From the main biography page of this site:

"Jasper was known to have led his World Civilization class in performances of Handel's Messiah.  Herman Blake said Jasper would have "…All the students—they would learn The Messiah. And he'd be coming out of the dining room at Cowell practicing. (howling) He's got this thing in his hand [presumably resembling a conductor's baton], the [sheets of] music, and he's practicing, singing to himself..."

A musical survey of Handel's Messiah recordings:

Many of Jasper's students think Sir Thomas Beecham ( 4. on the list),   and Jasper Rose were people cut from the same kind of cloth...

1. The Sir Colin Davis recording with the London Symphony uses a modern conventional orchestra to beautifully play Messiah with great clarity.  For people who live in Northern California, this is what it would sound like with the San Francisco Symphony with a skilled conductor (like Michael Tilson Thomas).

Listen online 
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2. The Sir John Eliot Gardiner recording with the English Baroque Soloists uses a small orchestra with period instruments.  Perhaps this is the way Handel would have heard Messiah.

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3. The Sir Charles Mackerras recording with the Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) orchestra uses Mozart’s German edition of Messiah with woodwinds grafted into the orchestration that gives Handel's Messiah a sound similar to Mozart's opera Don Giovanni.

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4. The Sir Thomas Beecham recording with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra uses the Sir Eugene Goossens arrangement with very fast tempos and an orchestra that includes trombones, tubas, tam-tams, cymbals, snare drums and gong.  (One music historian said you haven’t really lived until you’ve heard Beecham’s recording of Messiah.  Many of Jasper's students think Sir Thomas Beecham and Jasper Rose were people cut from the same kind of cloth.)

Listen online (with a stunning Hallelujah Chorus and more...)
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At St. Paul's George Frederick Handel

Spied some cherubs chanting in a spandrel;

In the Charts he rasied the group higher and higher;

Wow! Man! The SERAPHIMS! Singing the Messiah!

...from Jasper Rose's

Clerifew Coruscations

for Christmas 2002

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