Music to pray with for Lent: What Wondrous Love Is This

What Wondrous Love Is This is an American folk hymn from the South. It was first published in 1811 as part of a camp meeting song book and was included in the 1854 shape note songbook Southern Harmony by William Walker. This tune is hundreds of years old, but it was made popular as an English folk ballad about the adventures of a pirate named Captain William Kidd in 1701 (and was used for many other popular songs at that time).

During the Great Awakening and Second Great Awakening, many popular folk tunes were used with new religious texts for hymn singing at camp meetings and revivals. They were familiar to the people and were easy to sing along with. This has been true throughout the history of church music, all the way back to the early Middle Ages. (Sometimes, a great drinking song makes a great church song, too– a good tune is a good tune!)

The melody has a haunting, plaintive feel because of the musical mode in which it is written (the Dorian mode). The pattern of intervals between the notes in the melody creates a feeling of seriousness and thoughtful wonder that fits perfectly with the contemplative season of Lent.

The text focuses on the love of Christ in laying down his life for us.

What wondrous love is this, o my soul, o my soul,

What wondrous love is this, o my soul!

What wondrous love is this, that caused the Lord of bliss

To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,

To bear the dreadful curse for my soul!

The text goes on to marvel at how Christ saves us when we are sinking down. The soul is moved to praise God in song and to join with millions of other voices singing that same song of praise.

We will be using this song in worship several times over the next few weeks, so look out for it. In the meantime, please enjoy these versions as musical meditations for prayer.

The shape note version from Sacred Harp, sung in classic Sacred Harp style (a four-sided square, with the leader in the center and each voice part seated on a different side). You may notice that this style of singing has a distinctive sound.

Chelsea Moon with the Franz Brothers on YouTube– a more country sound

Sarah Hart's new version, with a toe-tapping folk feel and a newly-composed chorus

A more contemplative choral version by Robert Scholz from the St. Olaf Choir, conducted by Anton Armstrong

Music to pray with for Lent: Josef Rheinberger

This week’s Lenten Music Highlight is Kyrie from Josef Rheinberger’s Cantus Missae (Sung Mass) for double choir in E flat.

Josef Rheinberger (1839 – 1901) was from Liechtenstein, one of the smallest countries in Europe. He showed early talent for music. At age seven, he was already serving as the organist at the parish church in Vaduz, the capital city. Although his father initially opposed his desire to be a professional musician, Josef was eventually allowed to study music and became a composer and organist.

The text for this Kyrie is the same as we sing at Mass during the Penitential Act:

Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison­

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

This prayer is always appropriate. During Lent, though, it takes on a special significance. Lent isn’t entirely about focusing on our own shortcomings, but it is a time to recognize the great mercy of God and how reliant each of us is upon his grace. That grace sustains us, always and everywhere, whether or not we’re aware of it. Father Edward once compared it to God’s hand on our back, giving us strength for the moment, helping us to move forward.

As you listen to this piece, take a moment to notice that grace at work in your life, or maybe even feel that hand on your back. Let’s all pray for each other as companions on the journey this Lent.

Click here to listen to a performance of the Kyrie in E flat by the Polycoro Ensemble on YouTube.

Click here to listen on Spotify.

Music to pray with for Lent: William Byrd

The Psalms can be a natural source for our personal prayers for us all year, but especially during Lent. Meditating on a psalm text by reading it slowly and letting the images rise to the surface of our minds is a wonderful way to make space for God during this season of reflection and preparation.

This week, I wanted to highlight Miserere mei, Deus, a beautiful setting of Psalm 51 by composer William Byrd (c. 1520 – 1623). Byrd was a Roman Catholic composer in England, under Queen Elizabeth I and King James, when Catholics were an oppressed minority in the country. He set a number of Latin psalm texts that speak to the difficulty of that time. Psalm 51 is the famous psalm we sing on Ash Wednesday: Have mercy on me, O God, according to your kindness; in your compassion, blot out all my sin. William Byrd described the process of writing the music while praying with the psalms, saying, “I have found that there is such a power hidden away and stored up in those words that…all the most fitting melodies come as it were of themselves and freely present themselves when the mind is alert and eager.”

Click here to listen and follow along with the score on YouTube.

Click here to listen on Spotify.

Enjoy this musical reflection on Psalm 51 as you ponder the words in your heart. May they become a Lenten prayer for all of us as they were for William Byrd.