Madam, - When Proinnsias Ó Duinn and Our Lady's Choral Society performed extracts from Messiah in Fishamble Street the other day, I hope those present followed the lead of the 1742 audience in not standing during the Hallelujah Chorus.
That servile custom started only at a performance in London later that year, when King George II rose to his feet on hearing what he mistook for the national anthem.
Irish audiences should stand on their own tradition by remaining seated, as their ancestors did at the first performance. - Yours, etc.,
MICHAEL DRURY, Brussels, Belgium.