Handel’s Messiah is one of the best loved oratorio works as it is synonymous with the Christmas season. Performances of Messiah by the Limerick Choral Union are very much part of Christmas in Limerick:- since our foundation in 1964, we have performed Messiah 15 times at Christmas.

What Handel achieved in Messiah was a wonderful blend of elegant, Italianate melody, alternating with virtuosic vocalism for the soloists and, for the chorus, unmatched choral sonorities of madrigalesque lightness which endeared him to the listening public. Across the span of 250 years, Messiah still holds its extraordinary grip on musician and audience members alike.

For our 16th ‘Messiah’ performance in the University Concert Hall, the Limerick Choral Union choir and orchestra, conducted by our Musical Director, Malcolm Green, were joined by soloists Sarah Ellen Murphy (Alto), Emma Walsh (Soprano), Joe Roche (Tenor) and Mark Ashmore (Bass).

Limerick Choral Union delighted Mid-West music lovers with a concert performance of two superb works on Good Friday 6 April, 2007 in University Concert Hall Limerick. Under the baton of their conductor, Malcolm Green, and accompanied by a full orchestra, they performed the dramatic Armed Man: A Mass for Peace by contemporary composer, Karl Jenkins and the Passion Sequence from Messiah by George Frederick Handel.

The Armed Man now a classic hit, has featured in the UK top ten classic charts two years running. Choral conductor Malcolm Green says it is a compelling work which illustrates vividly the horrors of war yet ends in a message of hope and peace. Jenkins combines the tradition of the Christian mass with his own experience as a composer, introducing modern rhythms and percussion to add drama to the work. It is a very moving work and was very fitting for Good Friday. The choir loved singing this mass and the audience found the work both inspiring and very powerful.

The piece was commissioned for the millennium by Britains Royal Armouries and dedicated to the victims of the Kosovo crisis. The aim of the commission was to emphasise the message of the French Folk song that the Armed Man must be feared in the light of the bloody history of the 20th century.

At the time of the commission, the Royal Armouries Master, Guy Wilson said: What better way both to look back and reflect as we leave behind the most war-torn and destructive century in human history and to look ahead with hope and commit ourselves to a new and more peaceful millennium.

The second half of the concert featured the Passion Sequence from Messiah by Handel. While Messiah has traditionally become associated with performance during Advent prior to Christmas, it was in fact conceived and first performed for Easter. The Passion Sequence includes pieces which reflect the events of Good Friday in the Christian calendar.