Mike Leghorn wrote:

>Speaking of standing, it bothers me when everyone stands up during the
>Halleluiah Chorus in the Messiah.
>
>1) It's distracting
>2) It's knee-jerk behavior
>3) Shorter people get burried in the crowd

And it's an historical tradition that you obviously don't understand.
It is not knee-jerk behaviour at all.  It comes from an actual event
in which King George II stood at the beginning of the HC and of course,
everyone stood when the king stood.  It has stuck, and had become what
I think is a very grand tradition.  Besides, by the time you get to that
point in Messiah, you've been sitting for long enough.  A good stretch
is fine.  As for shorter folk, geez, what is there to see?  Close your
eyes and listen.  There's not much going on up there that is so visually
interesting.

Kevin Sutton