Today is Gaudete Sunday. Since Advent is meant to be a period of preparation, reflection and quiet (hahahahahahaha—no, really, that’s what it was for centuries, but we’ve totally blown past that in the past hundred years or so), the third Sunday is the break from all that. You add a pink candle to the two purple ones you’ve lighted already, and you focus on rejoicing.
Well, alrighty, then. The title of today’s Advent piece is “Rejoice Greatly”, from Messiah. The context is that an angel appears to the shepherds in the fields around Bethlehem to announce the birth of the Savior. Instructing them to “rejoice greatly” seems somewhat understating the case, but I suppose times were different, both back at the original scene and when Handel wrote it.
I’ve been listening to a lot of sopranos singing this; my pick this year is Mija Park, so here she is. You will note that the lyrics are not complex, so you can concentrate on her voice and technique.
©2024 Bas Bleu
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