Darkness and Light Day Nine

A guest post from community member Mary Kennedy

For behold, darkness shall cover the earth”
&
“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light”

Recitative and Aria from Handel’s Messiah

Every time I listen to Handel’s Messiah, I wait for the moment when the bass soloist sings this duo of recitative and aria. I especially await the line “but the Lord shall arise upon thee.” The vocal line begins a steady climb upwards as the soloist sings these words and my spine tingles every time I hear it. It brings me such a sense of certainty and peace, no matter what is happening in the world or in my life. Yes, the Lord shall arise, within me, within us, within every person who wishes to allow that connection to occur. I acknowledge that darkness is part of life too and that one cannot have the light without the darkness, the ying and yang of life. But oh,  there is such joy when that speck of light creeps into our dark night of the soul and reminds us that the light shall triumph in the end. 

The fact that Handel set the words as he does, reminds us all what an amazing composer he was to take such care with ‘word-painting,’ AKA matching the words with the music. The orchestral introduction sets the scene with restless sixteenth notes giving us a sense of unease, motion, water, picture what you will. Then the singer enters and declaims the fact that “darkness shall cover the earth” and Handel writes a stark descending line to paint those words. To drive the point home, the singer repeats the words not once but twice. Then comes my favourite line, “but the Lord shall arise upon thee” followed by a lovely melisma on the word “glory” to give it significance. 

I hope you come to enjoy this recitative and aria as much as I do.

Shalom,

Mary