As a non-Christian, what do you think of Handel's Messiah?

Question:I saw a performance of the Messiah last year at Benroya Hall in Seattle. I figure that not everyone in the orchestra and choir was Christian. Are there any non-Christians here who have performed it? What do you think of it? Simply a great piece of music? Since everything the choir sings is straight from the Bible, as a singer, do you think about what you're singing? Do you think it's dumb? Do you laugh inside as you sing? I remember sitting in the audience following the program, and I was just revelling in the verses. But I believe this stuff. What say you? (I'm not looking to start a fight. I'm asking honest questions, here.)

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I saw a performance of the Messiah last year at Benroya Hall in Seattle. I figure that not everyone in the orchestra and choir was Christian. Are there any non-Christians here who have performed it? What do you think of it? Simply a great piece of music? Since everything the choir sings is straight from the Bible, as a singer, do you think about what you're singing? Do you think it's dumb? Do you laugh inside as you sing? I remember sitting in the audience following the program, and I was just revelling in the verses. But I believe this stuff. What say you? (I'm not looking to start a fight. I'm asking honest questions, here.)

It's a lovely, magnificent piece of music. I highly doubt that anybody going to listen to it - and certainly anybody actually performing it - would treat it with any degree of disrespect.

To put it another way, the fact that I never believed that there were gods living on top of Mount Olympus didn't keep me from enjoying Homer's Odyssey.

I just can't get a................................ HANDEL on it!!!!

Great classical music and you dont have to be a believer to perform it. Musicians and singers are performers and this is what they do for a living. It has nothing to do with believing or not.

It's a beautiful piece of music. I don't think it's that hard to appreciate music from other traditions than your own. In fact much religious music is so exalting that it can be part of a religious awakening itself.

yes, i am a non christian who has performed it. in fact i have seen an entirely jewish choir perform it and once it was pointed out to the audience that the soloist was jewish. i think it's a fantastic piece of music and the concepts are interesting. you can approach it from a purely musical standpoint. so it's no big deal. a lot of music is christian since that's the predominate heritage of this country. so musicians are used to that.

I'm Jewish and I still loved Handel's Messiah, I don't care for what religion it was intended for because the music is what counts in the end. I love the rhythm, the tempo and dynamics. I performed it with my high school choir and it was great, we got great feedback on the performance.

My HS Music Dept perform the Hallelujah Chorus each Winter Concert as a grand Finale; alumni join in, the Band, Orchestra & chorus all in one massive performance (Prob over 200 people). A very cool effect, great parts for each of the 4 voices (Sop, Alto, Tenor & Bass) to stand out; so we all got a kick out of it.

So I view it as a wonderful classical music piece and nothing more.

Its a glorious piece of music, whether you believe or not.

On a related note -- I'm Jewish, but I enjoy singing bluegrass and old country gospel songs -- they're really catchy, with great sing-along choruses -- even though I don't believe in the lyrics of those songs either.

Good music transcends religion, IMO.