Why the King stood for the Hallelujah chorus
When the music for this biblical passage began, King George, I believe, made a statement about royal authority and honor:
The Christian King of England is not the Supreme Authority, but he is one under authority and must show honor and respect to his Supreme Lord, the King of Kings. Just as people rise to show honor and respect in the presence of their English Royals, King George could do no less, as one under Authority.
Here’s my argument for why the King George stood that day and why we should still do so today.
King George II stood up at the performance of George Frederick Handel’s “Hallelujah chorus” on March 23, 1743. No one knows for sure why he stood. He never explained his actions.
The most popular and most repeated modern myth is that “he was so moved” or “overcome by emotion” by the music that he felt compelled to stand. A few simple observations undermine this thin explanation:
- Kings are hardly ones to emote in public spontaneously (a review of English kings and queens over the centuries will reveal precious few instances of spontaneity or public displays of exuberance);
- Standing in the middle of a performance of a major orchestral and choral work today or in yesteryear is never encouraged–in fact, it would be considered rude and not something a King would likely do without a very compelling reason (even jazz musicians today only receive polite applause at the end of a praiseworthy set–rarely do audiences jump out of their seats during a formal performance);
- Kings sit (enthroned), subjects stand. The King was not stretching his legs, getting ready to walk out, etc.
This modern myth endures, I believe, because in our secular and egalitarian age folks simply no longer have the cultural bearings or theological categories to understand what was happening at that moment or what would have motivated the English king to stand at that particular moment in that particular performance.
The answer as to why the King stood there and then is rooted, I believe, in the political implications of the very specific lyrics of the chorus, particularly the words from Revelation 19, highlighted in bold, and their immediate context (see the updated note below):
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
The kingdom of this world
Is become the kingdom of our Lord,
And of His Christ, and of His Christ;
And He shall reign for ever and ever,
For ever and ever, forever and ever,
King of kings, and Lord of lords,
King of kings, and Lord of lords,
And Lord of lords,
And He shall reign,
And He shall reign forever and ever,
King of kings, forever and ever,
And Lord of lords,
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
And He shall reign forever and ever,
King of kings! and Lord of lords!
And He shall reign forever and ever,
King of kings! and Lord of lords!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
King George was a Christian king, head of the English Church, and would have been knowledgeable of the Scriptures. He knew, from the moment the choir began singing that passage, that it was referring to his Lord, to a King greater than himself. The King of kings is the King of England’s superior. The King of England is a subject of the Greater King, the Creator and Sovereign of Heaven and Earth. As a Christian King who believed in the Divine Right of Kings, he would have acknowledged even at his own coronation that he rules England only by the grace of the Great King and no other. If the Triune God were to walk into the same room, the King of England would be compelled to rise and bow in His honor.
So when Handel’s music for this passage began, I believe King George made a political statement about divine and royal authority and honor in the political economy of England itself: the Christian King (or Queen) of England is a ruler under authority and must pay honor and show respect to his (her) Supreme Lord, the King of Kings, just as the people must pay honor and show respect to their English Lord.
Larry Spalink, a friend from Westminster Seminary and pastor laboring in Japan commented to me once that the context immediately preceding the Hallelujah Chorus are the words of Psalm 2, which exhort us to give honor to God’s Messiah. Or not, at our peril. 1
The people also stood with King George at that moment. The question is whether they stood because England’s King rose, or because the presence of the King of kings was evident in the Scriptures being sung. I like to think they stood together in solidarity at that moment as fellow subjects of the Greater King. If there were an emotional response, it was King George’s realization that the living God is his King and all other leaders of men and nations serve behind His beneficent rule and at His good pleasure.
For that reason, we all should stand whenever the King of kings and Lord of lords, our God’s Messiah’s presence is announced.
All rise!
And He shall reign forever and ever,
King of kings, forever and ever,
And Lord of lords,
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
Related Resources: Handel’s Messiah (NSA Concert Choir; Ross Hauck) | Psalm 13 and Handel (Dr. David Erb) | Educating Royalty (Dr. Roy Atwood)
Dr. Roy Atwood is one of the founders of New Saint Andrews College and served as its President from 2004-2014. After serving as the Abraham Kuyper Distinguished Professor of Classics at Morthland College, he accepted a position Nehemiah Gateway University in Albania. He received a B.A. in Philosophy from Dordt College (Iowa), a Master of Arts in Religion from Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, and a Ph.D. in Mass Communication from the University of Iowa.
Comments
Enlightening….I have never heard that explanation before. I do unfortunately remember treating two school friends to The Messiah at Albert Hall in London one Christmas in the late 1940’s. To my sorrow they breathed a sigh of relief when I stood for Chorus. They thought it was all over and got ready to leave the Hall! ” Oh what a dusty answer gets the soul when hot for certainties in this our life”George Meredith was right!
BEAUTIFUL Story!!
The Lord our God reigns forever and ever and ‘the kingdoms (governments) of this world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ’ starting in the hearts and lives of His overcomers who have escaped Religious Babylon. ‘Surely I come quickly. Amen’
Your explanation is so interesting. The fact that a monarch would not do anything on such an auspicious occasion without serious thought, adds an even deeper level of reverence to the action of standing. The fact that even a monarch would publicly recognize God’s authority over himself should make the common man stand in even greater awe. Thank you for this insight.
I think you are absolutely right in his reasoning, but I also think he had to be overcome by emotion as well, which compelled him to demonstrate such honor. To hear this as a believer, especially for the first time, delivered by its author? How could you not be if you are born again? I would blast parts of it my car after – still do sometimes – I couldn’t get enough of it. The beauty, majesty, certainty, glory, and finality of the good news of the Kingdom is conveyed so well.
The Baron agrees with these interpretations. The Christian King George II not only was compelled y the poltico-religious understandings of the time – of his being under command of the King of Kings; but also by standing he also served to demonstrate the legitimacy of his own Kingship under the British monarchy.
People did not give applause in church. But this was a way of confirming agreement and approval without applause.
The heart of any reasonable explanation. A corollary is Handel’s stating that in composing “Messiah” he felt the heavens opened and the music poured into him.
Whatever else monarchs may be, they are still human and while they may not show emotion in public, there are rare occasions when, as humans, they are so overcome that they react as humans rather than kings and show emotion.
In the United States in particular, it is nowadays de rigeur to cry in public, especially in front of the television cameras. The feeling is that, if you do not cry, you do not feel, and if you do not feel, you are a bad person. That is not why the Queen could not keep back her tears when she visited Aberfan after the disaster that killed so many children. It was not a planned but a spontaneous reaction and, as such, was understandable, and forgivable. She is still human, after all.
For the same reason, I firmly believe that, notwithstanding all that Dr Atwood says about monarchs rarely standing and the various political reasons he puts forward to explain why the king did so, King George was so truly overwhelmed when the Hallelujah Chorus was sung that he reacted spontaneously as a human rather than a monarch and stood up.
And as was and remains the custom, when the king or queen stands, everybody in their presence stands. Nobody remains seated when the monarch stands up.
That is the origin of the audience standing when the Hallelujah Chorus begins. It is a mark of their own admiration, through that demonstrated by King George at the time, for Handel’s amazing composition.
Old Medieval Kings tried to follow the example of Davidic kingship – that is, they were anointed by God’s will. That ideology persisting, it would be an act of respect for any King to stand for the Supreme source of power that empowered them.
Note: I thought is was Victoria who started the tradition.