We stand for the Hallelujah Chorus, so we’ve been told, following a tradition started by King George II. Upon hearing Handel’s majestic chorus, the king could not contain himself. He rose suddenly to his feet. The rest of the audience, confused, rose with the King out of respect. Ever since, audiences everywhere have continued to rise out of a similarly confused respect.
The story is probably untrue, and that’s too bad. I like the story. I like rising to my feet during the Hallelujah Chorus. I especially like the suggestion I heard somewhere that King George rose to his feet, not because he was overcome with emotion (not very kingly, that), but rather as a public sign of submission to the doctrine that the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. It is stirring to imagine the King of England, the head of the Church of England, publicly acknowledging his subjection to the True King and True Head of the Church. Kings sit. Subjects stand. George II stood because The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.
I always stand when I hear the Hallelujah Chorus. I do not stand to follow some antiquated apocryphal tradition. I do not stand for the sake of concert etiquette. I do not stand as an ovation for the performance (they rarely deserve such recognition). I do not stand out of boredom or to stretch my legs. I do not stand from social pressure. Why do I stand? I stand because Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus is the coronation anthem of Christ my King, and I would be ashamed to be caught slouching just when the whole world rises in recognition of His authority.
No one really knows how or why the tradition started. The story of King George is as good as any reason. For my part, I like to think that a funny angel, one of God’s pranksters, if He has one, set the thing in motion on a whim to put a little Easter egg in the game, a kind of inside joke. Just think how many pluralists, humanists, atheists, or fancy-on-the-fenciests there will be this year who, attending a Handel recital, will unwittingly pay homage to Christ with their bodies. The joke is on them. They will be thinking of their sophistication at knowing the etiquette, but their legs give a subversive confession. Audiences everywhere will proclaim once again this year that He will reign forever and ever. Hallelujah!
~John Wykoff
