Why was a verse cut?

...During the sepia-toned sequence of the church choir performance?

As they are singing Handel's Hallelujah Chorus, the the choir completes the first section and the camera wobbles slightly as it begins to move forward.

There is a sudden visible jump in the film and you can tell that the camera has moved forward a few inches and stopped. At the same time, the chorus jumps right into another round of "hallelujahs" and has completely skipped the first appearence of the verse "And he shall reign forever and ever..."

I might have said this was something to do with the age of the film and maybe something was damaged, but I recently came upon the original soundtrack LP and the abrupt jump cut exists even there, suggesting that the edit was contemporaneous with the film when it was released.

Can anyone out there confirm/deny/or explain this?



"If you don't know the answer -change the question."