National Chorale’s inspiring Holy Week reflections

The National Chorale of Jamaica delivered an inspiring performance of spiritual Lenten works including excerpts from George Handel’s Messiah Parts II and III during the evening of Holy Week reflections at St. Theresa Roman Catholic Church in Vineyard Town on Monday.

The beauty and consonance of voices blended with the grandeur of notes played on the keyboard with the adept fingers of Stephen Shaw-Naar.

The chorale demonstrated vocal versatility and sensitivity in interpreting Angels Through the Night, with arrangements by Phillip Kern; Beethoven’s All in the Evening and Beautiful Saviour arranged by Harry Dexter, the delivery of which provided a delectable repast before intermission.

In the “second stanza”, the musical genius of George Frideric Handel in his work Messiah was accentuated with poise and reverence by the chorale in the composer’s masterpieces Behold the Lamb of God, All We Like Sheep, and Lift Up Your Heads and with regality in the classic oratorio Hallelujah.

Bass soloist, Livingston Burnett, did justice to The Trumpet Shall Sound, with emphatic and majestic notes heralding the divinity and sovereignty of the resurrection and redolent of the secular pageantry of a king’s enthronement. The vocal urbanity and solemnity and emotional intelligence of contralto soloist, Racquel McLean, characterised He Was Despised, a moving and doleful account of Jesus’ rejection.

Duets are always pleasing to the ear and sensibilities, particularly when two voices are joined in vocal matrimony, as evidenced in the wedded couple of Brenton McLean and Racquel McLean who did not disappoint in performing O Death Where is Thy Sting.

Guided and directed by Conductor Michael Sutherland, the National Chorale mastered Parts II and III of Handel’s work, a feat from which some shy away, and in doing so evinced why it is a cornerstone in the classical edifice of Jamaica.

When asked about the significance of Easter on the NCOJ’s calendar, chairman Christopher Samuda told The Gleaner that: “Our ministry is music. Our mandate is to inspire through music, and so we are gifting our voices to humanity always acknowledging that it is a treasure from Him who inspired George Handel to compose the oratorio Messiah, which the chorale delivered with love and gratitude to St. Theresa.”

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