Messiahs: False and True
SATB chorus (with divisi), organ, bass drum, narrator | 45’
International Orange Chorale; Zane Fiala, Artistic Director (May 21, 2022)
A new recording of this piece is available on the album Deus Ex Machina by Choral Chameleon.
Messianic leaders are a perennial motif in human history. During periods of crisis or cultural upheaval, societies gravitate to individuals promising salvation and elevate them to power. Some of these leaders become our greatest heroes, others our most hateful villains. Nevertheless, we find ourselves looking to them for answers again and again.
Messiahs: False and True (for choir, organ, bass drum, and narrator) explores this phenomenon through a tour of messianic figures - heroic and horrific - throughout history. The narrative of the piece follows society’s common response to such figures: anticipation, jubilation, disappointment, condemnation, grief. The spoken narration consists of a collage of texts from various messianic leaders and their admirers and critics. Their words are paired with biblical passages used in Handel’s Messiah, sung in Latin by the choir, which follow the events of the story and respond to the narration.
After this journey, the final words of the piece ask us to consider relying a bit less on our would-be saviors and a bit more on ourselves.
Text
Choir: biblical
Narrator: various political and religious figures
Language
Choir: Latin, English
Narrator: English
Commission
Cantori New York
Performances
Cantori New York
Cecilia Chorus of New York
Grace Chorale of Brooklyn
Choral Chameleon
International Orange Chorale of San Francisco
The Esoterics (March 2023) - info & tickets here
Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia (May 2023) - info & tickets here
Choral Arts Initiative (May 2023) - info & tickets here
Recording
Deus Ex Machina, Choral Chameleon
