The Bible and Music

In high school, I took a class called Music History and Appreciation. In this class, we learned about many different composers, discussing their lives and sampling their works. Although the class was a snooze fest, a bit of the material stuck with as I remember Handel. I had forgotten, however,  that The Messiah was such a large piece. It blows my mind to think that Handel could take bits and pieces from the Bible, score them all together, and have such a large work become the result.

Handel telling the story of the messiah in this way allowed for people to more closely relate to the writings of the Bible. Reading through the Bible is a large task to undertake that many people in that time were not willing to do. However, setting the words to music changes the way the words are perceived. The Messiah left such a large impact that it is still present today. In the case of the hallelujah chorus, many christmas services use the chorus to add something more.