Thread by @tamanosou

Hey America, I can't solve all your problems but I'm going to tell you about Felix Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn was a contemporary of Wagner and was hated by the man because 1. Mendelssohn was an amazing composer and rival and 2. Mendelssohn was Jewish.

Now, when I tell people I seriously studied opera there's two questions I get 1. Will you sing Phantom for me and 2. Oh, so like Brunhilde? And yeah, I'm not going to slam Wagner's work because although it's not really my thing a lot of people adore his *music*.

Wagner didn't rise to the level of Mozart but he did introduce the sense of high drama that opera is now known for. But he's better known than Mendelssohn because he capitalized on Mendelssohn's Jewish faith. If you ask me, Mendelssohn was the better composer.

Mendelssohn's works are more nuanced and he too had that element of high drama and soaring prose that Wagner is known for. Mendelssohn also let his faith inform him and was unafraid to introduce some frankly shocking elements to his operas.

Remember when everyone flipped out about Lady Gaga having that weird nun rape scene in one of her music videos? Yeah, Mendelssohn beat her to that. It was an indictment of cultural Catholicism.

Anyways, what I'm ramping up to in all this is the oratorio aria "Hear Ye, Israel," from Mendelssohn's Elijah. Americans, if you read music go have a gander and if you don't, go find a recording of it and listen.

Basically the context is Elijah and the Israelites are in a bad place so an angel descends from heaven and gives them a pep talk. Pretty standard angel stuff.

So the lyrics with a great deal of cuts are, "hear ye Israel what the Lord speaketh. Hadst thou heeded my commandments? Who hath believed our rapport? To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?"

"Thus sayeth the Lord the redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him oppressed by tyrants. "I am he that comforteth. Be not afraid, for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee. Say who art thou that thou art afraid of a man that shall die?"

"And forgettest the Lord. The Lord thy maker who hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the earth's foundations. I am he that comforteth. Be not afraid. For I thy God will strengthen thee."

So if you look at that and compare it to a lot of Christian prayers or readings it's actually quite affirming. It's not saying, "you're not good enough; repent sinner," it's saying "I know you are suffering, it's not going to end soon or easily, but I'm with you."

Honestly, it's a REALLY Jewish sentiment. The angel is telling people to be dignified and courageous through this continual tyrannical oppression and that God will eventually deliver them. If I were to sum up Judaism it would be that and a lot of library time.

And that libretto is sung over an absolutely soaring score. The reason I haven't actually pointed to a particular performance for this is it is REALLY hard to do right or even well. It's a soprano aria and I can tell you there's basically two kinds of operatic sopranos.

There's the sweet bell-like soprano with a light voice see Natalie Dessay and there's the big hot sounding soprano with full loud high notes that hits you in the chest and knocks you out of your chair like Diana Damrau. Very rarely can one singer handle both types of sound.

And this aria requires it. The "Hear ye" part is soft and sort of mid-voice high. But the "say who art thou" is low and powerful and from there on out it's loud and powerful.

Normally when angels are represented in music they're light and ethereal all the way through. They're JUST messengers. Mendelssohn's angel though is a warring or avenging angel. She's done handing out the lollipops, but she also didn't really come to kill the firstborn of Egypt.

So the reason I bring all this up, America is that it's relevant to your situation right now. You're walking a very thin line. There's an unmoored tyrant in the Oval Office and you're harassed by white supremacists.

And these enemies to your nation have invaded every aspect of your life and called into question everything you know. They're trying to make you afraid so that they can twist that fear against Jews and immigrants and women and people of color.

They're trying to derail the conversation and bury you under their own hateful rhetoric. And ... yeah, some of you "sinned." But this angel doesn't really care about you sinning. She's asking are you at least trying? Did you TRY to keep the faith and "the commandments?"

So yeah, I'm mad as hell at those of you who didn't vote for HRC in 2016 and I'm particularly mad at those of you who sent me threats because I am with her ... but if you will learn from that error then we can all move forward.

The hate that has run rampant in the USA has swallowed people whole. Because people were afraid of a woman we are now in a situation where Trump is in the Oval and McConnell holds the Senate. And those two are tyrants. They are almost comical or cartoonish in their evil.

So we do need to "keep the faith" now. Mendelssohn composed this soaring aria with the backdrop of 19th c. anti-Semitism and Wagner's unabated jealousy. This is the sort of strength we need now.

And remember the angel doesn't promise that God is your "savior." She calls him your "maker." God won't save you. God will provide you comfort and strength, but you have to save yourself. But throughout, she repeats, "be not afraid."

America, we're going to get through ALL of this. We've lost so much including actual human lives. Do you honor those lost by giving up? The one thing about our nation that keeps us moving forward is audacious hope and fearlessness. Be not afraid.