The Handel and Hayden Society is ready. . .

Linda and I went up to Boston over the weekend to see Alex and Christina. While there we went to a concert put on by the Handel and Hayden Society. It was an excellent concert and very useful because I've been thinking of buying one of Handel's other oratorios and the Society put on selections from Solomon, Jeptha and Semele. None of them, of course, compare with Messiah, which is one of the most brilliant pinnacles of art.

The most interesting thing about the concert was the Society's inclusion of the music Handel composed for the coronation of King George I. It was good to see that they're all ready for the coronation, I mean the inauguration, of Barack Obama if he wins the election. The last anthem they played, with its rousing choral performance of "Long live the king, God save the king," will make a perfect musical accompaniment to the beginning of Obama's reign. Of course they may plan to play "Unto us a child is born, unto us a king is given" from Messiah, which may, after all be more appropriate given what a lot of people expect of Obama.