Advent is soon upon us. During this season of preparation I will use the lyrics of the Messiah Oratorio as my morning meditation.

The Oratorio is divided into three parts including an overture followed by fifty-three arias and choruses. Fifty-four parts - days - altogether. This should bring us to Epiphany.

Georg Fredrich Handel composed the entire work over a few weeks in the summer of 1741. Charles Jennens was the librettist. The lyrics are drawn from several books of the Bible, especially Isaiah, The Psalms, Luke, and ICorinthians. I will take each in the order of the Oratorio.

The Symphony and Chorus of the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University has generously made available their recording of Part I of the Messiah. I hope to find a similar source for Parts II and III.

If you have a high-speed connection - or enormous patience - you may download the overture here. Otherwise, you might retrieve your CD to listen along. Tomorrow we will begin with the text.