CONTENT COURTESY LEICHHARDT ESPRESSO CHORUS
A stellar array of 20 leading Australian composers have looked back at and reimagined Handel’s famous Messiah, the choral masterpiece that still continues to be sung and performed around the world.
As part of its 20-year celebrations, Leichhardt Espresso Chorus artistic director Michelle Leonard OAM commissioned the composers to rethink, reframe, respond and reimagine each part of the piece.
How did they begin to do that? What parts of the pieces still resonate with them as composers? What was their relationship to Handel during that process?
The resulting matrix of responses includes rewriting text, titles and music. But overall the frame remains the same.
Composer Alice Chance explains some of her inspiration:
The Ev’ry Valley movement from Handel’s Messiah, beloved by tenors the world over, has inspired my composition Every Valley.
The original is famous for its overt word-painting. The music leaps and plummets as led by the contours of the landscape it describes. Ostentatious, dexterous melismas inspire awe at the power and the glory of God. Many performers of this work seem to exude a desire for this audience awe to be directed at their own power and glory, instead.
I have created a poetic and musical response to this movement. The original biblical text uses ‘exalted’ in its archaic literal meaning: ‘raised up’. The verses speak of how God will eventually smooth out the earth. A common misinterpretation is that ‘exalted’ means ‘praised’ in this context, implying that all of God’s landscape should be praised. I have used this misconception as a springboard into a poetic and musical ode to accepting and loving things as they are.
I am seeking to honour the diverse landscapes of human bodies, as well as the efforts of their occupants.
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Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill caressed, none missed
The crooked cherished
And rough places kissed
Every facet, vice or asset, shall be exalted
And every effort, if true, shall be received gratefully
The battle to be good
Itself a victory
Event details
Messiah Reimagined
4pm June 10, Marrickville Town Hall, tickets online at espressochorus.com.au
Composers
- Kevin Barker
- David Basden
- Roman Benedict
- Gerard Brophy
- Benjamin Burton
- Luke Byrne
- Lyle Chan
- Alice Chance
- Josephine Gibson
- Andrew Howes
- James Madsen
- Joscelyn Markerink
- Anastasia Pahos
- Dan Walker
- Sally Whitwell
