Looking for Answers about Hendrickson Worship Handel's Messiah: The Complete Work CD?

Combine the premier choral conductor of our time; his select chamber choir, the Cambridge Singers; the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; and Handel's timeless Baroque masterpiece and you have the ultimate musical celebration for Christmas or Easter! Remarkably, this breathtaking performance is Rutter's first recording of Messiah. Two CDs.

Hendrickson Worship introduces a new recording of Handel's Messiah, from world-renowned conductor and composer John Rutter and the Cambridge Singers. Remarkably, this is the first time John Rutter has recorded the Messiah. Named on The Today Show as "the greatest living composer and conductor of choral music," Rutter is probably the most successful choral composer of his generation. Rutter's compositions are chiefly choral, and include Christmas carols, anthems, and extended works such as a Gloria and a Requiem.

Messiah is being performed by the Cambridge Singers, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by John Rutter. The soloists are Joanne Lunn, Melanie Marshall, James Gilchrist, and Christopher Purves.

The 2-CD set includes a 24-page booklet with the text of Messiah and interspersed photos from the recording session at All Hallows Gospel Oak, London.

"If you sing in a choir-church or choral society-it is a mathematical certainty that you will have sung something by John Rutter. Be it anthem, carol, hymn or his much-loved Requiem, John Rutter's [the] choral man who has given choirs music [that] is ubiquitous."-CollegiumUSA.com

Messiah, (1741), is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel. It is his most famous creation and is among the most popular works in the Western choral literature. The name of the oratorio is taken from Judaism and Christianity's concept of the messiah ("the anointed one"). In Christianity, the Messiah is Jesus. Handel himself was a devout Christian, and the work is a presentation of Jesus's life and its significance according to Christian doctrine. Messiah is Handel's most famous work and remains immensely popular among concert-goers in the English-speaking world.

Although the work was conceived and first performed for Easter, it has become traditional since Handel's death to perform the Messiah oratorio during Advent, the preparatory period of the Christmas season. The work is also heard at Eastertide, and selections containing resurrection themes are often included in Easter services.