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There are many joys that arise from choral music. One of the greatest joys for me is the discovery of new words and unpacking their meaning through different musical interpretations.

It is through choral music that I first became aware of the poet Thomas Traherne (c. 1636–1674).

This year, the choir will sing A Meditation by English composer Francis Pott (b. 1957) who sets select lines from Traherne's Centuries of Meditations.

There is great food for thought here, especially as the Church embarks on a holy Lent.

An empty book is like an Infant’s Soul,
in which anything may be written.

Do you not feel yourself drawn by the expectation
and desire of some Great Thing?

Things strange yet common, incredible, yet known; most high,
yet plain; Infinitely profitable, but not esteemed.
Is it not a great thing that you should be Heir of the World?

To conceive aright and enjoy the world
is to conceive the Holy Ghost, And to see His Love:

Love that is deeper than at first it can be thought.
Love never ceaseth But in endless things.

To cease is to draw upon ourselves infinite darkness:

Which now I unlearn, and become… a little child again,
That I may enter into the Kingdom of God.

Thomas Traherne (c. 1636–1674)

Here is a recording of A Meditation

Labels: Lent, Pott, Traherne