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MS04 · Show · Messiah

And the Glory of the Lord

The 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".

1:27 · 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 first chorus, glory rising from Porch Front and spreading out run by run.

The house waits in a deep blue night, a little gold already on Porch Front, the far light, where the violins' last bars of the ritornello glint. The altos enter alone, "And the glory, the glory of the Lord", and Porch Front lights white-gold with every note, a bright point riding out along it as the line climbs. When the whole chorus answers, a wave of glory runs out from the middle of Porch Front to both ends of the house, and every voice takes its own run: the altos keep Porch Front, the tenors take Porch Left, the basses Porch Right, and the sopranos the two wings, Left and Right. "Shall be revealed" comes in one voice at a time, tenors, basses, sopranos, so the light moves outward from the porch, run by run, each run keeping a glow once it has sung.

"And the glory, the glory of the Lord shall be revealed", the full chorus forte: another wave from Porch Front and the whole house lit, Side too, every chord a surge. "And all flesh shall see it together": the altos on Porch Front, then the tenors on Porch Left, the strings' short answers flashing gold between them. "For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it": the tenors and basses in unison on one long note each, the porch runs held in a steady gold, while the sopranos and altos run their figure across the wings and Porch Front.

The close: "the mouth of the Lord" held by the sopranos and altos on the wings and Porch Front, the tenors and basses moving under it on the porch runs. Then Handel's silence: the house drops to its glow. "Hath spoken it", Adagio: the whole house rises together into full white-gold, Side included, and holds on the last chord.

The music is Handel's own: Messiah No. 4, the ritornello's last two bars and the altos' entry to the first round of "shall be revealed" (bars 9-24), the tutti "and the glory" (33-38), "and all flesh shall see it together" to the first "hath spoken it" (43-56), and the close from "it, for the mouth of the Lord" to the Adagio (129-138), transcribed from Prout's full score (Novello, 1902) into and_the_glory.musicxml and timed by scripts/score_excerpt.py, the Allegro a little quicker than Prout's crotchet 100 so the scene fits. Handel's strings and the chorus; the chorus sung on strings with oboes and a bassoon doubling, as Handel doubled it, and the organ under the full chorus.

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 · 0.3 MB.mp3

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