KCMETROPOLIS.org
Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

 It may surprise you, but there are (in fact!) other arias and choruses in Handel’s Messiah which are equal in their emotional power. Perhaps even more so. To get the perspective of someone who knows Messiah intimately, we talked with Dr. Jan Wilberg, Professor Emeritus of Music from Montana State University, who, not coincidentally, will be performing Messiah with the Kansas City Symphony Chorus, the Kansas City Symphony and the Community of Christ Independence Messiah Choir on Saturday evening, November 27.

 David Peironnet: The “Hallelujah Chorus” is certainly the best known theme from Messiah, but, what is your favorite?

Jan Wilberg: As I look at the table of contents of Messiah, I find this an almost an impossible task even when I limit myself to just the choruses. I tend to like the ones that are contrapuntal with fugue-like entrances and that gravitate to several keys before they hit the home stretch. For example, "And He shall purify the sons of Levi," is a good example of this type and is one of my all-time favorites. However, I don’t believe we sang that one last year. Maybe this year we will!

DP: Why do you think Messiah is so popular? And what is it like performing it?

JW: There’s a reason that Messiah is one of the best-loved and most often performed works on the face of the Earth. (I’m going to let the secret out.) It’s not that difficult! Compared with the Passions, B Minor Mass, and cantatas of Handel’s contemporary, J.S. Bach, Messiah is a cinch. Handel loves to start out with what sounds like complicated polyphony only, to relax into traditional four-part chordal writing. He also loves repetition.

Bach rarely does either of those things. Bach makes you work the whole time. Handel gives his singers lovely melodies while Bach’s tunes are angular with difficult chromatic passages. His fugual passages do not dissolve like Handel’s. Bach plays them out to the bitter end and treats voices as if they were instruments, sometimes leaving singers with no place to breathe.

I’m not saying that one composer is better than the other. Their compositional styles are just very different. It’s no accident that high school and community choruses are able to program selections from Messiah. Messiah’s choruses are very approachable. They do what they’re supposed to do melodically and harmonically. How often do these types of groups program Bach (except for the chorales)? That is left for brave university choruses and professionals.

DP: So, is there a challenge at all to performing Messiah?

JW: I think the most difficult thing about Messiah for modern choruses is probably the ranges in the soprano and tenor parts. Contemporary amateur choruses are not used the high tessituras used in these two sections. It leads to fatigue and unlovely sounds sometimes. Just think of the end of the "Hallalujah" chorus as the sopranos step ever higher and higher "for-ev-er!" The altos and basses, however, are pretty happy! The boy sopranos that Handel wrote for probably negotiated these heights more easily.

I like Part I, the prophecy portion, of Messiah the best. It seems to have the most "positive" sounding music.

DP: If you look at both the music and the scripture upon which Messiah is based, which is more important to you?

JW: I always go for the music first and the words second. That’s how I hear all vocal music. The words are the vehicle for the music not the other way around for me. I assume that Handel was inspired to write this work. I believe, however, that it was hard work on his part rather than divine inspiration that brought it to fruition.

DP: And how long have you been performing Messiah?

JW: This is my second year singing with the Kansas City Symphony Chorus. I retired last year after teaching university music classes for 36 years. This always included directing choirs. I’m still teaching online music classes on a post-retirement contract.

DP: You receive no pay for your work with the Kansas City Symphony Chorus, yet you do so with great energy and enthusiasm. What brings you back week after week for rehearsals?

JW: What I enjoy most about singing with the symphony chorus is finally being able to just sing again and not having to be in charge! (Thanks Charles Bruffy!) It’s great to sing with this group of dedicated vocalists and not have to worry about the logistics of performance. You’ll never find a more selfless bunch than a group of volunteer musicians. They are true "amateurs" who give what they can for the love of music and the companionship of a like-minded community of musicians. I’m grateful for the opportunity.

 PREVIEW:
Kansas City Symphony and Chorus
with the Independence Messiah Choir
Handel's Messiah
Saturday, November 27 at 8 p.m.
Community of Christ Auditorium
1001 West Walnut, Independence, MO
For tickets call 816-471-0400 or online at http://www.kcsymphony.org

By David Peironnet

Special to KCM

David Peironnet has been a concert-goer for more years than he would care to admit, and can clearly recall hearing the Kansas City Philharmonic under the baton of Hans Schweiger. This comes from someone who admits to be only 24 years old though acknowleges that his undergraduate degree was not in math but rather political science -- a group of people who are notoriously able to see only those facts they want to see in statistical data.

David has churned out the newsletter for the Friends of the Symphony - Kansas City for six or seven years. He doesn't recall and really doesn't care how many years it has been because the only thing that's important is the next deadline -- and the one after that.

This is one of a series of interviews he runs periodically usually consisting of five open-ended questions which reveal answers which can give information to the person walking into a concert hall for the first time, or like himself have been enjoying concerts for many years.

David and Kathy Peironnet frequently work at the Friends of the Symphony gift shop which is located in the lobby of the Lyric Theatre. The next time you come to a concert, stop by and say, "hello." Ask for a copy of the current FoS newsletter. If a copy isn't available, just ask and one will be mailed to you.