’t have to know of or even like
Handel’s Messiah to enjoy this book. The theological
interpretations of key bible passages are enough alone; written in
a style that is easy to read and relevant to our lives today. I wasn’t,
for example, expecting the culmination of a Taylor Swift concert to
be used to illustrate our pleasure experience and how God created
us to experience pleasure and joy in his truth and love; it worked for me. How Handel then
took these passages and set them to music is a fascinating read, and you don’t need to be
music scholar to understand and enjoy it.
So, whether you are a ‘Messiah aficionado’ or a ‘complete novice’, this is a book that you can
enjoy. It’s an accessible read. It can be dipped in and out of and appreciated for the
theological reflections alone or with the bonus of learning about how one of our greatest
composers created such an iconic piece of music.