The Ornamentation of Time

Decorate wisely

My Lenten penance of listening only to scared music bore fruit of unexpected richness. What began with no predetermined objective resulted in a deeper insight into God, the Church, and my own little place within those living truths.

I hadn’t placed any further restrictions on my listening beyond a very basic requirement that it should be sacred music: no particular style or instrumentation was off limits. Gospel, country, orchestral, choral all would have fit, so long as it was sacred. No instrumental music, no music not addressed to or about God.

The result was surprising: life became quieter, more orderly. Music accompanied by instruments somehow seemed “too much.” Not only was I not listening to Dr. Dre, Eminem, Cigarettes After Sex, and Chappell Roan, I was also not listening to J.S. Bach’s Mass in B Minor or Haydn’s Nelson Mass. For the first two or three weeks of Lent, I was listening to Tudor-era English composers, primarily William Cornysh and John Sheppard. Later on, I shifted to Josquin Desprez, Nicolas Gombert, and Noel Bauldeweyn.