Parish of Llandudno North Wales, Rector's letter

April 2009

This month I’m going to trespass into our Parish Magazine editor’s territory a little by thinking about some of the great music of Holy Week and Easter. I hope he won’t mind!

Can you imagine life without music? For most of us it is a vital part of our lives whether we are performers or simply listeners. As Christians we rely upon it to enhance our worship and devotion. And what an amazing variety of styles of sacred music we have to choose from – everything from ancient plainsong (as a Benedictine Oblate very close to my heart!) all the way through to the modern worship songs of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Within this wide spectrum each of us will have our own preferences and dislikes.

In Holy Week and at Easter music is especially helpful in enabling us to enter into the mystery of Our Lord’s passion, death and resurrection with devotion. For instance, on Palm Sunday it just wouldn’t seem right to have the Procession without singing the hymn
‘All Glory Laud and Honour’ to the tune St. Theodulph. Strangely it is the words that are by the 9th century St. Theodulph of Orleans rather than the tune named after him! These words, translated by John Mason Neale, express so simply the essence of Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem: ‘All glory, laud and honour to thee Redeemer, King, to whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring ... The people of the Hebrews with palms before thee went; Our praise and prayer and anthems before thee we present.’ But the strong but simple tune St. Theodulph’ written in the 17th century by M. Teschner and later adapted and harmonised by J.S. Bach is an ideal companion to the words allowing them to express our thoughts and feelings as in spirit we join with the Hebrews who welcomed Christ into the Holy City.

Later in the Palm Sunday Eucharist at Holy Trinity we usually move on in word and music to the late 20th century by singing as an offertory hymn Graham Kendrick’s ‘The Servant King’, which I believe to be one of the greatest hymns of our time, standing head and shoulders above what in my opinion are so many banal and shallow contemporary worship songs written today. Again we have a wonderful combination of music and words, each enhancing the other and in this case both composed by the same person. ‘Come see his hands and his feet, the scars that speak of sacrifice, hands that flung stars into space, to cruel nails surrendered. This is our God, the Servant King, he calls us now to follow him....’ These are profound words getting us very close to the inner heart of the incarnation and the Passion of Christ. And once again it is the music which strengthens and deepens the words drawing us ever closer to Christ.

If I had space I could go through each of the great services of Holy Week and Easter to show how similar combinations of words and music enhance and deepen our worship. We are so lucky at Holy Trinity to have an organist and choir of such quality that the music can
indeed raise us to heaven. Listen especially to the Reproaches sung on Good Friday – this is an ancient text in which God reproaches his people for all the things they have done to him despite his love for them: ‘My people, what have I done to you? How have I offended you? Answer me!’ A long list of Old Testament examples are given climaxing in what they have done to the Christ: ‘I gave you a royal sceptre, but you gave me a crown of thorns. I raised you to the height of majesty, but you have raised me high on a cross.’ As we listen to these words sung to the glorious music of Vittoria we are likely to be moved to tears of penitence as we are aware of God’s love for us and our frequent betrayals of him.

I invite you all to come and share in the worship of Holy Week and Easter, to die with Christ and to be raised with him, and to allow the music of this sacred season to play its proper part in all that we do.

May you all know the joy and peace of the crucified and risen Christ!

Fr John

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