Music for the Lenten Season
When asked to provide a presentation of music for the Lenten season as well as performing at a Taize service on the same day, I discovered a few things in my research as to what to play and present.
Lent is a time for preparation of the self for the light to come, preparing for baptism and hearing the call to sow justice in the lives of those we serve – altruism/helping others.
Interpreting that musically means:
Instruments are allowed only to support the singing –
but what if it is the instruments that are only doing the singing?
Then I would possibly play pieces that would inspire the congregation to sing/hum along – Three Days – a beautiful hymn as well as being used in Gustav Holst’s Jupiter from The Planets.
On a modern twist, “The Prayer” is from the movie “The Quest for Camelot” and the words say this –
We dream a world without violence
a world of justice and faith.
Everyone gives the hand to his neighbours
Symbol of peace, of fraternity
And a personal favorite…
Nimrod from “Enigma Variations” – Edward Elgar
Elgar had a friend who encouraged him not to give up, comparing his troubles to Beethoven who didn’t give up and Elgar shouldn’t either!
But what surprised me the most was finally understanding why you don’t sing an “Alleluia” during this time.
I bet you have heard this already but it bears repeating –
What special song do we sing on your birthday?
That’s right – “Happy Birthday to You”.
What if we sang that song every day of the year?
Would you be able to tell which day was your birthday?
Would the song seem “special” if you sang it everyday?
Not singing “Alleluia” gives us a signal that this is Lent
and we are “preparing” for Easter.
There seems to be a lot of chant as in – “Jesus, Remember Me”
and “Veni, Sanctus Spiritus”. Would John Lennon’s “All we are saying, is give peace a chance” be acceptable?
I found other suggestions that would also work instrumentally –
“The Palms” by Faure
“The Holy City”
“I Know that My Redeemer Liveth” – Handel’s “The Messiah”
Wachet Auf – Bach
Reverie – Debussy
Water Music – Handel (a “splash” of water for symbolizing Baptism…)
And anything to do with darkness – Vivaldi’s Concerto Grosso in d minor comes to mind.
Blessings to you during this time of preparation…