Will they or won’t they?

What I’m talking about is my Easter Day postlude this year—I will be playing an arrangement of Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus for organ and three trumpets, no choir. Tradition has it that people stand for the Hallelujah Chorus, because “it’s tradition.”

At the end of the service, the pastor gives the benediction and invites everyone to be seated for the postlude. So will anyone stand back up when they hear the Hallelujah Chorus? Time will tell!

In 2017, New York Public Radio asked the question, “Why do we stand during Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus?” and came up with this answer:

So, how did this become tradition? Well, here’s the thing — we honestly don’t know. The most accepted reason is that King George II stood up during the chorus at the Messiah’s 1743 London premiere. Unfortunately, Snopes wasn’t around back then to fact-check any of the reasons given for that ascendant, magisterial behavior. Some believe the king was so moved by the music that he stood up to show his reverence. And, since it was considered good etiquette to stand when the king stood, the audience had to follow suit.  

Maybe he stood up because his legs fell asleep. Or maybe he had to go to the bathroom!

I loved reading the comments about the standing tradition, which you can see here:

Robert OWEN from Hicksville, New York wrote:

On Easter Weekend 1997, I attended a performance of “Messiah” at St.-Martin-in-the-Fields, in London, where Handel himself played the organ.  When the “Hallelujah” chorus began I dutifully arose– and found myself the only person doing so.  I asked another member of the audience why no one else stood and he said that people deemed it an old-fashioned practice.  At a performance of “Messiah” at Carnegie Hall in December 2017, everyone stood upon hearing the “Hallelujah” chorus.  I guess it depends upon which side of the Atlantic you are.

Christopher Lehmann wrote:

It’s not a universal tradition.  I attended a performance in Moscow, at one of the main concert halls, where the entire hall remained seated except for the Agricultural Attache at the US embassy, and his wife, who very awkwardly remained standing. I felt rather bad for them.

JAIME JEAN from Mexico City wrote:

It has a lot to do with the country. I guess all this discussion is about the UK and the anglophile US crowd, but probably not much else. I once attended a Messiah performance in Brit-loving Norway – where people still sing God Save the Queen in restaurants at Her Majesty’s birthday – and a couple of people rose to their feet, presumably British tourists or local show-offs.  Most people chose to enjoy their comfy seats. I have attended several Messiahs in Mexico City, my home town, and standing for Hallelujah chorus is unheard of – and would be widely unpopular as you would be blocking other people’s view.

John Blasdale from Whippany NJ wrote:

The explanation that I (as a Brit) have heard is that the King fell asleep and was rudely awakened by the loud opening of the Hallelujah Chorus.  Confused as he awoke, and thinking it was the National Anthem, he jumped to his feet — and, of course, the rest of the audience followed.  He was too embarrassed to admit his mistake and sit down, so he remained standing until the end of the Chorus.

It was not until after his death that concert performances of the Messiah involved larger orchestras and choral groups. More than 270 years have passed since its world premiere. Regardless of the size of the orchestra or number of singers, whether it is performed on the concert stage or in a house of worship, and regardless of the reason why King George II stood up, protocol surrounding the Hallelujah Chorus continues a tradition that brings people to their feet.

Trouble is, on Sunday we are playing an arrangement of the Hallelujah Chorus for organ and three trumpets (played by Russell Ishida, Thomas Kamisato and Elizabeth Kaneshiro Akamichi), so no one will actually hear the words, “Hallelujah.” In fact it will be something like this performance by the Joachim Schafer Trumpet Ensemble.

And for a truly virtuosic, incredible performance of this work, watch the Forté Handbell Quartet, which performed this in 2017: