I went to one of the myriad of Messiah ’sing-ins’ a couple of years back and enjoyed blasting through many of the familiar choruses. If you’d like to listen to / sing along with a good performance, visit NPR’s Handel’s ‘Messiah’ from Philadelphia.

On the other hand, I came away that evening thinking that there could have been a few more cuts to the more academic choruses (you know, the ones that aren’t so catchy). It turns out that I’m not the only person who feels that this warhorse of western choral lit. could use a little re-invention.

There have been gospel versions, yes, with varying degrees of success. I have mixed feelings about the sample clips available from NPR of Marin Alsop’s production ”‘Too Hot to Handel’ : a Modern ‘Messiah’” Some of it seems to work and other parts, well, hmmm . . .

Much more interesting to me is Paul Ayres re-written version entitled “Messyah” (though not crazy about the title), from which I heard a couple of clips last year (Hallelujah and Since by Man Came Death). A CD is available of a live performance on Ayres site. The parts I heard were really quite amazing.

Of course, if you’re not in favor of altering the music, you can always stage it.

Traditional performances will always survive, but it is nice that there are some alternative ways to experience the most famous choral work of all time.

Know of any other re-imaginings? Please add a comment.