Musical Meditation

Attende Domine – Jeanne Demessieux 

Hear us O Lord, Have mercy upon us, for we have sinned against thee

The Lent Prose, as it is called in English, is a plainsong responsory known in Latin by it’s first words, Attende Domine,which means ‘Hear us, O Lord’. Originating from christians living under Arabic rule in Medieval Spain, this tenth century hymn we have just heard part of- was translated into English and is found in the English Hymnal of 1906. In this cathedral, this is the song we sing at the beginning of our main eucharist on Sunday mornings in Lent. 

It serves to deepen our adoration of God in this penitential season, especially as we enter into Passiontide.  The piece we will shortly hear is based on this Lenten Hymn of Supplication- calling us to kneel meekly upon our knees before the Lord our maker.  This plainsong melody is gently imploring God to grant mercy, pleading for forgiveness, seeking the reassurance of God’s love. As you will soon hear, the twentieth century organist, Jeanne Demessieux places this beautifully lilting chant at the very heart of her musical vignette.  

The piece for Organ, like the chant just sung, is a kind one-  There is wrapped up in just four minutes, light and hope and mercy delicately sung through the pipes of the organ, as notes swirl around the sound of the plainsong at it’s core. 

It brings to mind the words of that lovely old prayer that Christian’s use when preparing to receive the bread and the wine of the Eucharist- it is a called the prayer of humble access- and it too recalls the kindness and mercy of God in the face of our human trangressions:

We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy:

This is a prayer of those who approach the throne of God perhaps fearfully, perhaps in trepidation, but then discover that God’s love overwhelms them and welcomes them home, assured of the manifold and great mercies of God. 

A God whose property, whose nature, is always to have mercy. 

Whose love overcomes all things. 

The middle section of this piece is yearning, is searching, it is almost pleading with God.  It is being woven together stitch by stitch, one note embraces another- one note comforts another- hand in hand the notes rise and rise, lifting our ears and eyes towards our creator.   

It’s difficult to untangle whether contained within this piece, is the sound of supplication or the sound of mercy? Does this piece reflect the sound of a sinner imploring God or the sound of God offering consolation? Does it reflect the sound of the penitent crying out ‘Hear us O Lord, have mercy upon us’– or is it the sound of God gently speaking, ‘This child of mine was dead and has come to life; This child of mine was lost and has been found, you are forgiven and you are loved, yesterday, today and to the end of the ages’? 

Is contained within this little piece, the sound of all these things intertwined, is there the faintest of sweet struggles in the music between supplication and mercy- between confession and consolation? Between humility and forgiveness? 

IS this the sound of a sinner convinced they are beyond redemption, in dialogue with the sound of God in Christ who took all our sins upon himself, so that new life could emerge from a stone cold tomb. Is there in this little piece the sound of sorrow and joy mingling down? 

Can we hear the light breaking through, like sunshine trying to break through on a cloudy afternoon? Like the sound of light breaking forth like the dawn, God, smiling down on all that has been created, God reaching out to us, yearning for us, seeking out the lost sheep- so that even before we reach up, God is reaching down to us in love. The music rises and rises again into the upper registers reaching to the heights pleading with God to bow down and hearken to his weeping children. A bridge is being built between heaven and earth, the sweetest of conversations is going on between God and man. 

Somewhere, woven through these notes upon notes upon notes, is the sound of God’s mercy and the sound of tears are being wiped away- The Lord hears our prayer, the lord will not abandon us or make a full end because in him new beginnings are always possible. And we can rejoice in the gift of God’s saving help.   Whatever we bring to the Lord this Lent, in our prayer, in our pleading, in our penitence and in our faith-we are perhaps being reassured in this piece, and in this place, that All shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing that you have made and forgive the sins of all those who are penitent: create and make in us new and contrite hearts that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may receive from you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.