Come celebrate with us! Start your Chanukah festivities this Sunday, December 15th at 4:00pm!
This Sunday is an opportunity to experience something extraordinary. Join me at 4:00pm in our Sanctuary to hear the story of Chanukah through song.
This is not just any song; it is a musical feast for the ears! Members of our TE adult choir will join choristers representing the major Atlanta metro area synagogues, (and even some folks from our neighborhood churches!) to perform Judas Maccabeus by G.F. Handel.
Judas Maccabeus is an Oratorio, which is a large-scale musical work that utilizes choir, orchestra, and soloists to tell a narrative based on a religious theme or text. The entire oratorio is three hours long. My partners in crime, our conductors Melissa Fontaine and Amy Thropp, and I have crafted an afternoon of selections from this incredible work, that will narrate the story of Judas’s leadership and the victory of the Maccabees.
Handel’s music paints the dejection, motivation, and jubilation of the Israelites as they move in and out of battles towards the victory that results in our Chanukah miracle, the festival of lights.
This Sunday we will perform this work, as it was likely performed in its original: with a chamber orchestra, harpsichord, and continuo. Our own Norman Zoller will narrate, and our very talented junior choir, Zimria will lend their voices as well.
Judas Maccabeus is Handel’s precursor to the Messiah, and throughout the piece, one can hear the beginnings of the different motifs and canons that come to fruition in his later work. This is especially apparent in the resounding Hallelujah, Amen that concludes Judas Maccabeus.
The afternoon would not be complete without some communal singing! Music is not only about touching the soul; it is about helping us express the inexpressible. When one person begins to sing, that music galvanizes other individuals, no matter how tentative, to share their voices as well. This results in a multi-layered effect of vocal power. This kind of power far surpasses the act of simply making music together as a community. This power reminds us that when we stand together and share our voices as one community we can effect change. We witness this effectual change simply by noticing the change in the atmosphere of the room as the voices grow and the music becomes more intense and strong.
May the music we will experience and sing together this Sunday bring about a Chanukah miracle of communal strength and powerful change. That standing together, participating and sharing our voices together will bring everlasting peace and light into a darkened world.
Shabbat Shalom.
Maccabeus and More is free and open to the public! We strongly encourage you to let us know you are coming and register HERE
