Lent and Passiontide Music

The forty days of Lent, which represent the time that Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, have been used by Christians down the ages as a time for reflection, a period in which to repent for sins committed. Lent is also a time to consider God’s plan of salvation for all humans through the events of Good Friday and Easter Day, which end the period of fasting.

Like Christmas, Lent and Passiontide have provided composers from every generation with a wealth of material to set to music, either drawn from the Bible or associated, directly or indirectly, with the themes of penitence and the suffering of Christ on the cross.

In 1844 Felix Mendelssohn composed Hear my prayer, based on the first seven verses of Psalm LV. The psalmist, in fear of the enemy and the troubles around him, pleads with God to hear his prayers and save him. His desire is to have the wings of a dove by which to e