Voices Only: A festive chorus of hallelujahs

Welcome to the Voices Only Christmas Extravaganza — Part 2. Last week I shared some of my favorite a cappella Christmas videos and asked you, dear readers, to share your favorites with us.

In response, one reader quickly asked, “Where’s Christmas in the Bible?”  Well, Matthew 1 and Luke 2 are good places to start. But I’m guessing the real question here is, “Should Christians celebrate Christmas?” As I wrote in the previous post, that’s a topic that we’ve covered before — here and here. And my friend Josh Kingcade, education minister for my congregation, the Memorial Road Church of Christ in Oklahoma City, just released a podcast on this subject as part of his “Reading the Bible Responsibly” series:

Thankfully, one reader shared a song she loves to hear at Christmas — Handel’s “Messiah.” This, of course, is a three-part epic depicting the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. The “Hallelujah Chorus” is probably the most popular part of the 1741 piece.

But what are the chances of me finding an a cappella version of that?

Pretty good, actually. First up, here’s The Acappella Company‘s Praise and Harmony Singers. This one’s fun to watch.

Here’s an awesome rendition by 3B4JHOY:

And Sebastian Hernandez does a really good job here, singing in four parts:

Thanks so much for the feedback!

What’s your favorite a cappella song? Send us a video link and a short description of what the song means to you. We might use your selection in a future Voices Only.

Filed under: a capella worship A Cappella Hymns christmas Christmas music Hallelujah Chorus Handel's Messiah Voices Only Voices Only