I HAVE only just come across this. The Messiah Christmas Suite was arranged from the full oratorio by Tom Fettke, the prolific American composer of church music. He was born in the Bronx, New York, in 1941, and had music lessons from the age of five. He became the director of a church choir at 19, by which time he had been composing for four years. However it was not until he was 31, in 1971, that he plucked up the courage to show his work to a publisher. All three compositions he submitted were accepted, and he was on his way. He is now 82 and still working.
To be honest I don’t think this performance is outstanding, but there are only a couple on YouTube. Surprising, as I think a lot of choirs would enjoy these ‘edited highlights’ of Handel’s great work.
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