December 8, 1999

GEORGE FREDERIC HANDEL (left) composed "Messiah" in 1741. Later, Beethoven took it apart to study the masterpiece, writing out the score by hand to better understand it (right).

'Messiah' tradition in Texas sends
Handel's songs around the world
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___If your church plans to perform any or all of Handel's "Messiah" this Christmas, it's probably more because of a direct link to Fort Worth than London.
___For 78 years, students at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth have been exposed to "Messiah" through annual performances, and that has spawned a worldwide interest among Baptists in the classic oratorio, according to Bill Reynolds, distinguished professor of church music at the seminary.
___Reynolds researched the issue and presented a Founders' Day address about it at the seminary last spring.
___"Handel's music has permanently etched the biblical text in the hearts of students," Reynolds said. "When in later years students have heard such scriptural phrases as 'He shall purify the sons of Levi,' or ... 'His yoke is easy and his burden is light," they found themselves silently singing Handel's marvelous music."
___But not all the singing has been silent, he added. Once students were exposed to "Messiah" at Southwestern, they often sought to have it performed in the churches where they became staff members or lay leaders.
___"Our students have taken 'Messiah' to churches and schools and taught singers and church members to love the music," he said. "Many city-wide performances have been given featuring Baptist choirs in Houston, Dallas, Oklahoma City and other places. Our music missionaries have taken it to other countries of the world, spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ."
___While the Southwestern influence no doubt has brought acquaintance with 'Messiah' to many Baptists, performing the 18th century oratorio remains beyond the reach of most churches, noted Don McCall, church music department director for the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
___Handel's work is so musically demanding that a typical church choir would not tackle it, he explained. And those that do might start off with one piece, perhaps the "Hallelujah" chorus.
___In fact, for a church choir to be able to sing the "Hallelujah" chorus becomes somewhat of a status symbol, McCall noted.
___Singing "Messiah" actually has been made more accessible in some areas by combined

'Messiah' facts ___ The music was written by George Frederic Handel during a 24-day period in 1741. ___ The text, or libretto, was compiled from Scripture by Charles Jennens. ___ "Messiah" was first performed in Dublin, Ireland, April 13, 1742. To enable more people to fit into the theater, women were asked not to wear hoops and men were asked to leave their swords at home. ___ "Messiah" was first staged in England in March 1743, with a performance in London. At this performance, King George II stood as the "Hallelujah" chorus was played, launching what continues as a tradition. ___ "Messiah" was first sung with a small chorus rather than a large choir. ___ Despite oft-told stories to the contrary, there is no historical evidence to suggest that Handel underwent a religious conversion or was miraculously healed during the composition of "Messiah."

efforts, added Robert Burton, who conducted "Messiah" at Southwestern for 27 years until his retirement in 1990. Often, several smaller churches will work together on a production, he said.
___The impact of "Messiah" on Southwestern's music students has been so profound, Burton said, that "most everybody who goes to a position in a church where they have some facility will perform some parts of it. I have seen programs from churches all over the convention that have used it. Some have established the tradition of every year doing part of it.
___"I have seen it used as a community project. It has been performed by associations, and it has been ecumenical in that sometimes the Baptists and Methodist and Presbyterians get together."
___Another challenge to continued performance of "Messiah" in Baptist churches, though, is the influence of contemporary worship styles, McCall said. "Messiah" simply doesn't fit the style of music many churches use today, he explained.
___But if a church does classical pieces at all, some or all of "Messiah" will be in their repertoire, McCall said. And even churches that prefer more contemporary musical styles have found renewed access to "Messiah" through contemporary updates such as "Handel's Young Messiah" and scaled-back adaptations used in other Christmas and Easter musicals, he said.
___In his Founders' Day address, Reynolds traced the influence of "Messiah" at Southwestern to Dec. 20, 1921, when the seminary's Choral Club presented eight choruses and nine solos under the direction of I.E. Reynolds, founder of the seminary's School of Church Music.
___That caused Bill Reynolds to wonder how his uncle would have become acquainted with "Messiah." I.E. Reynolds was born in a rural area of Alabama in 1879, taught himself to play the mandolin and learned singing in rural shape-note singing schools. As an evangelistic singer, he later attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, but it's not likely they were singing "Messiah" at Moody around the turn of the century, he said.
___The best Bill Reynolds can surmise, I.E. Reynolds probably learned "Messiah" from one of the secular choral societies in Chicago or from Albert Venting, a philosophy of religion professor at Southwestern who also was a violinist and had studied four years in England.
___Performance of parts of "Messiah" was a centerpiece for the formal opening of the seminary's Cowden Hall in 1926, Reynolds noted. And in 1934, the seminary for the first time staged "Messiah" in its entirety, a three-hour affair without intermission.
___The influence of "Messiah" among Baptists spread beyond Texas in 1944 when I.E. Reynolds was invited by B.B. McKinney to stage a performance of the oratorio during church music week at Ridgecrest Baptist Conference Center near Asheville, N.C. "Messiah" was performed there for nearly a decade, and later was used on the church music week program at Glorieta Baptist Conference Center in New Mexico.
___In addition to Southwestern's "Messiah" tradition taking root in churches across Texas and the rest of the South, it also shaped mission efforts in places like Cali, Colombia, Reynolds said.
___He explained that Southern Baptist music missionaries Don and Vi Orr organized a performance of "Messiah" at Cali's opera house in 1964. The director of the opera house permitted the performance with two stipulations--it must be done in English to attract upper-class residents and an admission fee must be charged to give an aura of importance.
___That Baptist-organized performance was a sellout, Reynolds reported, and "opened a whole new community for the Baptist missionaries in Colombia, for the concert allowed the upper class to meet the Baptists."
___Similar stories are told from Korea, Brazil and the Middle East.
___So why has "Messiah," written in 1741, been so enduring and crossed so many cultural divides?
___"The story is one of the greatest ever told," Burton said. "It's a tremendous work in a baroque classical vein that is everlasting. It has all the variety and dramatic flair it needs."
___Meanwhile, at Southwestern, the tradition continues with a new generation of students. The seminary's Oratorio Chorus joined with the Fort Worth Chamber Orchestra to present "Messiah" last Friday night.

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