A Playlist for the Rosary: The Sorrowful Mysteries
Continuing the series of music for meditating on the rosary. For the Glorious Mysteries, click here. For the Joyful Mysteries, click here. For the Luminous Mysteries, click here.
The First Sorrowful Mystery – The Agony in the Garden
Meditation 4: The Agony in the Garden by Simon Johnson
If the counter on YouTube can be believed, I was the first person ever to watch this video, perhaps because it truly portrays agony.
The Second Sorrowful Mystery – The Scourging at the Pillar
“He was despised” from The Messiah by G.F. Handel, sung by Sarah Connolly
The Third Sorrowful Mystery – The Crowning with Thorns
Crown of Thorns by Danielle Rose
The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery – Jesus Carries His Cross
Jo Krus Pe Kurbaan Hai by Vijay Benedict
Unfortunately, this title stumped both Google Translate and Babelfish. Vijay Benedict is a former Bollywood singer who now writes and performs Gospel songs in Hindi.
The Fifth Sorrowful Mystery – The Crucifixion
O vos omnes by David N. Childs
“O all ye that pass by the way, attend and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow.”
I have to direct you to an external Website to allow you to hear this piece for free. It is worth it.* Click here, then hit play on the sound file.
* I was privileged to help bring David Childs’s music to Europe alongside David himself. He was a doctoral student in choral conducting, and I just one of the many voice majors who performed in the LSU A Cappella Choir. One of the stops on our European tour was at the Mendelssohn Conservatory in Leipzig, Germany. During rehearsal, moments after we began this piece, the conservatory’s choir director leaped out of his seat with the look of a salivating wolf and began hovering at our director’s shoulder, trying to see the score. As soon as the song ended, he snatched the music off of the stand, demanding, “What is this? Where did you get this?” I think he nearly fainted when our director introduced him to the composer.