“Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire,” said Gustav Mahler, the Romantic composer, paraphrasing St. Thomas More. Last weekend, my choir director shared a similar sentiment as we prepared to take the stage to perform Handel’s “Messiah.” As Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” tops Billboard’s Holiday 100 and department stores pump ubiquitous Christmas pop through speakers, yearly performances of “Messiah” offer respite from saccharine holiday nostalgia. “Messiah,” which tells the scriptural story of salvation, is a tradition that manages to preserve fire.
Invocations of “tradition” at this time of year bring
