Thursday, December 17, 2009

Handel's Messiah Helps

I mentioned here that we have been singing portions of Handel's Messiah on school mornings for the past two weeks or so. The kids and I read this fascinating article the other morning, about how Handel's Messiah is uplifting right down to the physics of sound, the "glorifying of the tonal center". It literally resonates within us, the arrangement of notes centering us and lifting up our physical being to worship. Physically. As in, physics. This is so cool. I wish I knew more about physics so I could rejoice in Handel's Messiah even more.

The girls do not have Messiah songbooks, so I have been printing off individual portions of the piece here. They store them in their binders. Be prepared with lots of paper and ink-- the choruses of the Messiah tend to be over seven pages apiece. It would be cheaper to purchase the songbook if you wanted all the music, or wanted multiple movements all at once. You can purchase used scores pretty cheaply on Amazon, but I want the girls' books to be the Van Camp version, which is $30. This information will go into my planning for the next school year. :D

Also, a friend linked to this site where you can listen to individual parts (soprano, alto, tenor, bass). We haven't used this website, but I thought I would pass it along anyway.

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