Live audio recording from performances by the Folger Consort and the Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford, at the National Building Museum, Washington, DC, December 20, 21, and 22, 1993.
Revelation 5:12, Revelation 5:9, more of Revelation 5:12, Revelation 5:13, and Revelation 5:14
Fittingly enough, the words for this final chorus of Messiah are sung or spoken by massed voices in the Bible, too. Most of the words quoted here are said “with a loud voice” by a hundred thousand angels; the line that Christ’s blood “hath redeemed us to God” (Revelation 5:9) is sung earlier by four beasts and 24 elders carrying harps.
Charles Jennens. Messiah. An oratorio. As it is perform’d at the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden. Set to musick by Mr. Handel. London, 1749? Shelfmark 159–150q. Folger Shakespeare Library.