Messiah
I READ recently in some periodical a suggestion that Messiah should not be regarded as the inevitable Christmas oratorio. The writer made the point that, though Messiah undoubtedly deserved its popularity, its annual airing was at the expense of other equally seasonable and deserving works. True enough, and at the time I was prepared to lend my support to a movement that might have resulted in an occasional performance of, for example, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. But now I have just heard from 2YA the Wellington Royal Choral Union’s annual presentation of Messiah (their first was in 1907) and I am back on the side of the traditionalists. For Christmas, even in Wellington, is a bad time for innovations, and if we do manage to sidestep the traditional plum pudding in favour of strawberries our feeling of subsequent well-being is largely cancelled
out by our sense of guilt, But in the case of Messiah tradition goes hand in hand with well-being; the triumph of the "Hallelujah Chorus" and _ the magnificent affirmation of "I Know That My Redeemer Liveth" ring in our inward ear and havé power to carry us over that bristling hedge of commercial traditions so that we can recognise with joy and triumph the inner reality of Chrisgnas. —
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 16, Issue 392, 27 December 1946, Page 12
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210Messiah New Zealand Listener, Volume 16, Issue 392, 27 December 1946, Page 12
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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