A Lenten Musical Journey, Day 21

Sticking with the English for a bit, here’s Henry Purcell’s “Remember Not, Lord, Our Offences” (from his Funeral Sentences). I would call special attention to the 1:35-1:45 section — the desperately discordant “spare us” and the wonderful resolution of “good Lord.” Brilliant stuff.

“Remember not, Lord, our offences,
nor th’offences of our forefathers;
neither take thou vengeance on our sins,
but spare us, good Lord, spare thy people
whom thou hast redeem’d with thy most
precious blood,
and be not angry with us for ever.
Spare us, good Lord.”

Attribution(s): “Purcell” by Robert White from Sotheby’s and licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons (license); “Bells” provided by Shutterstock.