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MS06 · Show · Messiah

And He Shall Purify

The chorus's running semiquavers race along the roofline as fine bright lines, burning off the dark impurities in sparks, until the whole house shines clean gold.

1:22 · with a spoken intro

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Messiah

MS01SinfonyIntro1:28The overture: the Grave's heavy dotted pulses roll along the house in deep blue, then the fugue's four voices enter one run at a time, each string part its own light.MS02Comfort YeIntro1:21The tenor's warm white light alone on Porch Front, opening a little wider with each "comfort ye"; then "the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness", and the light finds the road.MS03Ev'ry ValleyIntro1:28The roofline as a landscape of bright hills and dark valleys. The tenor sings, and the porch valley rises behind his voice, the hills sink, the crooked land straightens, until the house is one level light.MS04And the Glory of the LordIntro1:27The first chorus: glory rises white-gold on Porch Front and spreads out run by run, each voice of the choir lighting its own part of the house, until the whole house shines on "hath spoken it".MS05But Who May AbideIntro1:27"I will shake the heavens": the bass's amber makes the house tremble. Then the alto's calm rose light alternates with the refiner's fire, white-hot and fast, sparks thrown off along the roofline.MS06And He Shall PurifyIntro1:22The chorus's running semiquavers race along the roofline as fine bright lines, burning off the dark impurities in sparks, until the whole house shines clean gold.MS07O Thou That TellestIntro1:20The alto's rose light tells good tidings in a gentle lilt; on every "arise, shine" the house brightens another step, and the chorus joins in white-gold.MS08The People That Walked in DarknessIntro1:22Darkness covers the earth: the house sinks to its deepest blue-black, one dim light wanders the roofline feeling its way, and on "a great light" Porch Front opens.MS09For Unto Us a Child Is BornIntro1:20Light running figures for "unto us a Child is born", then the five great names, each a full blaze on its own run, Wonderful on Left round to the Prince of Peace on Right, and the same runs answer every time the names return.MS10PifaIntro1:27The Pastoral Symphony: night fields on Left and Right, small soft lanterns swaying to the siciliano, and a low warm drone glowing on the porch.MS11There Were ShepherdsIntro1:12Shepherds' lanterns in the night fields on the wings; the angel's silver climbs the porch with the strings' rising figures, the glory of the Lord pours over the fields, and the angel says: fear not.MS12Glory to GodIntro1:22A multitude of the heavenly host: silver multiplies across the house, the trumpets sound for the first time from the far porch in bright gold, and peace on earth glows warm on the fields.MS13Rejoice GreatlyIntro1:18The soprano's coloratura as quick silver runs racing along the roofline, the violins throwing gold sparkles, four bursts of silver on "shout", and the house landing in full gold.MS14He Shall Feed His FlockIntro1:28Slow, wide, warm waves roll in toward the porch to the siciliano, and the house's lights gather there like a flock: first to the alto's rose, then around the soprano's silver, "Come unto Him".MS15HallelujahIntro1:26The finale: full-house bursts on every Hallelujah, the unison "For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth" as one steady line, the sopranos' King of Kings climbing round the house run by run, and after Handel's grand pause the last chord in full warm gold.MS16IntermissionIntermission5:00The house waits in night blue under a small star over the porch, and warm gold fills it from both wings over five minutes, until the gold meets under the star and Messiah begins again.

About this scene

The chorus's running semiquavers as bright lines tracing the roofline, burning off the dross.

The house starts dull and dirty: a murky ember glow, scattered with darker red blotches, the impurities. Every sung line is a fine white-gold tracer on the roofline: each note carries its head on along the house, a little farther up or back with every interval the voice sings, turning back at the ends, so the long semiquaver runs of "purify" are quick bright lines racing and zig-zagging along the roofline, a fading trail behind each. Wherever a tracer's head passes over an impurity, it burns off in a spark of gold, and the house beneath it is cleaner.

The sopranos give the subject alone, over the basses; then the basses take it up, the altos, the tenors, and at last the whole chorus is running at once, the strings with them, the lines crossing, sparks flying all along the house, the glow beneath turning from murk to gold as the dross burns away.

Then the close: "that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness", the chorus together, fortissimo. On its first chord the last impurities flash off together, and the house is clean gold from end to end, Side included, surging with every chord while the violins' semiquavers still trace across it. On "righteousness" it settles into one steady, clean gold, and holds through the strings' last bars.

The music is Handel's own: Messiah No. 7, the opening to the full chorus's "and He shall purify" (bars 1-16) and the close from "of Levi" to the end (51-58), transcribed from Prout's full score (Novello, 1902) into and_he_shall_purify.musicxml and timed by scripts/score_excerpt.py at Prout's Allegro. Handel's strings and the chorus; the chorus sung on strings with oboes and a bassoon doubling, the organ under the close.

For your own show

Short, bright pieces meant to be watched. The FSEQ (v2, zstd, 40 fps) plays in Falcon Player on a house with the same layout; see About for how it is made.

.fseq · 1.0 MB.mp3

Its spoken intro, to schedule before it: .fseq · .mp3