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MS05 · Show · Messiah

But Who May Abide

"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.

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 bass's amber shakes the house, then the alto's calm rose light and the refiner's white-hot fire.

"Thus saith the Lord, the Lord of Hosts": the bass's deep amber voice speaks from the back of the porch, and the strings' dotted figures strike amber across the wings, one blow a note. "And I will shake": on the long run of "shake" the whole house trembles, its light jolting sideways on every semiquaver and shaking harder as the run climbs, until "the heav'ns and the earth" lands it.

Then the alto's air, and the contrast is the scene. The Larghetto is calm: the house a soft rose-violet, swaying on the air's lilt, the alto's rose voice at the back of the porch asking "But who may abide the day of His coming?", the strings' echo warming the wings. The Prestissimo breaks in: "For He is like a refiner's fire." The house becomes a furnace, gold flickering with every semiquaver and burning hotter with the strings' crescendos, a white-hot core riding the voice and racing along the roofline on the long runs of "refiner's", sparks thrown off it on every beat, and each "fire" bursting white. The Adagio stops it dead: rose again, slow, "for He is like a refiner's", the rose warming toward gold as the cadence comes, and "fire." blazes white-hot for the closing ritornello, its last four hammered chords striking the whole house, the last left glowing gold.

The music is Handel's own: Messiah No. 5, the accompagnato from the start to "the heav'ns and the earth," and No. 6, the ritornello's last chord and "But who may abide the day of His coming?" with the strings' echo, the Prestissimo's first fourteen bars (two "refiner's fire"s), and the Adagio with the last Prestissimo to the end, transcribed from Prout's full score (Novello, 1902) into but_who_may_abide.musicxml (No. 6 numbered on from No. 5: its bar n is bar 40 + n) and timed by scripts/score_excerpt.py, each tempo a little quicker than Prout's mark. Strings only, as Handel scored them; the bass's line on cellos and a bassoon, the alto's on violas and a clarinet, a harpsichord continuo.

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 · 1.7 MB.mp3

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