Handel's "Messiah" is usually performed during the Christmas season here in the U.S., but it is arguably more appropriate for Easter, and given increasing calls for better social justice in the era of soaring income inequality, BIPOC awareness and Black Lives Matter, I think it is worth pointing out one air, aria or song very near the beginning of the piece.
"Every Valley," generally sung by a tenor, goes as follows:
and every mountain and hill made low,
the crooked straight,
and the rough places plain.
That's it as far as the lyrics are concerned, but the piece actually lasts about three and a half minutes, with theme-and-variation musical repetition giving the singer ample opportunity to display his full range of vocal capabilities.
This, as one commentator put it, is "the change message." The poor will be elevated and the rich brought down. Those who have not received justice will get it (the crooked made straight) and adequate medical care will be extended to all (the rough places made plain).
In other words, those lyrics, selected for Handel by Charles Jennens from the Biblical book of Isaiah, should be viewed as allegorical. Such is not unusual in Handel's English-language oratorios since it was at the time difficult to deal with prevailing political and social issues directly.
In my humble option, just as "We Shall Overcome" was the anthem of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, "Every Valley" should be the anthem of the present. Not only are the lyrics "spot on," the music is fabulous.
Here's one excellent rendition on YouTube. Listen in.
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