With a gentle swish of the right hand and a sharp rise of the left hand, the choir conductor controls the rise and fall of myriad sweet voices, that fill up the St. Josephs Cathedral in Abids. If you immerse yourself in the music and don’t pay attention to the lyrics, you’d almost think it’s
Christmas again. But it isn’t; it is lent, a period of deep mourning and penance as the faithful remember Jesus Christ’s death. While most Christians mark the mourning period with prayer and abstinence, a bunch of 20-odd Hyderabadis are daring to do it differently by conducting a ‘Lenten choir’.
“You pray twice when you sing, so why shouldn’t we sing for lent?” asks
Aruna Bahuguna, retired IPS officer and one of the founding members of the choir group, Festival Choristers. Known otherwise for their cheerful Christmas carols, this time they have handpicked a selection of classic and contemporary hymns, which convey the solemn sentiments of lent succinctly.
So, what are they singing? there is a piece by Scottish writer,
Henry Francis Lyte — Abide with me, which is often played during the beating retreats. Then there’s a Via Dolorosa, that takes the singers and listeners on a journey with Christ on the ‘way of the cross’. Some of the numbers will also be embellished with the tubular bells, adding a relatively unheard ring to the music. “We are performing this just
before the holy week to prepare the devout with music, because lent is also a period of hope,” says Ann, who is managing the choir.
Of sorrow and hope
listening to the
lenten choir, one feels a certain restlessness in the soul. While some bits leave you with a lump in the throat, some parts give you relief. Explaining why this happens,
Commodore Champion, known for his efforts to revive the pipe organs in the city, says that the music has been composed in a way to give the listener an emotional high. “These classics were written years ago, with the intention to evoke a certain emotion. The idea is to create a pious and reflective ambience,” he says recounting an anecdote of famous Baroque composer George Frideric Handel. “He once composed such a melodious song that the king complimented him for entertaining the masses. That made Handel retort, ‘I should be sorry if I only entertained them, I wish to make them better’. That’s what even we want to do,” adds Commodore, with a smile.
Many parishes, one mission
Interestingly, this Lenten choir has brought together the best talents from various parishes. “There are so many denominations in the twin cities but they are all man-made, so we are trying to bring people together over music,” says Commodore Champion, who is a member of St. John the Baptist Protestant Church. He would be lending music to two numbers, including Abide with me. Some others belong to Mudfort church, Begumpet Church, Pearl City church etc. “Even as gospel music is fast becoming jazzy, with what they now call ‘gospel rock’ catching up, we should not forget that classical Christian music is the heritage of the church,” says Dr Cecil Naveen Elias, an accompanist in the choir, pointing out that their aim is to give the faithful a unique opportunity to witness classical lent music from the best talent in the city for the first time. Be there at St. Joseph’s Cathedral, Abids in the evening today, to experience it yourself.
