12. Excerpt from The Messiah. Handel

I use the Messiah as sort of an appetizer to Christmas music. As soon as Advent starts at the end of November, I feel it's safe to listen to the Messiah; you can't start the full-on Christmas music too early or you'll get sick of it by Christmas. The next week or so I feel ok listening to the King's College Advent CD, and then gradually I get in to the heavy Christmas music. My Messiah of choice is this Neville Marriner and St Martin-in-the-Fields version, which good friend C taped for me from an album many many years ago and gave me as a Christmas present. I later bought the CD. A couple of years ago, C gave me a Tafelmusik Messiah CD which is also very good.

This year I found another CD that will serve as a Christmas music appetizer: Vaughan Williams' Hodie. Parts of it really remind me of his Dona Nobis Pacem (featured at #95 and #50). It's bits of the Christmas scriptures interspersed with poetry, and it includes, as a mezzo-soprano solo, this beautiful poem by John Milton:

It was the Winter wild,
While the Heaven-born child,
All meanly wrapt in the rude manger lies;
Nature in awe to him
Had doffed her gaudy trim,
With her great Master so to sympathize:
And waving wide her myrtle wand,
She strikes a universal Peace through Sea and Land.

No war or battle's sound
Was heard the world around,
The idle spear and shield were high up hung;
The hookèd Chariot stood
Unstained with hostile blood,
The Trumpet spake not to the armèd throng,
And Kings sate still with aweful eye,
As if they surely knew their sovran Lord was by.

But peaceful was the night
Wherein the Prince of light
His reign of peace upon the earth began:
The winds, with wonder whist,
Smoothly the waters kissed,
Whispering new joys to the mild Ocean,
Who now hath quite forgot to rave,
While birds of calm sit brooding on the charmèd wave.