Hallelujah Chorus etiquette: Stand or sit?
It's that time of
year to go to a Messiah concert, and you'll have to make a decision about the
Hallelujah chorus: stand or stay seated?
- The most popular story is that "King George II, attending the London premiere of 'Messiah' in March of 1743, was so moved by the 'Hallelujah’' that he stood up - and if the king stands, everybody stands." The more cynical theorized the king had to go to the bathroom and was waiting for intermission, ready to sprint.
- People stood for other numbers as well, so the Hallelujah Chorus tradition remains from something that was more common.
- The sacred nature of the words moved some people to stand on reflex. They may have felt like they were in church listening to hymns.
Here's what some
people advise:
- Decide ahead of time whether you will stand or sit.
- If you decide to stand, make sure you've secured your personal items so they don't fall and cause a racket.
- If you stand, don't stare daggers at the sitters and vice versa
- Perhaps the scale of the performance may dictate.
- For highly professional performances where tickets cost a lot, remaining seated may allow everyone to focus on every detail of the performance.
- At regional and amateur performances, following tradition could be part of enjoying the experience.
- Don't crowd surf.
There are a couple
of solutions:
- Maybe the way out of this conundrum is for the performers to print in the program or announce to the audience whether it's okay to stand.
- Encourage spontaneous non-traditional responses to the music.
So what to do if
there's no guidance in the program or from the stage? It may be a situational
thing.
- I attended one that was performed in a light way, the choir members dressed in Christmas costumes and flashing signs with the words. The Hallelujah Chorus was merely one selection among other Christmas music, sacred and secular. Not many people stood for that one.
- Another performance was a more traditional performance of Messiah. Everyone stood for that one.
Either way, the
advice to include consideration of other people's enjoyment of the performance
is always in season.
