Abstinence and Devotion: Lent and Music

As a Christian, from year to year I endeavour to honour Lent. To reflect Jesus' wandering in the desert, this typically comes in the form of giving something up, though it can also be honoured through taking something up as well.

Following successful abstinence from alcohol last year, I was challenged, by certain friends, to give up listening to the music of J S Bach for the whole of Lent (anyone who knows me well will know the serious challenge this would pose). Never particularly enamoured with the idea, I at least agreed - with incredible reluctance - to give it a go. I lasted until 14.45 on Ash Wednesday. My heart was never in it and it was only ever going to take the slightest glimpse of weakness (or stubbornness) to break. That came in the form of particularly fraught moment at work - when I'm stressed, I usually stick on a bit of Bach. 'Nuff said. In addition, however, my issue ran a little deeper. For me Lent is not about accepting a challenge from friends and giving something up merely to prove to others that you can live without it. Lent is about sacrifice and devotion - giving up something that you enjoy , making yourself a better person and doing yourself some good in the meantime. Alcohol ticks both those boxes. The music of Bach mostly certainly does not - it is itself a source of good. Hence why I was not too fussed about sticking on the St Matthew Passion last Wednesday afternoon. 

At the suggestion of my Wife-to-be, however, I am endeavouring to listen to a new piece of music every day for the whole of Lent. And so far this is something I have stuck to. Today was Karl Jenkins' 'The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace'. Mahler 8 and A Child of our Time have already had an airing. Tomorrow it will be Handel's 'Israel in Egypt'. Unlike the prospect of giving up Bach, the idea of listening to a new piece of music every - something I've not listened to before - is exciting, interesting and offers a broadening both of the mind and one's tastes. It is certainly something I am enjoying - Mahler's 8th Symphony, in particular, was not a piece I was expecting to like. Now it is on my wish list. As a Lenten exercise, therefore, this revised musical challenge is proving to be particularly fun and satisfying. It brings devotion and discipline but also offers opportunity for improvement. 

And means that the music of Bach remains ever present in my ears, of course.