Lots of thoughts about different Passions going through my mind at the moment.

1. It had been my plan to watch Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ on Good Friday – or at least Holy Saturday – but circumstances prevented it. Probably this week. It made such an impact on me when I watched it at the cinema (took a coach of parishioners with me) and I would like to make it part of my annual devotions.

2. I’m getting clearer in my own mind that I don’t want to be in my own regular place of worship in between the close of the Good Friday liturgy and the Easter Vigil. If so much of the strength of the prayers and worship flows from the dramatic re-enactment of the great events (which I believe) then it makes no sense to interrupt that drama with anything else, no matter how fitting to the theme of the day. The disciples scatter, they run away. I think we should do the same. Which raises one particular problem, in that there is a custom of ‘musical meditations’ on Good Friday evening in the parish. When I arrived, they even sang Easter Alleluias!!! At least now they’re doing Requiem Masses (ie singing the settings, it was Schubert this year) and so forth, so it is appropriate for the day, and it does provide for many non-church goers a way in to our story. I don’t think I’ll ever be wholly comfortable with it though.

3. I spent Friday night in King’s College, Cambridge, for the UK premiere of a new setting of the Passion (broadcast on Radio 3, see details here). My beloved and I went to it (a remarkable night away from children!!) because we are friends with the poet who wrote the libretto, which was excellent (and I’m not just saying that because of the friendship). Consider this, from the sequence at Gethsemane: Jesus draws a shawl around himself…how the body recoils from even a little suffering. A lot to ponder from it – I might do something more substantial in due course. I have to say that the music was beyond me though. Some art forms require training in order to be appreciated, and my musical understanding was insufficient to gain full value from the composition. To me it just sounded like a film soundtrack (which isn’t to knock film soundtracks – I’m listening to the LOTR one rather a lot). I was particularly frustrated that it was set in such a way that it obscured the words being sung, rather than enhancing them. (I’m told by my mother-in-law – an RSM trained composer – that this flows from a decision made by the composer, it’s not down to how it is performed, and consequently it is a flaw in the music, not in my listening!). I was very glad to be there, partly to support my friend (and to catch up with lots of other friends) but spiritually the experience was frustrating.

4. I have spent much time this morning researching the Manchester Passion, which I wish I had seen all the way through. Go here and follow the links (although it’s not the official site, it’s a more informative place to begin! Truth be told I am gutted (splagchnizomai) that I didn’t see it. What might be called ‘alternative worship’ has always been a passion of mine. I remember a conversation when I first began to believe in God, at University, talking about how we should use pop music in worship (I was thinking of the U2 album Achtung Baby, which had just been released, particularly ‘Until the End of the World’) and was told dismissively that this was ‘old hat’ and was already being done. Not true, and I think it is needed now more than ever. There are all sorts of creative ways in which it could be done, and the Manchester Passion seems to be a very good example of it. Haven’t been able to pursue this passion as much as I would wish since finishing my training, but I benefited from an attachment at St Luke’s, West Holloway which was pushing the boundaries at that time (still is, I think, but then so are lots of others). When Bach was composing his passions, he took popular German folk songs and translated them into fitting vehicles for telling our story. We must do the same.