Too Hot to Handel: The Gospel Messiah

Gareth Malone: Written in 1741 in London, Handel's "Messiah" has been performed here at the Royal Albert Hall more than 500 times.

It's a firm favorite at this time of year, and it's regularly performed by amateur choral societies, specialist early music groups, and spectacular mass voiced choirs, But tonight, we're going to hear a version that's unlike any you've heard before.

This is "Gospel Messiah."

Malone: George Friedrich Handel's "Messiah" tells the story of Christ's birth, crucifixion, and resurrection, and was first performed during Easter week, though it's now regularly heard at Christmastime.

"Gospel Messiah" was first performed in New York in 1993 and has since become a seasonal fixture at venues across the United States.

The production was conceived by conductor Marin Alsop and arranged by Bob Christianson and Gary Anderson.

They set out to reimagine this 18th century masterpiece through jazz, soul, and gospel.

This marks its European premiere.

Malone: Marin, how does it feel to be bringing this to Europe for the first time?

Oh, it's fantastic.

I mean, I'm thrilled to bring this project here and especially to this hall, where I've had so many great memories and have such supportive audiences, so I think it's going to be wonderful.

What made you want to adapt it in this way?

I'd already been thinking and ruminating about bringing contemporary music into older music, and bringing worlds together, and that's what really got me thinking about, well, how could this come to life for someone who's not steeped in the classical tradition?

I called two arranger friends of mine.

We started talking through the piece, and I said, well, "How about if this feels like a shuffle more or jazz waltz?"

And they were up for it, so they split it up, and it's the show everybody's going to hear tonight.

I have two fabulous soloists.

Zwakele Tshabalala.

Every valley Tshabalala: I was very excited about the project.

I'm just an opera singer.

I've never done any jazz or soulful singing or R&B or anything, but in this piece, we're able to get classical and soulful in some type of way.

It's totally a different feeling than the normal "Messiah."

And hill made low Alsop: And we also have the wonderful Vanessa Haynes.

We shall feel His love Haynes: I grew up listening to gospel music and religious music.

I have not been trained classically at all, but my background is still in gospel music and choral singing.

We shall The challenge mainly was wanting to embellish things versus having to stick to the part.

It's quite fun.

It's a good challenge, and I can't wait to do it.

[Cheering and applause] Malone: And here are Vanessa Haynes, Zwakele Tshabalala, and conductor Marin Alsop They join the BBC Concert Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Chorus, and the London Adventist Chorale.

1, 2, 3!

Every valley Every valley Every valley shall be exalted Shall be exalted Shall be Shall be exalted, shall be exalted Every valley Shall be Every valley, every valley Shall be exalted Shall be exalted And every mountain and hill made low The crooked straight The crooked straight The crooked straight The crooked straight The rough places plain The rough places plain The rough places plain The rough places plain The crooked straight, the crooked straight And the rough places The rough places The rough places plain Every valley Every valley Every valley shall be exalted Shall be exalted Shall be Shall be exalted Shall be Shall be exalted Shall be Every valley Shall be Every valley, every valley Shall be exalted Shall be exalted And every mountain and hill made low The crooked straight The crooked straight The crooked straight The crooked straight The rough places plain The rough places plain The rough places plain The rough places plain The crooked straight, the crooked straight And the rough places The rough places The rough places plain Every valley Every valley Every valley shall be exalted Shall be exalted Shall be Shall be exalted Shall be Shall be exalted Shall be Every valley Shall be Every valley Shall be Shall be exalted Every valley shall be exalted Every valley shall be exalted Every valley shall be exalted Every valley shall be exalted [Scat singing] Every valley, every valley low [Scat singing] Every valley, every valley low [Scat singing] Every valley, every valley low [Scat singing] Every valley, every valley low Every valley, every valley low [Scat singing] Every valley, every valley low Every valley, every valley low Every valley, every valley low Every valley, yeah Every valley Every valley Every valley All: Shall be exalted Every valley [Cheering and applause] 1, 2, 3.

And the glory, the glory of the Lord And the glory, the glory of the Lord Shall be revealed Shall be revealed Shall be revealed And the glory, the glory of the Lord And the glory, the glory of the Lord Shall be revealed Shall be revealed All: And the glory, the glory of the Lord Shall be revealed And all flesh shall see it together And all flesh shall see it together For the mouth of the Lord And all flesh shall see it together Hath spoken it For the mouth of the Lord And all flesh shall see it together Hath spoken it Together And all flesh shall see it together, together For the For the mouth Of the Lord Of the Lord Hath spoken it Hath spoken it For the mouth For the mouth of the Lord For the mouth of the Lord All: Hath spoken it [Cheering and applause] Thus said the Lord The Lord of hosts Yet once a little while Then I will shake The heavens and the Earth The seas and the dry land All nations I'll shake The heavens, the Earth The seas, the dry land All nations And the desire And the desire And the desire Of all nations Shall come The Lord who ye seek Shall suddenly come to His temple Even the messenger of His covenant Whom ye delight in Behold, He shall come Said the Lord of hosts But who may abide the day of His coming And who shall stand when He appeareth?

Who shall stand When He appeareth?

But who may abide But who may abide The day of His coming?

For He is like the refiner's fire For He's like the refiner's fire Who shall stand when He appeareth?

Who shall stand when He appeareth?

For He is like the refiner's fire For He's like the refiner's fire Who shall stand when He appeareth?

When He appeareth?

But who may abide the day of His coming?

And who shall stand when He appeareth?

When He appeareth?

For He is like the refiner's fire [Cheering and applause] Choir: And He shall purify And He shall purify And He shall purify The sons The sons The sons of Levi And He shall purify And He shall purify And He shall purify And He shall purify And He shall purify And He shall purify And He shall purify And He shall purify And He shall purify And He shall purify And He shall purify That they may offer That they may offer unto the Lord An offering in righteousness In righteousness And He shall purify And He shall purify He shall purify He shall purify Purify And He shall purify He shall purify He shall purify And He shall purify And He shall purify And He shall purify He shall purify He shall purify He shall purify He shall purify He shall purify The sons of Levi Purify the sons of Levi He shall purify the sons of Levi The sons of Levi He shall purify The sons of Levi The sons of Levi That they may offer unto the Lord An offering in righteousness In righteousness [Cheering and applause] [Haynes humming] Ooh [Humming] Behold A virgin shall conceive And bear a son And shall call His name Emmanuel, Emmanuel God with us Ooh ooh ooh Ooh ooh ooh [Cheering and applause] O thou that tellest good tiding to Zion Get thee up into the high mountain O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion Get thee up into the high mountain Get thee up into the high mountain O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem Lift up your voice With strength Lift it up and be not afraid Say unto the cities of Judah Say unto the cities of Judah Behold your God, behold your God Say unto the cities of Judah Behold your God Behold your God O thou that tellest good tidings to Judah Arise, shine, for thy light is come Arise, shine, for thy light is come And the glory of the Lord Is risen The glory Is risen The glory The glory of the Lord Is risen up on me O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion Haynes: O thou O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion Ooh Good tidings to Zion All: Arise, arise, say unto the cities of Judah Behold Your God Behold The glory of the Lord Is risen Is risen On me O thou O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion That tellest good tidings Behold, behold the glory of the Lord Is risen upon me O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion Ooh ooh ooh ooh [Cheering and applause] For unto us a child is born For unto us a child is born Unto us a son is given Unto us a son is given For unto us a child is born For unto us a child is born Unto us a son is given Unto us a son is given And the government shall be upon His shoulder Choir: And the government Shall be upon His shoulder And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor The mighty God, the Everlasting Father The Prince of Peace The Everlasting Father The Prince of Peace For unto us a child is born For unto us a child is born Unto us a son is given Unto us a son is given For unto us a child is born For unto us a child is born Unto us a son is given Unto us a son is given And the government shall be upon His shoulder Choir: And the government Shall be upon His shoulder And His name shall be called And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor The mighty God, the Everlasting Father The Prince of Peace The Everlasting Father The Prince of Peace [Choir vocalizing] Wonderful, Counselor The mighty God, the Everlasting Father The Prince of Peace The Everlasting Father The Prince of Peace Wonderful He's so wonderful Counselor He's my Counselor He's the mightiest The Prince of Peace Wonderful He's so wonderful Counselor Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah Wonderful He's so wonderful Counselor He's my Counselor Wonderful Wonderful Counselor Counselor Wonderful Oh, yeah Counselor Counselor He's so wonderful [Cheering and applause] There were shepherds abiding in the fields Keeping watch over their flock by night Ooh And lo the angel of the Lord came upon them And the glory of the Lord Shone all about them Ooh And they were so afraid And the angel said unto them "Fear not" "For behold, I bring you good tidings" "Of great, great joy, joy" Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah "Which shall be to all people" "For unto you is born this day "In the city of David" "A savior, which is Christ the Lord" And suddenly there was with the angel A multitude of the heavenly host Choir: Praising God Praising God Praising God And saying And saying Glory to God Glory to God in the highest Glory to God Glory to God in the highest And peace on Earth And peace on Earth Glory to God Glory to God in the highest And peace on Earth And peace on Earth Goodwill towards men Goodwill Goodwill towards men Goodwill Goodwill towards men O, goodwill, goodwill Goodwill towards men O, goodwill, goodwill Goodwill towards men Goodwill towards men Goodwill towards men O, glory, glory, goodwill towards men O, glory, glory O, o, glory Glory to God Glory to God in the highest And peace on Earth And peace on Earth Glory, glory Glory, glory Glory, glory Glory, glory O, o, glory Glory to God, Glory, glory, glory Ooh Glory to God, Glory, glory, glory Glory, glory, glory Glory to God, Glory, glory, glory Glory to the Lord above Glory to God, Glory, glory, glory Glory to God, Glory, glory, glory Ooh Glory to God, Glory, glory, glory Glory, glory, glory Glory to God, Glory, glory, glory Glory to the almighty above Glory to God, Glory, glory, glory [Scat singing] Glory to God, Glory, glory, glory Glory, glory Glory to God, Glory, glory, glory Glory, glory, glory Glory to God, Glory, glory, glory Glory to the Lord All: Glory to God, o, glory [Cheering and applause] Malone: The uplifting "Glory to God" bringing the first half of "Gospel Messiah" to a close.

Earlier, I had the chance to ask the show's conductor and co-creator Marin Alsop about the inspiration behind this project.

I think music is alive and needs to evolve always.

Baroque music in particular, it really lends itself to different kinds of feel, and I, as a classically trained violinist, but I also had a swing band for 20 years... Ooh!

and so I used to take the Bach Partitas and sort of jazz them up a bit, and this is a piece that I've always thought "Oh, this would be great with a different kind of treatment."

Do you think, though, that this is getting out to a different audience?

That wasn't really my motivation, although I think it is a wonderful byproduct of it, that audiences that maybe aren't drawn to classical music will hear Handel.

I mean, we've tried to preserve the integrity of the piece.

You know, the harmonies are often different, and the feel of each tune is different, but the text is the same, so I think he'd be happy with it, you know, because it's putting a stamp of today on music, you know, written so long ago but brings it to life in a new way.

Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice greatly Rejoice, O daughter of Zion O daughter of Zion Rejoice, Rejoice, Rejoice O daughter of Zion, rejoice greatly Shout, o daughter of Jerusalem Behold, thy King cometh unto thee Behold, thy King cometh unto thee He is the righteous savior And He shall speak peace unto the heathen And He shall speak peace He shall speak peace He shall speak peace unto the heathen Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice greatly Rejoice, O daughter of Zion O daughter of Zion, rejoice Rejoice, rejoice O daughter of Zion, rejoice greatly Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem Behold, the King cometh unto thee [Cheering and applause] Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened And the ears of the deaf unstopped Then shall the lame man leap as an hart And the tongue of the dumb shall sing Alsop: 1, 2, 3.

He shall feed His flock Like a shepherd He shall gather The lambs with His arms O, with His arms Come unto Him All ye that labor Come unto Him All that are heavy laden And He will give you peace Take His yoke upon you And learn, yes, learn of Him For He is lowly and meek Meek in heart And ye shall find rest And ye will find rest Unto your soul Yeah Choir: He shall feed His flock He shall, He shall feed His flock He shall feed His flock Well, He shall feed His flock All: He shall feed His flock Like a shepherd Like a shepherd, like a shepherd Like a shepherd Like a shepherd, yeah Like a shepherd Like a shepherd And He will gather the lambs with His arms His arms Well, He'll gather the lambs with this arms [Cheering and applause] Choir: Behold the lamb of God Behold the lamb of God Behold the lamb of God The lamb of God, the lamb of God Behold the lamb of God Behold the lamb of God That taketh away the sins of the world Behold the lamb of God Behold the lamb of God Behold the lamb of God Behold the lamb of God Behold the lamb of God That taketh away the sins of the world The sins of the world Behold the lamb of God Behold the lamb of God Behold the lamb of God That taketh away the sins of the world That taketh away the sins of the world O, taketh away the sins of the world That taketh away the sins of the world That taketh away the sins of the world Tshabalala: The sins of the world That taketh away the sins of the world That taketh away The sins of the world That taketh away That taketh away The sins of the world The sins of the world That taketh away The sins of the wor-or-or-orld The sins of the world Behold the lamb of God Behold the lamb of God Behold the lamb of God Behold the lamb Behold the lamb of God Tshabalala: O Behold the lamb of God Behold the lamb of God O, o, o, o Behold the lamb of God Behold the lamb of God [Scat singing] Behold the lamb of God Behold the lamb of God Behold the lamb of God All: Behold the lamb of God Behold the lamb of God That taketh away the sins of the world [Cheering and applause] Choir: Surely Surely Surely O, Surely He hath borne our griefs And carried our sorrows O, surely Surely Surely O, surely Surely Surely He hath borne our griefs And carried our sorrows O, surely O, surely He hath borne our griefs Surely O, surely He hath borne our griefs Surely Haynes, Tshabalala, woman, and man: He was wounded For our transgressions He was bruised He was bruised for our iniquity The chastisement Surely The chastisement Surely All: The chastisement of our peace was upon Him Surely [Scat singing] Surely O, surely Surely Surely He hath borne our griefs Surely Surely He hath borne our griefs Surely Surely He hath borne our griefs Surely [Scat singing continues] Surely He hath borne our griefs Surely Surely He hath borne our griefs Surely Surely He hath borne our griefs Surely Surely He hath borne our griefs Surely Surely He hath borne our griefs Surely Surely All: He hath borne our griefs [Cheering and applause] 1, 2.

All we like sheep All we like sheep All we like sheep Have gone astray Have gone astray Have gone astray Have gone astray Have gone astray Have gone astray We have turned everyone To His own way We have turned We have turned Everyone Everyone Everyone To His own way All we like sheep All we like sheep Have gone astray Have gone astray We have turned everyone, yeah, to His own way We have turned, turned everyone To His own way All we like sheep We have turned everyone Everyone to His own way To His own way All we like sheep Have gone astray All we like sheep All we like sheep Have gone astray Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Have gone astray All we like sheep All we like sheep Have gone astray Have gone astray We have turned everyone To His own way To His own way All we like sheep Have gone astray We have turned everyone to His own way And the Lord hath laid on Him [Scat singing] And the Lord hath laid on Him And the Lord hath laid on Him And the Lord hath laid on Him And the Lord hath laid on Him [Scat singing continues] And the Lord hath laid on Him The iniquity of us all [Scat singing continues] [Cheering and applause] He trusted in God that He would deliver Him Let Him deliver Him If He delight in Him He trusted in God that He would deliver Him Let Him deliver Him If He delight in Him If He delight in Him He trusted in God That He would deliver Him Let him deliver Him If He delight in Him If he delight in Him He trusted in God that He would deliver Him He trusted in God that He would deliver Him He trusted in God that He would deliver Him Deliver Him That He would deliver Him If He delighted in Him He trusted in God He trusted in God He trusted in God He trusted in God He trusted in God He trusted in God He trusted in God That He would deliver Him Let Him deliver Him If He delight in Him [Cheering and applause] Haynes: Behold, I tell you a mystery We shall not all sleep And we shall all be saved in a moment In a twinkling of an eye At the last trumpet The trumpet shall sound And the dead shall be raised And the dead shall be raised incorruptible The trumpet shall sound And the dead shall be raised incorruptible And it shall be changed And we shall be saved And we shall be changed And we shall be changed For this corruptible must put on incorruption Must put on, the mortal immortality Oh, baby The trumpet shall sound And the dead shall be raised O, the trumpet shall sound And the dead shall be raised [Cheering and applause] Alsop: 1, 2!

Tshabalala: Why do the nations so furiously rage together?

Why do the people imagine a vain thing?

Why do the nations rage So furiously rage together?

Why do the people imagine a vain thing?

Imagine a thing?

Why do the nations so furiously rage together?

And why do the people And why do the people imagine a vain thing?

Why do the nations rage So furiously together?

So furiously together?

And why do the people imagine a vain thing?

Imagine a vain thing?

And why do the people imagine a vain thing?

The Kings of the Earth rise up And the rulers take counsel together Against the Lord And against His anointed [Cheering and applause] Choir: Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth Hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah The kingdom of this world is become The Kingdom of our God And of His Christ, and of His Christ And He shall reign for ever and ever and ever And He shall reign for ever and ever and ever And He shall reign for ever and ever and ever And He shall reign for ever and ever and ever King of Kings For ever and ever, hallelujah, hallelujah And Lord of Lords For ever and ever, Hallelujah, hallelujah King of Kings For ever and ever, Hallelujah, hallelujah Lord of Lords For ever and ever, Hallelujah, hallelujah King of Kings For ever and ever, Hallelujah, hallelujah And Lord of Lords King of Kings and Lord of Lords And He shall reign for ever and ever and ever And He shall reign for ever and ever and ever King of Kings For ever and ever Lord of Lords Hallelujah, hallelujah And He shall reign for ever and ever and ever Hallelujah Haynes: Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Haynes: Hallelujah Hallelujah Tshabalala: Ha-ha-hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah [Scat singing] Hey, hey, hey Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hey, hey Hallelujah, hallelujah hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah Hallelujah, hallelujah All: Hallelujah Hallelujah Haynes: Hey, yeah, hey, hey, hey Hallelujah Hallelujah, yeah All: Hallelujah [Cheering and applause] Shine, for thy light is come This program is available with PBS Passport and on Amazon Prime Video