Ezekiel 21:27

Years ago in Cincinnati Handel’s Messiah was rendered by perhaps the greatest chorus on earth: Patti, then in her prime, was the leading soprano; Whitney, the bass; Theodore Toedt, the tenor; Carey, the alto; and this quartet was supported by more than four thousand voices.

Just before the “Hallelujah Chorus,” a deathlike stillness brooded over that vast assemblage. Suddenly the bass sang, “For He shall reign for ever and ever,” the alto lifted it a little higher—“For ever and ever,” and the tenor lifted it still higher—“For ever and ever,” then Patti broke in as though inspired—“King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.” As she broke off, paused, and lifted her eyes, a voice seemed to float down from above as the voice of an Angel flinging out through the great hall the question, “How long shall He reign?”—and the thousand sopranos in unison responded, “For ever and ever.” Then the four thousand of the chorus broke forth like the shout of an angelic host, “Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!”