Yeshua, the Messiah, is my theme. I chose Jesus because He is my savior and He is worthy of all worship, especially in its truest form, music. Without Him, I would not be. The Lord is the center of adoration within all the accumulated works which are presented in a vast array of musical compositions richly interpreting the glorious moment of His resurrection, His return, and His essence with such titles as “Hallelujah” which is Hebrew for “God be praised,” and “He is Alive.”
Adonai Machesenu – The Lord is Our Refuge – with its molto allegro tempo contributes to the aforementioned theme by eliciting a delighting and an emotionally-charged consonance, produced by Persian, acoustic, and electric guitars, violins, bongos, bass, and drums. It is then underscored with lyrical confirmations of Jesus and who He is, which then builds into a crescendo that births Haruach Vehakala – Spirit and the Bride – a fortissimo, a transitionally jubilant rhythm that heightens the mood to an intoxicating level which symbolically translates into a harmonic encapsulation of a prophetic event, Jesus’s return.
Händel’s Messiah is a full, rich symphonic interpretation of Jesus’ coming again with masterful alternations between crescentic intervals and decrescendos. Throughout the piece, it is accented by moderato, piano tones, and allegro, forte playful bouts, which is a beautiful counterpoint between the choir and strings, horns, and percussions while producing a powerful consonance and triumphant mood.
A thunderous, stark guitar ballad narrating the biblical accounting of Jesus’ resurrection from Peter’s perspective. It is abounding with crescendos and decrescendos heightening the intense emotions experienced during the burial of Jesus and then the mighty resurrection signaled by His appearance to Peter even after his denial of Him. Don brings it to a tremendous escalation with his dynamic interplay with the acoustic guitar and his strong voice victoriously proclaiming, “He is alive!” It is one of my favorite performances.
TobyMac describes his sound as, “Soul, hip hop, rock and roll guitars, reggae, and funk.” With the combination of horns, drums, vocals, and guitars, “Funky Jesus Music” produces a mood of celebratory consonance in the midst of praise. Thereby illustrating that worship music comes in a variety of dynamics and genres, not in a one-size-fits-all uniformed melody. By creating this unique gospel rhythm, it is also a metaphor for how individualistic Jesus is and all of His followers truly are.
The final song entitled “Halleluhu” opens with two percussionists rhythmically paced and synchronized preluding into a tensional forte rhythm which then gives way to a moaning Persian and electric guitar, accompanied by low, coarse vocals with intervals of climatic pulses sustained by an uplifting consonance. The mood is dramatic and melancholy in the opening moments, but then crescendos into a blissful, light motif, replete with biblical lyrics in Hebrew describing the return of Jesus from Heaven to Earth.
Insights 