To the good people of St. John’s,
In Lent, we may expect to hear music in church that is softer, reserved, dim. Indeed, this season is the time of year that might be most challenging for a church musician to plan:
How do we musically inspire the church while paring back?
Can it still sound like Lent if we sing loudly?
How do we sing joyfully while reflecting on our mortality?
Our Lectionary (the church guide which weekly shapes our chosen Lessons, Collects, and Psalms) often provides us with some real zingers during Lent. Lazarus is raised from the dead on Lent 5 one year (John 11), and Satan himself is tempting Christ on Lent 1 another year (Matthew 4). How are we supposed to sing about that?? Just as we are challenged to reflect on our inner spirit and transfiguration, we too are challenged to sing music with more emotional depth and find inspiration in the conviction of the sounds. With these musical challenges come inspired time with truly beautiful sounds that make Lent the other “most wonderful time of the year.”
Consider some of the sounds you will hear this Lent:
In the deeply personal plainsong chanting of the Psalms, the choir pauses briefly during each Psalm verse to reflect. We, too, will pause during the Psalm Antiphons, if only for a moment. Embrace the stillness and let these ancient Jewish texts saturate a bit more deeply. But it’s not all about the stillness: the Hebrew name for the Book of Psalms is “Tehilim,” which actually means “Praises.”
Our Kyrie tune is the old German hymn Herzliebster Jesu which is commonly sung during Holy Week, chosen as a hint of things to come after our forty day journey.
Our Sanctus is styled after Orthodox choral writing where the lower voices modulate through harmony as the congregation’s “melody” is largely placid on top. Sometimes it’s nice to just float on the surface.
On Lent 1, the choir begins the season with Howells’ Like as the hart, whose text asks such questions as “Where is now thy God?” and “When shall I come to appear before the presence of God?”
On Lent 3, our wonderful Kaja Fickes will lead an anthem which begins in desperate search of answers “without Thee all is dark … hear my prayer, O God incline thine ear” and blooms to the most hopeful “O for the wings of a dove … in the wilderness build me a nest and remain there forever at rest.” That’s all we really want, right? Comfort.
At Evensong, which this month is blended with Lenten themes and to commemorate the Feast of John Donne, the choir sings Stanford’s sublime Beati quorum via, translating simply to: “Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.” May that be so.
John Donne, by Isaac Oliver, 1616.
I hope this is a musically fulfilling journey for you. Some of these may be new sounds for us, and some people may not like certain sounds. That’s ok. This time which forces us to slow down, to reflect, and to challenge our patterns should be a time we expect to be stunned and enjoy starving the ear a bit. A thoughtful Lenten journey will help the Easter acclamation illumine that much more brightly.
May this Lent be holy. May we be gifted the time to reflect on our lives and how to improve the world both around us and outside of our walls. May our music be inspired to guide us all through these forty days toward a closer walk with God. Amen.
Brian Locke
Interim Organist and Choirmaster