Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM DECEMBER 5-11, 2018 UCW 11 Without Charles Jennens, a wealthy British music and literary patron of the 18th century, nobody would be singing the "Messiah" at all. ank- fully, Jennens existed — and on Saturday, Dec. 15, the Cumberland Oratorio Singers will perform "Mes- siah Sing" at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church. In 1741, Jennens — who had collaborated with George Frideric Handel on a few prior pieces — sent Handel the libretto (text) of what became Handel's "Messiah." Pulling passages from the King James Bible and the Anglican Church's Book of Common Prayer, Jennens arranged them in such a manner as to depict the chronological annunciation, birth, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. Once Jennens sent Handel the words, Handel composed the music (including the famous "Hal- lelujah" chorus) in less than a month. Familiar with the biblical allusions in the text, Handel also divided the oratorio into three distinct parts. Part I depicts the annunciation and the birth of Jesus Christ. Part II covers Christ's death and resurrection. Part III depicts Christ's ascension and subsequent glorification. Although born in Germany, Handel moved to London in 1712. He had made his mark as a composer of lavish Italian operas. However, in the mid- 18th century, opera began fading out of style in England in favor of English- language oratorios. Webster defines an oratorio as "a long dramatic musi- cal composition, usually on a religious theme, sung to orchestral accompani- ment. It is presented without stage, action, scenery or costumes." Accord- ing to one of his biographers, in order to maintain relevance and solvency, Handel began composing the more popular oratorios. "Messiah" debuted in Dublin in 1742 as a charity event. is original presentation was sung by a choir of 16 men, 16 boys and two women soloists. e orchestra consisted of strings, two trumpets and timpani. Over subse- quent centuries, the size of both the choir and orchestra grew exponen- tially into lavish musical productions culminating in a production with 2,000 voices and a 500-piece orches- tra. Handel's original score underwent multiple revisions to accommodate these ever-evolving productions. Even Mozart scored a revision. e recent trend has been to scale back the oratorio in size to Handel's original score and to keep the choir and orchestra more suited to the smaller venues in which Handel would have performed — like Friendship Mis- sionary Baptist Church where COS will perform "Messiah Sings!" Under the direction of Jason Britt, the COS will present Part I of the "Messiah," which tells the Christmas Story. Caroline Vaughan will sing the soprano solos, Linda Vandervort will solo at alto, Mel- vin Ezzell is featured as the tenor solo- ist, and Jeffery Jones will solo at bass. According to Britt, the COS pres- ent "Messiah Sings!" each year as the group's gift to the community in which they have been growing and performing for more than 25 years. In addition to the oratorio, the event will feature the Cross Creek Chorale and the newly formed Campbellton Youth Chorus singing traditional holiday music. e concert starts at 5 p.m. and is free and open to the general public. Season tickets are available for $45. For tickets and information, visit www.singwithcos.org. Celebrate the season with 'Messiah Sing!' by PRUDENCE MAINOR EVENTS PRUDENCE MAINOR, Con- tributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly. com 910-484-6200. cool spring 3/8 house ad 1/8 Saturday, Dec. 15, the Cumberland Oratorio Singers will perform "Messiah Sing!" at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church as a free gift to the community. Go Online 484-6200 www.uandcomingweekly.com Flip our pages for news, views, art and entertainment! Call and ask one of our marketing representatives to help you grown your business. Fayetteville's Destination For arts + entertainment | unique shops | galleries | restaurants | concerts | coffeehouses | tea shops | wine bars | brewpubs Downtown Candlelight Loft Tours Visit 16 Downtown Homes at your own pace. Refreshments, Entertainment & More! Buy your tickets at 222 Hay Street or online at visitdowntownfayetteville.com | Thursday, December 6, 6pm–9pm Rotary Christmas Parade | Saturday, December 8 Carriage Rides with Santa | Saturday & Sunday December 8-9, December 15-16 Ryan's Reindeer Run | Saturday, December 15 FREE PARKING after 5pm and all weekend Parking deck on Franklin St. | City parking lots downtownfayetteville For our full calendar of Downtown events, visit our Facebook page. CSDD is supported through funding provided by the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County.