Musical contribution - March 2025

“Teach me, O Lord, to rightly reflect on Your suffering”
Edwin Vooijs (Geb. 1970)

The music of the month for March comes from a very talented colleague. He spontaneously responded to my request to create an arrangement for Lent.

We let Edwin speak for himself:
*"The season of Lent is a time of contemplation, introspection, and reflection. From darkness to light. From stillness to vitality, from death to resurrection.

In this organ piece, I musically reflect on the text of verses 1 and 7 of Hymn 177 from the Liedboek voor de Kerken(1973).

Verse 1
Teach me, O Lord, to rightly reflect on Your suffering,
in this sea my thoughts sink down:
O love that, to free sinners,
had to suffer so greatly.

Verse 7
Let me, O Lord, praise Your wondrous wisdom,
foolishness and offense to the worldly wise,
let me call Your cross, which the strong name weakness,
strength indeed.

The opening of the piece symbolizes simplicity, introspection, and silence. After this introduction, the text of the first verse is musically reflected. Each line expresses the character of the text in harmony, rhythm, and tempo. The rhythmic movement always contains an element of acceleration from stillness, ultimately returning to the silence of the introduction.

To enable reflection, I deliberately chose a somewhat fragmented approach while respecting the chosen idiom. For clarity, the hymn text is included in the score.

In the first line, I aimed to create a calm atmosphere that offers space to ‘reflect’ on the suffering (to observe and follow it). In the second line, the melody is moved to the bass, with repetitive and sometimes dissonant chords above it, rising in progression. This symbolizes the 'sinking thoughts.'

The third line revolves around ‘love and liberation.’ The eighth notes sometimes clash with the melody notes but always create space again. At the end of the line, seufzers (sighing motifs) are used to arrive at a major chord, open and liberated. Then the motif from the beginning returns, with the harmony becoming dissonant to express suffering.

As a connection to the seventh verse, a large crescendo follows, rising from the depths to the heights. From Lent to Easter! After this, the seventh verse is performed grandly and majestically as an ode to the cross and the Risen Lord! After this chorale, a brief reprise follows as a conclusion."*

Kind regards,
André van Vliet