Monday of the third week in Lent

ate: Monday, March 4
Contributor: Karla Cole
Lectionary Link  https://www.lectionarypage.net/WeekdaysOfLent/MondayThirdWeek.html
 
The psalm from today's lectionary is Psalm 42, a frequent inspiration for composers through the centuries. The image of the deer longing for cooling waters intrigued me as a child and gives me solace as an adult. Here are some very different settings of Psalm 42 from music history.

The first is very old, by the master of Renaissance polyphony, Giovanni Palestrina (d.1594). The text  is in Latin and has a beautiful, long-phrased and meditative quality that I find very soothing. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU7k-hiiVjw
 
Next is a setting of the psalm that comes from a larger work by the German composer, Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847). This performance is in German and accompanied by an orchestra. The lush Romanticism is a stark contrast to the a cappella texture of the Palestrina - but no less moving. Our own section leaders are preparing this piece now to sing in Holy Week.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4duwa_rd7Dk
 
You may remember the 80s praise chorus "As the deer pants for the water" - this is not that. But I found this performance by American singer-songwriter Tori Kelly quite moving. She captures the psalmist's pleading and frustration without losing any of the comforting message of the text.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGgsmCEgf4w
 
And for anyone who has gotten this far and feels the urge to sing the OG praise chorus, here it is with soothing strings and lyrics in case you don't quite remember them.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70
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