Handel's Messiah

We saw the Messiah the other evening, which we have taken to doing at Christmas, with a full choir, an orchestra heavy on strings, and four stunning soloists. It was, as always, a deeply satisfying and emotional experience. 

The Messiah, written as an Easter oratorio and first performed in Dublin in 1742, is often presented as a Christmas piece in this country, and audiences especially love the Hallelujah chorus. And it is beautiful. The piece recalls for us a time when faith was visceral and compelling, before science came along and started explaining everything. I don't mean to imply that science and faith are in conflict, because I don't think they are: science is about 'how' and faith is about 'why,' in my view -- except for economic science, which attempts to address 'why' in the narrow sense of how human actors respond to economic incentives. But none of the sciences answers 'why' in the broad sense. And the Messiah by Handel reminds us that 'why' is the more difficult question to answer.